Back to the Roots: Memory, Inequality, and Urban Agriculture

Nature, Society, and Culture

by Sara Shostak

Across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, urban farmers and gardeners are reclaiming cultural traditions linked to food, farming, and health; challenging systemic racism and injustice in the food system; demanding greater community control of resources in marginalized neighborhoods; and moving towards their visions of more equitable urban futures. As part of this urgent work, urban farmers and gardeners encounter and reckon with both the cultural meanings and material legacies of the past. Drawing on their narratives, Back to the Roots demonstrates that urban agriculture is a critical domain for explorations of, and challenges to, the long standing inequalities that shape both the materiality of cities and the bodies of their inhabitants.
 

236 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2021

Reviews

[Rinchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

New narratives of urban farm, food and land

I believe good works come from hard work, careful observation, and consideration of others’ voices. Every single individual seeks through life is all about their voices to be heard by those who make decisions on others’ lives.