Description
Book SynopsisOn the sidewalks of Manhattan''s Chinatown, you can find street vendors and greengrocers selling bright red litchis in the summer and mustard greens and bok choy no matter the season. The neighborhood supplies more than two hundred distinct varieties of fruits and vegetables that find their way onto the tables of immigrants and other New Yorkers from many walks of life. Chinatown may seem to be a unique ethnic enclave, but it is by no means isolated. It has been shaped by free trade and by American immigration policies that characterize global economic integration. In From Farm to Canal Street, Valerie Imbruce tells the story of how Chinatown''s food network operates amidand against the grain ofthe global trend to consolidate food production and distribution. Manhattan's Chinatown demonstrates how a local market can influence agricultural practices, food distribution, and consumer decisions on a very broad scale.Imbruce recounts the development of Chinatown's food network to
Trade Review
Instructors of courses in food systems: this book belongs in your syllabus. It is essential reading for anyone interested in who produces food for urban areas and how it gets into cities.
-- Marion Nestle * Food Politics *
Unlike the majority of local food literature that mostly advocates farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture, and Co-op stores, Imbruce boldly chooses Chinatown's food network, a non-mainstream alternative food system, as her research topic.... This book would be appropriate for policymakers and practitioners who work with food and community policies.
* Agriculture and Human Values *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Situating Manhattan's ChinatownChapter 1. Greengrocers and Street VendorsChapter 2. The Social Network of TradeChapter 3. Okeechobee Bok ChoyChapter 4. Bringing Southeast Asia to the Southeastern United StatesChapter 5. Growing Asian Vegetables in HondurasChapter 6. Chinese Food in American CultureChapter 7. Chinatown’s Food Network and New York City PoliciesConclusion: Diversity and Dynamism in Global MarketsAppendix A: Produce Vendors in Chinatown
Appendix B: Fresh Fruit, Vegetables, and Herbs Sold in Chinatown
Appendix C: Food Plants Found in Southeast Asian Homegardens in Miami-Dade County, Florida
Appendix D: Research MethodsNotes
References
Index
