Description
Book SynopsisMarginalizing Access to the Sustainable Food System is a comprehensive analysis of the barriers and opportunities confronting minority communities' ability to access healthy, fresh foods. It exposits the meaning of marginalization through several measurement indicators examined from the cross sections of history, space, and participation. These indicators include minority participation in agriculture, the delivery scope of CSA farms, the presence and location of farmer's markets in the minority districts, the density of food stores, the availability of fresh produce in grocery stores in minority districts, the placement of urban food gardens in minority districts, and minority residents' participation in the sustainable food system. Camille Tuason Mata applies this analysis to three minority districts in OaklandChinatown, Fruitvale, and West Oaklandand examines the patterns of marginalization in relation to the sustainable food system of the California Bay Area.
Trade ReviewThis is a substantial contribution to food security literature. Her interdisciplinary approach does a fine job of placing her original research within a larger context. -- Ralph Lutts, coordinator of the MA Concentration in Environmental Studies, Goddard College
Camille Tuason Mata has provided a very comprehensive and extensive study of the ways minorities have been marginalized from the sustainable food system in California. . . . Her thesis is applicable to many places, including India, where farmers are pushing to be more central to the food system. The [thesis], I should say, is very good. -- Krishnan Subramanian, independent farming professional, Research and Study Centre for Organic Farming, Chennai, India
Her research renders both a comprehensive and in-depth picture of the current state of minority food access in Oakland. . . . Tuason Mata lays out the evolution of organic agriculture and explains why our growing understanding of community organic agriculture is integral to community food security in the twenty-first century. -- Greg Gerritt, coordinator, Rhode Island Compost Initiative, Environment Council of Rhode Island
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Framing the Indicators for Measuring Minority Food Access 2. Community Food Security: An Evolving Concept 3. Localizing Food Security: Oakland’s Experience 4. The History of Farming Access for Minority Farmers 5. Historicizing Access to the Sustainable Food System through CSAs, Farmer’s Markets, and Urban Gardens 6. Summarizing Marginalization and Concluding Remarks 7. Bibliography About the Author
