Search

What is in your Salad? An Ecological Political Economy of the Salad Bowl of CaliforniaCalifornia produces one third of the food eaten in the United States and exports billions of dollars worth of agricultural products. Monterey County, California, has some of the most intensely farmed landscape of the world and one of the most prosperous farming regions of the global North. It produces about 40 percent of the total exports originating from California. The Salinas Valley, known as the ‘Salad Bowl’, produces a large portion of the total exports originating from California. The lettuce, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, tomatoes and carrots produced here, may be part of industrialized ‘precision’ farming but are heavily dependent on human labor, specifically migrant labor. This paper interrogates the ‘nature’ and the ‘dirt’ on agriculture/ecology in light of California’s global agribusiness. It adopts an ecological political economy approach to examine the foundations of this agribusiness based on the desire to maximize productivity and profit in order to compete in a global market. It examines the systematic transformation of food into a commodity that hides devastating ecological and social costs. In particular, it examines the heavy dependence on migrant labor and conditions of labor camps to make connections between economy and ecology. The paper also examines how Salinas Valley communities are reclaiming resources, human dignity and confronting consumption.It compares these efforts to the Landless Movement in Brazil and the Organic Movement in India. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between agribusiness and immigrant interests, society and nation-states and note the influences that these have on Mexican labor migration, industry integration, and political and social incorporation. I am most interested in farmworkers personal perceptions as they relate to their position within the described macro structures, and how it manifests and reveals in their daily lives. By applying a macro-structural context to this group, then I will be able to isolate the systemic effects that policy, geographic space and political economy, possibly, influence the adaptation of these people in their daily living circumstances. This has led three broad questions that will guide my dissertation:.x000d..x000d.1)What do the life narratives of farmworkers tell us about the macro- and micro-processes of integration into the greater society and how does this teach us about the economic and political structures that drive incorporation?.x000d..x000d.2)What are the implications for class and political mobility for current farmworkers and their families?.x000d..x000d.3)What do farmworker lived experiences tell us about the broader world in which we live in? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between agribusiness and immigrant interests, society and nation-states and note the influences that these have on Mexican labor migration, industry integration, and political and social incorporation. I am most interested in farmworkers personal perceptions as they relate to their position within the described macro structures, and how it manifests and reveals in their daily lives. By applying a macro-structural context to this group, then I will be able to isolate the systemic effects that policy, geographic space and political economy, possibly, influence the adaptation of these people in their daily living circumstances. This has led three broad questions that will guide my dissertation:.x000d..x000d.1)What do the life narratives of farmworkers tell us about the macro- and micro-processes of integration into the greater society and how does this teach us about the economic and political structures that drive incorporation?.x000d..x000d.2)What are the implications for class and political mobility for current farmworkers and their families?.x000d..x000d.3)What do farmworker lived experiences tell us about the broader world in which we live in? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]