Where does our food come from? Whose hands have planted, cultivated, picked, packed, processed, transported, scanned, sold, sliced, and cooked it? What production practices have transformed it from seed to fruit, from fresh to processed form? Who decides what is grown and how? What are the effects of those decisions on our health and the health of the planet? Tangled Routes tackles these fascinating questions and demystifies globalization by tracing the long journey of a corporate tomato from a Mexican field to a Canadian fast-food restaurant. Through an interdisciplinary lens, Deborah Barndt examines the dynamic relationships between production and consumption, work and technology, biodiversity and cultural diversity, and health and environment. A globalization-from-above perspective is reflected in the corporate agendas of a Mexican agribusiness, the U.S.-based McDonald's chain, and Canadian-based Loblaws supermarkets. The women workers on the front line of these businesses offer a humanized globalization-from-below perspective, while yet another "globalization" is revealed through examples of resistance and local alternatives. This revised and updated edition highlights developments since the turn of the millennium, in particular the deepening economic integration of the NAFTA countries as well as the growing questioning of NAFTA's consequences and the crafting of alternatives built on foundations of sustainability and justice.
Deborah Barndt is professor of environmental studies at York University in Toronto. A photographer and activist, she has worked with social justice movements in Canada, the United States, and Central America for over forty years.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Roots and RoutesChapter 1: Across Space and through Time: Tomatl Meets the Corporate TomatoChapter 2: Frames and Filters: Theoretical and Methodological ApproachesChapter 3: Arch Deluxe with a Smile: Women Never Stop at McDonald'sChapter 4: You Can Count on Us: Scanning Cashiers at Loblaws SupermarketsChapter 5: On the Move for Food: Truckers and Transnational MigrantsChapter 6: Picking and Packing for the North: Agricultural Workers at Empaque Santa RosaChapter 7: Crossing Sectors and Borders: Weaving a Holistic AnalysisChapter 8: Signs of Hope: Taking Action for Justice and Sustainability
What People are Saying About This
Maude Barlow
Who could believe that the story of a tomato's northward journey could reveal the true heart of corporate globalization? Women, that's who. Women whose toil speeds the journey and whose stories leap off the page to touch our hearts and our consciousness. Deborah Barndt's Tangled Routes is a wonderful and important book.