TORONTO, August 20, 2002 -- Where does our food come from? York University environmental studies Prof. Deborah Barndt's new book, Tangled Routes: Women, work and globalization on the tomato trail, documents her five-year hunt for the elusive origins of North America's food.
At the root of her analysis is the tomato, which Barndt traces from the Mexican farm field, to the grocery store and finally to the dinner table. Through the tomato’s journey, the dynamics between production and consumption, work and technology, biodiversity and cultural diversity, and health and environment are explored.
"Very few of us in the northern hemisphere have any sense at all of the processes that bring food to our table, or of the people who grow it, process it, and move it along the way," says Barndt. "The tomato seemed a perfect ‘entrée’ to a process of cross-border research and education around the complex phenomenon and often confusing concept of globalization."
Barndt, who also kept a photo journal as part of her study, focuses on the women who make up the majority of workers in agribusiness, food processing, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants, all increasingly integrated into a corporate food chain that is built on deeply rooted social inequalities.
"Indigenous women in Mexico are often among the lowest wage field workers, picking tomatoes seasonally alongside their families and living in horrific migrant labour camps," says Barndt. "In Canada, young students and older married women represent the majority of supermarket cashiers, a growing part-time, low-wage workforce. Fast food workers are also drawn from vulnerable populations, primarily youth, and increasingly, immigrant women and seniors."
Tangled Routes, (Garamond Press, 2002) stems from Barndt’s collaborative research involving feminist academics, activists and educators in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
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For further information, please contact:
| Prof. Deborah Barndt | Ken Turriff |
| Faculty of Environmental Studies | Media Relations |
| York University | York University |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 40365 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 |
| dbarndt@yorku.ca | kturriff@yorku.ca |
YU/067/02
