How does eating a Florida tomato in Vermont support migrant slavery? Investigative journalist Barry Estabrook will address that question in a talk titled “Slavery, Tomatoes & Social Justice on Your Plate” at Saint Michael's College on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. in the McCarthy Arts Center.
Estabrook writes that the modern tomato has become “as devoid of plant nutrients as a pile of moon rocks.” In his book Tomatoland he interviews tomato farmers, migrant laborers, scientists and others and presents a scathing account of what has gone wrong with industrial agriculture.
The talk, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Saint Michael’s College Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts (MOVE) office, Media Studies, Journalism & Digital Arts, Peace & Justice, Community Engaged Learning, Office of Sustainability, JUNTOS, Food Justice, SLAM.
Barry Estabrook lives on a 30-acre tract in Vermont where he gardens, tends a dozen laying hens, taps maple trees, and brews cider. He was a contributing editor at Gourmet magazine. He now serves on the advisory board of Gastronomica, The Journal of Food and Culture, and writes for The New York Times, theWashington Post, TheAtlantic.com, MarkBittman.com, Saveur, Men’s Health, and other publications.
His article for Gourmet on labor abuses in Florida’s Tomato fields received the 2010 James Beard Award for magazine feature writing. His blog also received the James Beard Award for best blog of the year.