In the blizzard of attention around the virtues of local food production, food
writers and activists place environmental protection, animal welfare, and saving
small farms at the forefront of their attention. Yet amid this turn to wholesome
and responsible food choices, the lives and working conditions of farmworkers
are often an afterthought.
"Labor and the Locavore" focuses on one of the most vibrant local food economies
in the country, the Hudson Valley that supplies New York restaurants and farmers
markets. Based on more than a decade's in-depth interviews with workers,
farmers, and others, Gray's examination clearly shows how the currency of
agrarian values serves to mask the