| Summary: | First paragraph:
Most U.S. farmers and farm owners are white, while most farmworkers are Latinx immigrants. This timely book uncoils the history, institutions, and politics that racialize farming in America and the growing number of immigrant farmers—primarily small-scale and Mexican—who have climbed the agricultural ladder despite the crushing barriers they face. Author Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern deftly spells out the social, political, and cultural influences that built racism and anti-immigrant practices directly into the structure of American agriculture. She then enriches the picture with the stories of 70 interviewed immigrant farmers who operate within this structure; excerpts from her interviews are spotlighted throughout the book. Additional interviews with agricultural support and outreach programs emphasize how immigrant farmers are often excluded from start-up capital, land access, and farmers market access. The storytelling element, paired with Minkoff-Zern’s first-person perspectives and reactions, enliven each chapter and extricate the book from a purely scholarly work into an engaging read on immigration, race, and agriculture. . . .
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