What have I been reading, you may be wondering....

I was fortunate to get at Teaching Assistantship this semester for Anthropology of Gender. The structure of the course has us reading seven books. The one I just completed is entitled "Tangled Routes: Women, Work and Globalization on the Tomato Trail" by Deborah Barndt. The book follows the trail of the corporate tomato from Mexico to Canadian fast food restaurants (McDonalds) and grocery stores (Loblaws). A little theory heavy and repetitive, but overall it has been enlightening in regards to answering "where does my food come from". She talks to women working in the various stages and highlights the engendered nature of the route of the tomato (basically, women are getting the shaft, being underpaid and undervalued; for example, Mexican pickers get about four dollars a day, while women in the supermarkets are reduced to unreliable shifts and low pay, which leads to a deterioration of family life in both cases). The discussion of the health of the people picking the tomatoes gave further reason to buy organic produce. At least if the businesses are producing organically, the workers will not be exposed to the harsh pesticides that predominate tomato production. Not that transporting tomatoes all the way from Mexico is great for the environment, but it makes sense to stop these poor workers from being exposed to possible carcinogens and other bad stuff. Just some food for thought on tomatoes.