Kristin Reynolds Publishes Book "Beyond the Kale"

Kristin Reynolds, Lecturer in Environmental Studies, Food Studies, and Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management and Associate Professor at CUNY School of Public Health, Nevin Cohen recently published Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City.

Description:

Urban agriculture is increasingly considered an important part of creating just and sustainable cities. Yet the benefits that many people attribute to urban agriculture—fresh food, green space, educational opportunities—can mask structural inequities, thereby making political transformation harder to achieve. Beyond the Kale argues that realizing social and environmental justice through urban agriculture requires moving beyond food production to address deeper issues such as structural racism, gender inequity, and economic disparities.Through in-depth interviews and public forums with some of New York City’s most prominent urban agriculture activists and supporters, Kristin Reynolds and Nevin Cohen illustrate how some urban farmers and gardeners not only grow healthy food for their communities but also use their activities and spaces to disrupt the dynamics of power and privilege that perpetuate inequity. Addressing a significant gap in the urban agriculture literature, Beyond the Kale prioritizes the voices of people of color and women—activists and leaders whose strategies have often been underrepresented within the urban agriculture movement—and it examines the roles of scholarship in advancing social justice initiatives.There will be a book talk for Beyond the Kale at The New School on November 2, 2016 at 6:00 pm. Register here.Beyond the Kale is available at University of Georgia Press and Amazon.