Telling Women's Lives

Farmer Jane Reader Response- Matthew Fernandez

Farmer Jane tells the stories of thirty women that are working to change the farming industry for the better. The essence of the book is that we have become detached from the land that we rely upon to sustain us. One story that I enjoyed was about Anna Lappe, which is located in the Advocates for Social Change section of the book. At an early age, Anna learned from her mother the importance of environmental justice. Anna and Francis set out to find research for their book Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. This led them to travel the world and interact with farmers and community members throughout India, Brazil, Keya, and France. They found that many people are bringing their food closer to home through urban farming. This helped her find out that “hunger is not a scarcity of food, but a scarcity of democracy”. I found this interesting because there are so many people in this world that do not have the luxury of always being nourished.

Another part of Anna’s story that I enjoyed was the fact that she moved to France to strengthen her culinary skills. Anna says that she experienced something new about shopping for food. Anna was surprised how many people would buy fresh food on a daily basis. It did not occur to me until reading this that I had the same experience while living in Barcelona, this past fall. I remember shopping at local markets for fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat with my roommates for dinner later that night. We would only buy what we were going to eat for dinner and almost never had any leftovers. Now coming back to the United States, I almost never get fresh food to cook at night. I think Anna’s story is important because she has dedicated her life to create an improved food system.