I felt very lucky after reading an article in Ms. magazine about women and the various movements to change food production and consumption in the United States. I live in Denver, and there are so many women making good things happen: Jennifer Jasinski and Beth Gruitch at Rioja and two other restaurants; Elisa Wiggins at Panzano; Dana Miller of Transition Colorado; Ann, who sold me produce from New Moon Farms near Boulder; Lisa Rogers of Feed Denver Urban Farms and Markets; Christie Isenberg of Tiri’s garden in downtown Denver …
The article complained that men like Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) get all the press for promoting sustainable food. I’m not sure if I believe that, but the article did list lots of women I’ve never heard of (I’ve heard of Alice Walters and her New American Cuisine and of Sustainable South Bronx). So here’s a list for you to peruse.
Organizations
Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture
Buy Fresh Buy Local, Jessica Greenblatt Seeley (I couldn’t find her name on the Food Routes website linked to here, but I did find her name on the Farmer Jane website)
DC Urban Gardeners, Susan Harris, cofounder
Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (its urban community farm is managed by Marilyn Barber)
Food Not Lawns International, Heather C. Flores
Food Literacy Project, advised by Mollie Katzen (Moosewood restaurant) and run by Dara Olmstead
Frieda’s, a specialty produce company started by Frieda Caplan
Organización de Líderes Campesinas (Women Farmworker Leaders)
Women, Food, and Agriculture Network
Books
Diet for a Small Planet, Frances Moore Lappé
Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat, by Temra Costa
Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, by Marion Nestle
Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society, by A. Breeze Harper
Source: “The Feminist Food Revolution,” Jennifer Cognard-Black, Ms., summer 2010
Beth, thanks for this inspiring post with the great list! I agree that women all over the world are effecting positive change toward sustainable food growth and consumption. And I feel the progress, in the evolution of my own food shopping and cooking, and that of the young mothers in my neighborhood who feed their families so consciously.
Gail, I think there is progress too, but what we really need to work on is to bring this kind of food to less wealthy/food desert neighborhoods. The Growhaus at 47th and York is a great example of such an effort. So is Denver Urban Gardens and that garden in north Boulder whose name I can’t recall right now.