Shelia Trask, Publishers' Weekly, Summer 2015 Bowens's deep political understanding is obvious throughout her book; she's knowledgeable about the history of oppression that affects farmers of color today and can explain the effects of political pacts like NAFTA on Mexican farmers, all while delivering pertinent statistics that illustrate her points. At heart, though, this is a book about the people ... Read morethemselves. What a book! Dive into the stories and photographs Natasha Bowens shares in these pages and you come up for air with a profound appreciation for the diversity of people planting the seeds and harvesting the foods to keep alive cultural traditions and nourish communities around the country. Anyone who eats should read this book: You will come to the table with new appreciation for the intersections between race and food that so often go unsaid and undocumented. Kudos to Bowens for creating this powerful and important book.
s; Anna Lapp , author, Diet for a Hot Planet and Hope's Edge Natasha Bowens, through her compelling stories and powerful images of a rainbow of farmers, reminds us that the industrialization of our food system and the oppression of our people
two sides of the same coin
will, if not confronted, sow the seeds of our own destruction.
s; Mark Winne, author, Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty The Color of Food captures the heart and souls of farmers of color... farmers that are frequently forgotten as the stories of agriculture in our country are told. Through the lens of a camera we step into the cultural history of our foods and the beautiful and proud people that grow them.
s; Cynthia Hayes, executive director, Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network True to her ancestral ties, Natasha brings forth the hope of a new generation of young people of color fixed on recapturing the energy, history and tradition of farming. The power of storytelling is etched in each farmer's tale of courage and resiliency as they look at farming, not as oppressive, but as a vibrant celebration of who they are. The Color of Food makes the ancestors rise up in triumph!
s; Karen Washington, farmer, activist, and cofounder, Black Urban Growers It is impossible to understand food in America without digging deeply into "race," class and culture. People's perceptions are their realities, and The Color of Food contributes to changing our reality by changing our perception of the hands, hearts and faces in the food movement.
-Malik Yakini, executive director, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network Natasha Bowens brings us two critical reminders: the potential and pitfalls of "a movement" in any singular form; and the importance of vision and determination in doing truly groundbreaking research. The Color of Food represents the best kind of research-inspired and independent, a project of deep listening and unbounded sharing. Our task is to cultivate the questions she scatters, in a rich and colorful light.
s; Philip Ackerman-Leist, author, Rebuilding the Foodshed and director of the Masters in Sustainable Food Systems, Green Mountain College The food movement has woken the world to joy of food, but the beauty of the people who grow it is too often hidden. That's why Brown Girl Farming is so gorgeous. This is a book that celebrates the food movement leaders to whom I've been honored to be able to turn for wisdom. To read Natasha Bowen's journey through North America is to draw from the rich, exquisite and too often hidden work of people of color in reinventing the modern food system. From First Nation to immigration, there isn't a topic on which Bowen's curiosity doesn't latch, nor her camera capture. It's a must-share book for anyone who holds hope in their hearts about the future of food.
s;Raj Patel, Author of Stuffed and Starved Show Less