Join authors Kristin Reynolds and Nevin cohen for a discussion of their new book: Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City. 

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. Realizing social and environmental justice requires moving beyond food production to address deeper issues such as structural racism, gender inequity, and economic disparities. Beyond the Kale argues that urban agricultural projects focused explicitly on dismantling oppressive systems have the greatest potential to achieve substantive social change.

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.

Kristin Reynolds is a Lecturer in Environmental Studies, Food Studies, and Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at The New School.

Nevin Cohen is an associate professor at the CUNY School of Public Health.

This event is sponsored by: the Tisman Environment and Design Center, Environmental Studies, Food Studies, and Environmental Policy and Sustainability Mangement at The New School.

Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City was published in 2016 by the University of Georgia Press.