As part of the “Food Matters: Perspectives on What’s Cooking” series, Teresa Mares, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Vermont will be joining us to discuss key issues farm workers deal with in the US Northern border states. Dr. Mares’ research focuses on the intersection of food and migration studies, and she is particularly interested in the ways that the diets and foodways of Latino/a immigrants change as a result of migration. She is currently engaged in an ethnographic study examining food security and food access among Latino/a dairy workers in Vermont.

This talk examines household food access among Latino/a dairy workers in Vermont, the majority of whom have migrated in recent years from central and southern Mexico. As a border state with an active presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, many of the same fears, anxieties, and dangers that are connected to the southern border are reproduced in the state of Vermont; with significant consequences for food security, diet-related health, and the overall wellbeing of migrant workers. For migrant individuals and families who seek to remain connected with cultural foodways from home, the broader geographic and social contexts connected to living in Vermont present significant challenges to achieving food justice and food sovereignty on their own terms.

Please email Victor Becerra at vbeccera@uci.edu to RSVP.