This piece of research was composed by a member of the Chicano Studies 5374/3374 class, Emily Lindell. I will let her describe what she has done. In Emily's words:
My research project involved mapping the state of Minnesota to reflect the migrant worker population of the state as well as potential allies to migrant farmworkers across the state. When I began this work I consulted Erik Esse, Director of the Local Fair Trade Network (LFTN), a Minnesota-based organization that “builds on the foundation created by the organic food, farm worker and cooperative movements, bringing together the growers, sellers and eaters of food to cooperatively build a food system that is just and healthy for everyone.” Esse suggested that a comprehensive listing of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, complimentary social justice groups, organizations which serve migrant workers, as well as unions which might be allies to farmworkers could be of use to his organization.
I proceeded in this project with those goals in mind and have completed a series of spreadsheets as well as several maps (both online and using Google Maps as a desktop application) to reflect these sites. In addition to those sites prioritized above, I also included in my mapping a wide range of sustainable agriculture and fair trade movement sites.
The maps and spreadsheets that Emily mentions are available for download after the jump as well as a paper describing her research.
Continue reading "Mapping Minnesota: Migrant Farmworkers, Farmworker Allies, and Potential Allies State-wide" »