Dear Editor,
The speakers at the Liberty Food Fest in Bellows Falls have a great opportunity to recognize and celebrate everyone who has a part in bringing food from the earth to your table. I’m disappointed by messaging I’ve seen from some of these featured folks.
Having come to Vermont and New Hampshire as a migrant apple picker in 1969, I’ve seen a lot of hardworking people of many colors and countries of origin. Fellow workers have been speakers of lots of languages; their gender preferences have been their own choice. And all my fellow workers except a few Native Americans had ancestors from outside North America. All were contributing labor to our food economy.
Instead of claiming the supremacy of whiteness in farming and whiteness in land ownership, these speakers could be more generous in recognizing the shared work ethic that anyone can apply to farming. The result is more food on your table regardless of the color, gender, or origin of the hand that produced it.
Sincerely,
Julie Levy
Weathersfield, Vt.