Chpt. 1 of Tangled routes: women, work, and globalization on the tomato trail By Deborah Barndt

Ok, it's going to be a late one today because I just picked up the book from Ohiolink. I guess it's the end of the semester or something!

Chpt 1 does a good job of foreshadowing the main issues of the tomato production process in a globalized sense. Barndt highlights the history of the tomato and its production by beginning with breaking down the process in 3 sections:

-the production of tomatoes in Mexico
-their transport, trade, and distribution in US and Canada
-their commercialization and consumption in Canada

It's important to note that it is not necessarily linear though (e.g. south producing for the north trajectory can be more complicated than these 3 sections.)

Barndt takes on Gereffi's global commodity chain (GCC) analysis on p. 9, while also integrating various maps and other stages to alliterate her understanding of the complexities of the tomato market. We begin to see that there is not necessarily any specific "right" or "wrong" way to look at the production/consumption of the tomato; rather, individuals will engage differently depending upon experience and worldview.

Some points that I found interesting:

Step 4: Multinationals control the technological package p. 15
"intellectual property" where companies claim patents on genetically modified tomato seeds
"technological package" issues of agro-chemicals and pesticides

"Food is a political centerpiece of the Zapatista initiative" p. 16

gender dynamic of harvesters rooted in machista culture; perpetuated by the international sexual division of labor p. 17

Also get a good understanding of the involvement of every aspect of the production of tomatoes, how everything seems to "work", etc. We see organizations like NAFTA and USDA playing a part as well.

p. 23 Tomatoes account for 56% of the cargo crossing the US-Mexico border at Nogales

"illusion of diversity" in the consumption of tomatoes p. 30

p. 32 McDonaldization

p. 35 commodity fetishism Marx

p. 36 draws on Gramsci's notion of "moment" and integrates her own ideas about the moments that can be examined along the tomato trail

I'll address these all more in-depth during our discussion this afternoon, but I'm excited because a lot of Barndt's points parallel many of the underlying arguments that I've been concerned with pertaining to weight discourse. Thinking about the tomato trail has only strengthened many of my presumptions about the commodification of food, the body, individual communication/rhetorical practices, and political/powers structures, so I'm looking forward to today =)