Disparity Despite Diversity: Social Injustice in New York City’s Urban Agriculture System Kristin Reynolds Environmental Studies/Tishman Environment and Design Center, The New School, New York, NY, USA;
[email protected] Abstract: Many studies have documented the benefits of urban agriculture, including increased food access, job creation, educational opportunities, and green space. A focus on its social benefits has fed an association of urban agriculture with social justice, yet there is a distinction between alleviating symptoms of injustice (such as disparate access to food or environmental amenities) and disrupting structures that underlie them. Despite its positive impacts, urban agriculture systems may reinforce inequities that practitioners and supporters aim to address. This paper reports findings from a 2-year study of urban agriculture in New York City, which found race- and class-based disparities among practi- tioners citywide. Using the lens of critical race theory, it argues that a failure to examine urban agriculture’s role in either supporting or dismantling unjust structures may perpetuate an inequitable system. The paper concludes with recommendations for urban agriculture supporters and scholars to help advance social justice at structural levels. Keywords: action research, alternative food movements, critical race theory, social justice, racial justice, urban agriculture Introduction As the autumn harvest season began in 2010, a New York Magazine article highlighted some of the City’s up-and-coming urban farmers, hailing them as the “new class of growers” (see Stein 2010). Included in the article and its accompanying photographs were the leaders of what the author deemed some of New York City’s “most notable” urban farms and gardens.