Bringing Southeast Asia to the Southeast United States: New forms of alternative agriculture in Homestead,Florida |
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Authors: | Valerie Imbruce |
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Institution: | (1) New York Botanical Garden, 200th St. and Kazimiroff Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458, USA;(2) The New York Botanical Garden, 200th Street and Kazimiroff Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458, USA |
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Abstract: | Immigrant farmers from Southeast Asia have brought knowledge of tropical fruit and vegetable production from their home countries
to Homestead, Florida. They have developed a new style of farming, one that most closely resembles agricultural systems described
as “homegardens.” Although biodiverse agricultural systems are generally thought to be commercially unviable, homegarden farmers
successfully manage crop diversity as an economic strategy. By focusing on growing a mixture of specialty Southeast Asian
herbs, fruits, and vegetables, the farmers have created their own economic niche and have shielded themselves from the competition
of high-volume, single commodity producers. This paper shows that the Homestead homegardens constitute an alternative form
of agriculture that is defined by their agroecological and socioeconomic attributes. It also shows that although the homegarden
farms are a form of “alternative agriculture,” they do not operate outside of conventional, global systems of agricultural
trade; rather the homegarden farms are embedded in global agriculture. The Homestead case problematizes the tendency to delineate
between the global and local scales, and alternative and conventional sectors in agriculture today. This paper concludes that
the emergence of the Homestead homegardens can only be understood by taking a place-based approach to studying the environment
in which the homegardens are situated as well as identifying the large-scale influences on Miami-Dade County.
Valerie
Imbruce
holds a PhD in plant sciences from a joint program between the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the
New York Botanical Garden. She has conducted research on global agricultural systems in New York City, south Florida, and
Central Honduras. |
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Keywords: | Agricultural diversification Agroecology Alternative agriculture Economic botany Ethnic markets Florida Homegardens Small farms Southeast Asian immigrants |
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