Navigating gendered labor and local food: A tale of working mothers in Vermont

Over the past several decades, the state of Vermont has become a national leader in the local food movement. Located along the banks of Lake Champlain, Chittenden County is a hub for the local food movement and innovative food security efforts. This article presents qualitative data from a collaborative research project examining the multiple ways that Chittenden County residents access, prepare, and share food. Following the model of “critical case studies,” I focus in on the narratives of six working mothers from diverse cultural backgrounds to examine the work of these mothers related to accessing, preparing, and sharing food and how this work is shaped by intersections of cultural identity and gendered obligations. I argue that narratives of food and family are a meaningful site for examining the lived dimensions of local food systems and shared values related to food that are culturally familiar and embedded in social relationships.