Ruin Their Crops on the Ground

The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch

By: Andrea Freeman

Narrated by: Heni Zoutomou

The first and definitive history of the use of food in United States law and politics as a weapon of conquest and control, a Fast Food Nation for the Black Lives Matter era

In 1779, to subjugate Indigenous nations, George Washington ordered his troops to “ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” Destroying harvests is just one way that the United States has used food as a political tool. Trying to prevent enslaved people from rising up, enslavers restricted their consumption, providing only enough to fuel labor. Since the Great Depression, school lunches have served as dumping grounds for unwanted agricultural surpluses.

From frybread to government cheese, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground draws on over fifteen years of research to argue that U.S. food law and policy have created and maintained racial and social inequality. In an epic, sweeping account, Andrea Freeman, who pioneered the term “food oppression,” moves from colonization to slavery to the Americanization of immigrant food culture, to the commodities supplied to Native reservations, to milk as a symbol of white supremacy. She traces the long-standing alliance between the government and food industries that have produced gaping racial health disparities, and she shows how these practices continue to this day, through the marketing of unhealthy goods that target marginalized communities, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature death.

Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is a groundbreaking addition to the history and politics of food. It will permanently upend the notion that we freely and equally choose what we put on our plates.

Extremely well researched book

Great listen. Concerning topic. The narrator sometimes paused at what seems like odd times but overall this is a great book

Food issues in the USA

Interesting prospective on politics and overall food distribution. Laws appear to protect big manufacturers and growers despite their low nutrition value.

Children should be allowed and encouraged to eat from their school garden.

A Must-Read for Food Justice Advocates

Andrea Freeman’s Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is an incredibly informative and well-researched work that dives deep into the historical and systemic issues surrounding food justice. Freeman’s exploration of the intersections of race, power, and food politics makes this book a must-read for anyone working in or curious about the food justice movement. The storytelling is compelling, and the insights offered are crucial for understanding how food systems perpetuate inequality. Highly recommend!

Great topic, some new ideas, but feels like a list

I love the topic of food (in)justice, and this book does a good job at highlighting BIPOC struggles and resistance with racist food policies and practices. It unfortunately feels like a long list of injustices, though, rather than being interwoven with a main through-line. Maybe that’s the way it’s performed by the reader? I don’t know. I still would recommend the book, and the topics are incredibly important to bring to light—and I’m glad the author does that—but the writing isn’t super engaging.