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Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C.
In this book, Ashante M. Reese makes clear the structural forces that determine food access in urban areas, highlighting Black residents' navigation of and resistance to unequal food distribution systems. Linking these local food issues to the national problem of systemic racism, Reese examines the history of the majority-Black Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Reese not only documents racism and residential segregation in the nation's capital but also tracks the ways transnational food corporations have shaped food availability. By connecting community members' stories to the larger issues of racism and gentrification, Reese shows there are hundreds of Deanwoods across the country.
Reese's geographies of self-reliance offer an alternative to models that depict Black residents as lacking agency, demonstrating how an ethnographically grounded study can locate and amplify nuances in how Black life unfolds within the context of unequal food access.
Reese's geographies of self-reliance offer an alternative to models that depict Black residents as lacking agency, demonstrating how an ethnographically grounded study can locate and amplify nuances in how Black life unfolds within the context of unequal food access.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 23, 2019
While this book was very much a case study of the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, DC, rather than an analysis of these issues on a more national level, it had very interesting discussions on the local level.
May 16, 2019
In Black Food Geographies, Dr. Reese masterfully breaks down complex issues related to racism & food access in a DC community. This same story plays out all over the US. (I see it in Dallas.) Reading about the systemic issues & historical context just blows my mind.
I felt like I was walking through Deanwood with her, hearing the stories from community members. It’s crazy to consider the big picture of how racism touches every aspect of society. I’ve used the term food desert before—without considering its meaning. This is yet another story about survival in spite of the myriad barriers and obstacles put in the way.
I felt like I was walking through Deanwood with her, hearing the stories from community members. It’s crazy to consider the big picture of how racism touches every aspect of society. I’ve used the term food desert before—without considering its meaning. This is yet another story about survival in spite of the myriad barriers and obstacles put in the way.
February 11, 2024
a great treatise on anti-black power structures in the us and the work being done in communities to upend the harmful actions being done in the name of gentrification. always gotta do more
August 27, 2020
"The Black spatial imaginary, produced through the ways Black people negotiate power, space, and confinement to produce places of care and celebration, reflects a socially-shared understanding of the importance of public space and its power to shape opportunities and life chances." p. 71
"These tensions are in part a by-product of the dissonance produced between individuals pursuing success and stability in a nation in which structural barriers ensure that achieving them is difficult for Black people. While Coontz rightfully acknowledges that public aid and safety nets have always existed and individual achievement is largely a myth for all Americans, the reality of Black life in the United States often includes heralding individual achievement as a way toward upward mobility while also embracing it as a mechanism through which collective well-being can be achieved. The hope, then, is not solely in individual merit, but also in the potential for collective uplift and resistance, despite the failures of the state and corporations inherent in racial capitalism." p. 85
"...Histories of riots presume that the poor, often led by women, were spurred to respond to food shortages, and that the riots were prompted by hunger and lack that resulted from the rise in food prices as society moved more steadily toward a capitalist mode of production... Shortages and inequities were the conditions under which rioting occurred, but the community already had shared understandings about what food ought to cost and that everyone should have enough of it." p. 104
"Class analysis without racial analysis is incomplete. [Black-owned businesses] are not separate from the larger ethos around capitalism that privileges individualism, competition, and meritocracy." p. 105
"...the conspicuous consumption model of community gardening..." p. 122
"In all cases, the lives, stories, struggles, and triumphs represented in this book are as much about the endurance of Black life as they are about precarity produced by white supremacist patriarchal capitalist structures that shape the contours of food access and the lives we lead." p. 132
"Black feminist theory, praxis, and living constantly teach me to see myself in the work, to experience my and others' wholeness, and to resist objectivity narratives in which grief has no place. In other words, it is when we bring our whole selves, with all the emotional and physical experiences that our fields may not have prepared us for, that we do the messy, hard work of getting free." p. 136
"...Black liberation organizations and movements, even in their failures, provide blueprints for revolutionary change." p. 133
"These tensions are in part a by-product of the dissonance produced between individuals pursuing success and stability in a nation in which structural barriers ensure that achieving them is difficult for Black people. While Coontz rightfully acknowledges that public aid and safety nets have always existed and individual achievement is largely a myth for all Americans, the reality of Black life in the United States often includes heralding individual achievement as a way toward upward mobility while also embracing it as a mechanism through which collective well-being can be achieved. The hope, then, is not solely in individual merit, but also in the potential for collective uplift and resistance, despite the failures of the state and corporations inherent in racial capitalism." p. 85
"...Histories of riots presume that the poor, often led by women, were spurred to respond to food shortages, and that the riots were prompted by hunger and lack that resulted from the rise in food prices as society moved more steadily toward a capitalist mode of production... Shortages and inequities were the conditions under which rioting occurred, but the community already had shared understandings about what food ought to cost and that everyone should have enough of it." p. 104
"Class analysis without racial analysis is incomplete. [Black-owned businesses] are not separate from the larger ethos around capitalism that privileges individualism, competition, and meritocracy." p. 105
"...the conspicuous consumption model of community gardening..." p. 122
"In all cases, the lives, stories, struggles, and triumphs represented in this book are as much about the endurance of Black life as they are about precarity produced by white supremacist patriarchal capitalist structures that shape the contours of food access and the lives we lead." p. 132
"Black feminist theory, praxis, and living constantly teach me to see myself in the work, to experience my and others' wholeness, and to resist objectivity narratives in which grief has no place. In other words, it is when we bring our whole selves, with all the emotional and physical experiences that our fields may not have prepared us for, that we do the messy, hard work of getting free." p. 136
"...Black liberation organizations and movements, even in their failures, provide blueprints for revolutionary change." p. 133
April 19, 2021
Black Food Geographies is an excellent ethnographic text exploring the intersections of food access and race in a rapidly gentrifying D.C. As a trained anthropologist, I really enjoy a well-written and easily accessible anthropological text that dives deep into any social phenomena and deconstructs it. In 2021, anyone who's been paying attention to the news can attest to the the food insecurity that affects under-resourced communities and communities of color. What sets this book apart from the popular narrative of exploring "food deserts," is that Dr. Reese meticulously places the narrative of self-reliance of the Black community in spite of limited food options. Within this context, the reader gets to explore how Black residents of Deanwood navigate their food options and their understandings of the changes taking places in their community. At the same time, the books explores the broader structural forces that have enabled the conditions of oppression faced by the Black community. I appreciated the narrative because the protagonists of this text have agency and a voice rather than being passive. Dr. Reese conducted years of ethnographic research and this is discernible through her hyperlocal focus that explores the history of Deanwood, its stores and its residents, how it was a once thriving Black community, and how the residents continue to persevere in spite of challenges.
September 30, 2020
This book is a highly accessible academic text that holds an important place in the food studies canon. Reese doesn't examine the systems that lead to so-called "food deserts," and she spends time carefully explaining the harm that such terminology has on how we view the agency of the people living in those areas. In her fieldwork, she focuses on learning the stories of the people living in Deanwood in Washington D.C., and how they view their relationship to food. Centering the people that she's studying, Reese deeply investigates the narrative of people who live in areas without grocery stores and how they construct geographies in their own lives with self-reliance and agency.
June 2, 2025
“Consumption decisions as well as how participants discussed those decisions demonstrated a myriad of ways that food consumption is… a reflection of social relations as much as it is about feeding the body.”
Particularly enjoyed learning about “productive nostalgia” as a form of self-reliance - was not familiar with this concept, but found it super interesting to think about memory & imagination as a way to call for the enactment of practice.
I would love to ask this author more about her choice to not include corner stores in this discussion, and would be curious to read her takeaways if she did pursue that research
Particularly enjoyed learning about “productive nostalgia” as a form of self-reliance - was not familiar with this concept, but found it super interesting to think about memory & imagination as a way to call for the enactment of practice.
I would love to ask this author more about her choice to not include corner stores in this discussion, and would be curious to read her takeaways if she did pursue that research
October 11, 2025
~ 3.5 Stars ~
Basic Plot: Ashanté Reese takes us through her anthropological work about food access in Black neighborhoods in D.C. She includes stories and various perspectives from the residents, while including other sorts of data.
My Thoughts: Overall, I enjoyed this book. I like Reese’s writing style, and how she mixed in stories with the occasional facts and data which kept me from becoming disengaged with the information being shared. I also liked how she provided a conclusion at the end of each chapter, restating the point she was trying to get across/demonstrate that chapter. If this topic is something you are interested in, definitely check this book out!
Basic Plot: Ashanté Reese takes us through her anthropological work about food access in Black neighborhoods in D.C. She includes stories and various perspectives from the residents, while including other sorts of data.
My Thoughts: Overall, I enjoyed this book. I like Reese’s writing style, and how she mixed in stories with the occasional facts and data which kept me from becoming disengaged with the information being shared. I also liked how she provided a conclusion at the end of each chapter, restating the point she was trying to get across/demonstrate that chapter. If this topic is something you are interested in, definitely check this book out!
June 26, 2024
incredible ethnography. q bonita representación de localization y community y resiliencia y agencia. me inspiro a querer mi jardín y estar grounded. me recordó de lo radical que son los actos cotidianos.
July 23, 2024
this book was excellent. the conclusion especially blew me away with the authors’ vulnerability and reflections on the farce of objectivity in ethnographic research. i learned a lot and i think it’s a very good example of the type of researcher i aspire to be
July 2, 2021
Nuanced look at the "foodways" of one community that is instructive for many.
April 22, 2022
Used this book as a reference for a paper I was writing. Gave some really great insight.
March 21, 2023
Read for school, super dense but very interesting. Better review to come because I have to write one for an assignment
June 29, 2023
Never done a book club or challenge per contra girls' and I just devoured this book. Topic very close to my heart and believe to my daughters as well. Do recommend.
October 22, 2023
About how black ppl in Deanwood (DC) cope with not having reliable access to supermarkets or grocery stores
August 15, 2024
Easy to understand book that highlights the micro-level food structures in communities facing food apartheid.
May 30, 2025
had to read this book for my anthropology class and tbh i don’t think anything i’ve read throughout my time in college has made such an impact as this one did. will leave you thinking 24/7. a book i think everyone needs to read!
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June 7, 2019363.85097 R329 2019
July 10, 2024
Great book and an important lesson in food sovereignty. I love seeing action being taken to counter racism and gentrification in ways we haven’t thought of before.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews