Jeannine Guttman, journalist, describes her investigation into racism and abuse of undocumented immigrant labor in Vermont’s iconic dairy industry.

Did you know that the American agricultural system could not exist in its present lucrative form if not for migrant farmworkers? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jeannine Guttman, M.S., veteran newspaper journalist and sustainable food systems advocate.  Guttman discusses the role and value of the press, as well as her investigation into the embedded racism and reliance on undocumented immigrant labor in Vermont’s iconic dairy industry.  Drawing from her report:  “Empty cartons, broken dairies: the unsustainability of Vermont’s iconic milk industry and its hidden reliance on undocumented abused labor,” Guttman helps us understand the effects of NAFTA, and how we depend on, yet mistreat laborers from across the border.  Guttman is an opinion writer for the Vermont Standard, and is a recent graduate of Green Mountain College in Poutney, VT.Related website:  www.migrantjustice.net