New Books Network Andrea Freeman, "Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America’s Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch" (Metropolitan Books, 2024)
Oct 17, 2025
Andrea Freeman, a law professor and author who investigates the intersections of food policy and race, discusses her groundbreaking book. She reveals how food has historically been wielded as a weapon of control, from destroying Indigenous crops in the 18th century to current racial disparities in nutrition. Freeman highlights the origins of frybread, the exploitation behind food rations for enslaved people, and the racialized branding of food. She advocates for a separation of nutrition policy from corporate interests, aiming to create equitable food systems.
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Food As A Tool Of Colonization
- U.S. conquest deliberately used food destruction and rationing to force Indigenous dependence and dispossession.
- George Washington's order to “ruin their crops now in the ground” formalized food as a tool of colonial control.
Origin Story Of Fry Bread
- Indigenous people turned government-issued infested flour and lard into fry bread as a survival food and cultural symbol.
- Fry bread became pan-tribal but also a marker used to blame Indigenous diets for health issues.
Commods And Nutritional Colonialism
- Government commodity boxes (commods) distributed processed surplus foods that worsened diet-related diseases on reservations.
- Surplus preservation turned fresh crops into long-lasting, unhealthy ingredients like corn syrup, soybean oil, powdered milk, and canned meat.
