The Boston market garden district was a national leader in vegetable production from 1870 to 1930. Suburban market gardeners’ practices both countered and anticipated broader trends in the US food system. For example, intercropping (though long-known) stood well outside the US agro-ecological mainstream. Boston growers also developed the modern forcing house, an engineered greenhouse environment dependent on fossil fuels, irrigation, and commodified insect pollinators. Year-round lettuce from these houses helped prepare the way for consumers to embrace a de-seasonalized, nationalized vegetable supply. This agro-environmental episode shows how the history of local food complicates our narratives about US food system modernization.
The Massachusetts Historical Society will sponsor this December 16 lecture by Sally McMurry, Pennsylvania State University, with comments by Andrew Robichaud of Boston University. The free event begins at 5:15 pm.
The Environmental History Seminar invites you to join the conversation. Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and interested members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper. Learn more.
Please note, this is a hybrid event which may be attended either in person (register HERE) at the MHS or virtually on the video conference platform, Zoom (register HERE) Registrants will receive a confirmation message with attendance information.
