Rotten at the Root Local Agriculture, Jamaican Labour, and Canadian Exceptionalism

<P>Each year, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) brings thousands of temporary migrant workers to labour on Canadian farms during subzero springs, sweltering summers, and freezing falls. In <EM>Rotten at the Root</EM>, Kristin Lozanski exposes the myths of national benevolence that underpin the SAWP by asking Jamaican workers to share their lived experiences of exploitation and exclusion under the program.</P> <P>Lozanski contrasts workers' observations with national narratives that position the SAWP as a form of development that employs happy workers who are grateful for their opportunity. Focusing on food and wine production in the Niagara Peninsula, which supports a refined form of agritourism, she challenges the assumption that local food is ethical simply because it is local.</P> <P>Lozanski's impassioned study confronts the Canadian public image of goodness, insisting that the exploitation pervading the SAWP exists precisely because narratives of benevolence obscure long-standing criticisms.</P>