The Hands that Feed Houston - An Interview with Amy Scott
The Hands That Feed Houston
In her show The Hands That Feed Houston, photographer Amy Scott zooms in on the daily lives of farmers, and in doing so opens our eyes a little wider to the work—the challenges, the ups and downs—that goes into growing our food. It’s a beautiful case of each picture speaking a thousand words. Edible Houston had a conversation with her.
With The Hands That Feed Houston, you put a spotlight on small farmers and their livelihood from a closeup perspective. Literally, with your lens, but also from your personal background as a small farmer in New Jersey before you moved to Houston. Can you tell us a little more about your motivation to do this project?
I was a small-scale vegetables farmer for seven years, three of them as farm manager of a 25-acre organic vegetable farm in central New Jersey. I loved farming and thought I would do it for the rest of my life, but daily life was filled with difficulties and in our farming community we often discussed the challenges of having a customer base that didn’t always understand what it took to get food to their tables.
We believed that if the public understood what it took to grow food, they might be willing to pay the prices we had to charge to make a decent living.
After coming to Houston, I took a break from farming and pursued my photography full-time. But I missed the farming life. I decided to find a way to bring my passions together and apply for a grant provided by Houston Arts Alliance and the City of Houston to convey what it takes to get food to tables. My hope is that this project visually captures the dedication, passion and perseverance of the farmers and ranchers who feed Houston.
Spending all this time with farmers, in the field, what would you say are some of the biggest obstacles they deal with on a daily basis?
Every farmer and rancher I worked with is worried about money. They worry if they can ultimately support themselves, their business, their families. Most are also worried about access to and the cost of health care. Each one is always hoping, strategizing and working towards having a more financially sustainable business and life. Each farm business is at the mercy of the weather, market prices, pests and disease, and this causes a lot of daily stressors and concern for the future.
What will The Hands That Feed Houston show us, the audience?
The Hands That Feed Houston is a window into farmers’ and ranchers’ everyday lives. It’s a celebration of the work they do, while being candid about the challenges. The audience will be inspired and surprised by what they see—not only the details of lives, but also the incredible diversity of our farmers. We’re in the most diverse city in the United States, and that’s reflected in our farmers too. They represent different cultures, races, genders and ages. Some of them came from farming families, and others are first-generation, but they’ve all dedicated their lives to do work they find meaningful, essential or simply gratifying.
In today’s culture, farmers are either invisible or romanticized by the outside world, and The Hands That Feed Houston is here to share a real piece of their lives and the work that they do.
The Hands That Feed Houston (thehandsthatfeedhouston.com) opens Nov. 3 and runs through Nov. 11 at Flatland Gallery, 1709 Westheimer Rd. Events include a “meet & greet the farmer” Q&A on opening day and a “Farmer To Table” dinner with Chef Evelyn Garcia Nov. 4.
