Amanda Baugh

The environmental crisis in America often is considered a white, middle-class issue. Most attention to environmental activism in minority communities focuses on environmental justice. This dissertation shows how widespread environmental concerns became important in diverse religious communities through conversations about food. Partnering with an interfaith environmental organization, minority groups’ concerns about food quality and nutrition translated into culturally-relevant environmental activism. With case studies of immigrant Muslims, African American Protestants, and white Protestants and Jews, this dissertation shows that diversifying the “green” movement requires a deep, contextualized understanding of particular communities, not a monolithic message of “earth care.”