We are the shepherds
Date
2023-05
Authors
DuBow, Benjamin
Major Professor
Advisor
Cook, Kenny L
Burke, Brianna
Tyndall, John
Haas, Barbara
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Abstract
We are the Shepherds is, essentially, a bildungsroman that spans the chasm between industrial and alternative food systems. The story follows a young man named Cory, who works as a short-order cook for a fast-food corporation called the General Gyro Company (GGC). His situation is complicated by the need to simultaneously look after his diabetic-and-obese younger brother, Josh, in the wake of his parents’ negligence and desertion. As he attempts to navigate the exigencies of his life as fast-food worker and guardian, Cory researches his brother’s disease, teaches himself how to cook & shop for groceries, and begins a romantic partnership with a former coworker, Brenda, who introduces them to a small, regenerative community farm, where they begin to volunteer. Despite their best efforts, however, Josh eventually falls into a diabetic coma. In the second half of the novel, Cory moves with Brenda to the Hardy Farm and learns more about the machinations of the food system, and the ways in which the Farm’s practices subvert the dominant model. Cory grows increasingly radicalized in his opposition to the industrial system, and when he learns that the GGC may have had a more than casual influence on his brother’s illness, Cory decides to fight back with acts of sabotage.
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