page_title: Tofu Curtain
section_title: Western Massachusetts
hierarchical_section_title: Tofu Curtain / Locations / Western Massachusetts
caption_attribution_description: English: Towns in Massachusetts by combined mean SAT of their public high school district for the 2015-2016 academic year. (Does not include the combined mean SATs of regional vocational public high schools or public charter high schools.) Towns represented in the darkest green have school districts with a combined mean SAT above 1672 (more than a standard deviation above the mean for Massachusetts high schools). Towns represented in dark green have school districts with a combined mean SAT in the range of 1525 to 1672 (within a standard deviation above the mean for Massachusetts high schools). Towns represented in light green have school districts with a combined mean SAT in the range of 1377 to 1525 (within a standard deviation below the mean for Massachusetts high schools). Towns represented in the lightest green have school districts with a combined mean SAT below 1377 (more than a standard deviation below the mean for Massachusetts high schools). SAT data for school districts was procured at http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/sat_perf.aspx
context_page_description: Tofu Curtain refers to a cultural or socioeconomic divide between two geographic regions and the people who reside in them, with the concept of tofu symbolizing certain lifestyles and political leanings. The term was coined to identify trends on either side of a county line in the Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River in Massachusetts, and has also been widely used similarly with regards to gentrifying neighborhoods in Melbourne, Australia. While the Tofu Curtain most often refers to these regions of Victoria and Western Massachusetts, other tofu curtains have been named along similar socioeconomic, educational, and/or ethno-racial divides in various locations around the globe
  The term derives from the political and ideological Iron Curtain that separated communist Eastern Bloc countries from Western Europe during the Cold War. "Tofu" implies a high proportion of vegetarians reside on one side of the divide, and associates left wing politics with vegetarianism.
context_section_description: The line of the Tofu Curtain runs roughly east–west along the Holyoke Range. To the north is wealthier Hampshire County, home to the Five College Consortium of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts. To the south is Hampden County, comprising the mostly working class cities of Holyoke and Springfield, and their surrounding towns. While this southern part of the Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley is the second largest metropolitan region in the state, areas of it are economically depressed, with a deficit of available jobs and average household incomes ranging from $14,000 to $24,000 annually. Meanwhile, the more rural and collegiate areas to the north are home to a preponderance of worker cooperatives and small businesses that often manufacture and sell natural products (such as tofu) to a more affluent population.
  While the Tofu Curtain's distinction is based on U.S. Census data and the repute of the two counties on either side of the Holyoke Range, their demographics are not absolute. Hampshire County being framed as "more collegiate" than Hampden either ignores the presence of the nine additional colleges and universities in the Springfield metropolitan area's Knowledge Corridor or regards these educational institutions as inferior to those of the Five College Consortium. In addition to being populated by affluent residents and college students, economic disparities exist within Northampton, resulting in neighborhood rifts on that side of the Tofu Curtain. Despite the presence of a wealthy college and huge university, 2016 data showed that 50% of Amherst children received free or reduced lunches at public school on the criterion of living in low-income households. Likewise, Hampden county's large working class and Puerto Rican populations have been active in community organizing and progressive politics, activities often associated with the culture of the college towns to the north. The assertion that there is a Tofu Curtain has also been a rallying point for people living and working on both sides of the county line to create equitable systems of food sovereignty, workplace democracy, and environmental justice as means to destratify the region economically while uniting it politically.
caption: 2015-2016 SAT scores by town with the clear contrast between the north and west of the Metacomet Ridge and the Greater Springfield area
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