Food Justice - Nora Berson

For a while now, I've been really interested in learning about and working toward food justice. I've had short-term volunteer stints at places like soup kitchens, community farms or urban gardens in Massachusetts, and a visit to the National Farmers and Ranchers Union in Nicaragua, but I felt I needed to do more critical reflection. I was immensely grateful for the challenging readings on white privilege in food justice movements that Katie assigned us last week for our Identity, Privilege and Social Justice class. The authors discussed case studies of food justice movements whose work was being hindered by unaddressed issues of power and privilege. I will attempt to summarize some of the most salient problems these articles made clear for me, and offer some ideas of how to address them. In case you are interested, I've listed the readings at the end of this post.

One important idea that has emerged is the danger of evangelizing. In international “development” programs, and community food projects within the U.S., there is a tendency for people with white privilege and class power to dictate policies and impose projects. Whenever programs are designed to reflect the ideals of those in power instead of the desires and needs of the communities the programs are supposed to serve, they reproduce dynamics of power and oppression. Although well meaning, programs to teach people to eat healthier by changing their food habits can easily come across as paternalistic. Anytime we make paternalistic assumptions that we know what is best for other people, not only are these assumptions bound to be misguided, but they also insult the intelligence, dignity and autonomy of the people denied a voice in these decisions.

Another shortcoming of the alternative food movement are its very claims to be new, innovative and “alternative.” While it is true that local, chemical-free, polyculture farming may be an alternative to the current system of agribusiness, it is by no means a newfangled invention. Indigenous people have been farming this way for centuries, and it was colonization that violently displaced them and tried to destroy this knowledge. To teach about sustainable agricultural practices without acknowledging the long legacy of these practices among indigenous groups fails to honor this history, and misses an opportunity to learn from people who have roots in this knowledge. In order to nurture a holistic food movement, it is crucial to retain a strong sense of place, and recognize the people with deep ties to that land.



In addition to remembering traditional practices for cultivating food, holistic food movements should celebrate and honor the cultural traditions around eating food. Good food is about so much more than eating the “right” calories. Food should be about sustenance and community. This belief leads me to criticize food aid programs that feed poor people the processed junk that supermarkets overstocked. This reflects a narrow view that food serves merely to prevent starvation. Programs that limit themselves to this goal miss out on seeing food as an important element of culture, and a joyful part of life.

I don't pretend to know the solutions to these issues, but the asking the questions is an important step. I want to challenge myself (and you!) to think critically and inclusively. What is my role? How are societal problems and power dynamics affecting the work of food-related organizations? How can we change these organizations to empower marginalized groups and center their needs and desires? How do we work together to build a food system that works to benefit everyone?

I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to read and talk about these issues, and I want to keep doing so. Leave a comment, email me, and start a conversation. Tell me your ideas, recommend an article, call me out on something. This struggle needs all of us.

Citations for readings:
Guthman, Julie, “Bringing good food to others: investigating the subjects of alternative food practice,” Cultural Geographies 15:431 (2008). http://cgj.sagepub.com/content/15/4/431

Jensen, Derrick, “Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change.”

Mares, Teresa M. and Devon G. Peña, “Environmental and Food Justice: Toward Local, Slow and Deep Food Systems,” in Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class and Sustainability, edited by Alison Hope Alkon and Julian Agyeman (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011).

Slocum, Rachel, “Anti-racist Practice and the Work of Community Food Organizations,” (Oxford: Antipode, 2006).