Food Justice Movement Research Paper

The alternative food movement in North America, manifesting largely through farmers’ markets, encourages people to buy local, eat organic, and to support local farmers, however these spaces are rarely reflective of the diverse population of farmers and buyers in the city (Gibb & Wittman, 2013). Moving from a personal to a political narrative, localisation is presented as the way to address social injustices and environmental degradation, working against our current destructive global agri-food system (Allen 2004,2010). Advocating for individuals to buy local organic food is seen as ‘voting’ for “healthier more authentic lives while making positive social and environmental change” (Alkon & Agyeman, 2011:2). Consequently, the concept of ‘local’ food and ‘just’ food are viewed interchangeably by certain actors in the food movement through the increasing integration of the word “justice” into their webpages, non-profit names, and programs (DuPuis, Harrison, & Goodman, 2011). However, I argue that the conflation of local food as “just” by alternative food movements in North America reinforces racial inequities and excludes those most harmed by the current food system, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. As such, this paper proposes the concept of “reflexive localism” as proposed by DuPuis, Harrison, & Goodman (2011) as an approach to address this process of exclusion.

In Raj Patel’s novel Stuffed and Starved, Patel goes through every aspect of the food production process by taking the experiences of all the people involved in food production from around the world. Patel concludes by eventually blaming both big corporations and governments for their critical role in undermining local, cultural, and sustainable foodways and in so doing causing the key food-related problems of today such as starvation and obesity. In this book of facts and serious crime, Patel's Stuffed and Starved is a general but available analysis of global food struggles that has a goal of enlightening and motivating the general Western public that there is something critically wrong with our food system.

In Nicolette Hahn Niman's article, "America's Good Food Fight" the author illustrates the benefits of supporting local farming and the problems with argibusinesses to advocate a change in public policies. Niman describes her personal experiences with her family opinions on the food comidities at a family dinner, while going into even further detail about government policies and background knowledge. Niman advocates changes in public polies in order to give the public a larger idea about what the government is doing to our produce.

Food, health and family Food politics has been a major topic since the 1980’s. The production of processed food that Americans consume has brought an extreme depression on American families and their health. The bad food that American families have been consuming has brought an epidemic of health problems, and a decrease in the American family bonding ,that once used to be so cherished. In “The food movement, rising” by Michael Polland, he describes the negative impact food production has had on American families.

This sector sustains hunger, which in turn sustains their livelihood, at the expense of societal progression and the well being of some of our most vulnerable people. He states that anti-hunger organizations should align with ‘’the goals of the progressive community… with direct alliances with labor, food system, public health and other progressive organizations’’ (270) in order to move towards ending

After watching the movie, Food Chains, and the video, Food + Justice, I found that the two were very similar in the ideas that they expressed regarding food politics and justice. Both sources included information that could be applied to the international scope. For example, both addressed the history of farm workers and their exploitation through history. It was, at first, the exploitation of natives and of slaves, and then it became the exploitation of modern day slaves, which are mostly immigrant workers. The examples used in both were of African American slaves and then of workers that had come from their home countries to work elsewhere (usually in hopes of a better life for them and their children). In addition, both addressed economic justice and fair wages for these predominantly immigrant workers on food systems, as they are paid very low wages for work in difficult conditions and are not always given a consistent pay (as it depends on the season,

In the Journal “Decolonizing Food Justice: Naming, Resisting and Researching Colonizing Forces in the Movement” the author Katharine Bradley and Hank Herrera talks about how there's this disconnect of diversity in food justice and how food is being distributed. Activists on this topic speak about how based on your race and class is how you are accessing to these healthier options of food in the United States. There is this group called Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), that is, a group to work on the gap of how certain demographics are receiving food. Moreover, it is a network of activist that work with low-income communities, and ultimately are standing for food justice. The food movement is really connected and is in a lot of ways

I recently did a Food for America project, which is a project on basically anything having to do with agriculture, presented to children in my town and too many others. For my project I chose to do Shribers Foods. If you don’t know, Shribers is a company that makes dairy products all over America. Shribers was even kind enough to donate some cheese to my group as samples for the children to whom I presented. That is an excellent example of how adults can help out. I’d like to connect FFA and Young Farmers Farm Wives of America, because if everyone grouped together we could make Food for America bigger and better each year, by having more things to see, especially things the FFA students don’t have or couldn’t acquire, but that could be brought in from the young farmers to do a presentation over, then more education is spread to the younger generation.

Food security is a basic human right, which is essential for life. It exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active lifestyle [Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 1996]. Food insecurity at household level can be referred to not having sufficient food; experiencing hunger as a result of running out of food and being unable to afford more; eating a poor-quality diet as a result of limited food options; anxiety about acquiring food; or having to rely on food relief (Rychetnik et al, 2003). At community level, food security also depends on the availability and affordability of a variety of food items sold through retail and other food resources [United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2015a]. The geographical areas where accessibility to affordable and healthy food (especially fresh fruits and

In the Sex and Social Justice by Martha C. Nussbaum, She believes that without certain traits, a life will fall short of being a good life. She calls these traits, “Central Human Functional Capabilities”, and there are ten in total. She argues that the role of public policy should focus on those capabilities in order to ensure and promote a good quality of life for a society or country. If public policy focused on the Human Capabilities she discusses, than that is a way of creating an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity at a good life. So, she is also promoting a chance of survival, equality, and a good life. Before goodness can be defined, two things must exist: the ability to survive and an equal chance to do so for everyone. When good can be simplified to mean healthy, an environment for all must be created to be good or healthy. There is a typical group that does not meet one of the Human Functional Capabilities, bodily health and integrity which is “being able to have good health, including reproductive health; being adequately nourished; being able to have adequate shelter” (Nussbaum). Nourishing or providing shelter to homeless people is an example of a good act because it provides people an opportunity to have a central human functional capability that they are lacking of, and promoting a healthy environment.

The idea and purpose of social movements in politics can be essentially derived from two basic political theories, V.O. Key’s Three Part Political Party Model and Albert Hirschman’s theory on Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. In V.O. Key’s model the citizens of the country are the party in electorate, they make up the base of the party and who office holders should answer to in a responsible party. In a political arena these people who form the party in electorate have three options at all times, remain loyal to the party/system, exit the party/system, or use their voice to convey their opinions and grievances. That last party is where social movements come into play. People join social movements and band together when they feel they are not being

All food should be available to all people. The concept of this is dwelled on in the article, “Food justice and Food retail in Los Angeles” by Mark Valliantos. Throughout the article, Valliantos maintains the notion that healthy food should be within everyone’s reach, yet inner cities are still suffering from shortages of fresh produce. To see this issue in action, Valliantos documented this reoccurring phenomenon in Los Angeles. The author gives a description of two areas within the city of Los Angeles, and how they are economically divided based on the amount of healthy produce one has at its disposal. He makes note of programs that already exist to help low income families receive healthy foods that they could not afford. He also

“Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations…[and it] offers a strategy to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime… Food sovereignty implies new social relations free of oppression and inequality between men and women, peoples, racial groups, social classes and generations. (Via Campesina 2007).”

Like all revolutions without a strong leader to connect the people to a goal, it quickly fades away. Will Allen’s “good food revolution” is definitely achievable and will ultimately bond communities and cities together and bring healthy living and fresh produce in urban and suburban living. However, the real question is really who will stand up and lead in their own communities. Without strong leaders who show the community healthy living and cooperate with local business and farms, this dream is only a whim.

Food security is historically defined as the overall regional, national as well as global food supply and shortfalls in supply as associated to requirements (Foster, 1992). The same author contended that, even though, the increased observation of differences in the sufficiency of food intake by certain groups despite overall adequacy of supply, the term has been applied recently at a local, household, or individual level and it has been widened beyond notions of food supply to include elements of access (Sen, 1981), vulnerability (Watts and Bohle, 1993), and sustainability (Chambers, 1989). Different organizations, scholars and institutions define food security differently. However, basic concept remains the same.