Women And Food Chains : A Dynamic And Diverse System

Former president George Washington once said, “Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man,” (George Washington Quote). Since Washington’s presidency, countless advancements and developments within the agricultural industry have allowed the United States to grow, develop, and become one of the most prosperous countries in the entire world. Nevertheless, this prosperity is also marked by several key historical events, such as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, which have caused the core values and traditions that this great nation was built on to slowly disappear. Today, the majority of Americans have no knowledge, understanding, or appreciation for the agricultural industry, causing them to take for granted the basic necessities they rely on each day. This disconnection has created a gap between producers and consumers, which is known as

As food provides more than just sustenance; it increasingly has come to shape and mediate our understanding of ourselves and our culture.

Ian Mosby’s Food Will Win the War is a comprehensive survey of the policy and social culture around food in Canada during the Second World War. Divided into five distinct chapters Mosby’s central argument is that food served as a catalyst for cultural unity, evolution of political policy and definition of gender roles during the period of the war. The five chapters of Food Will Win the War are divided largely thematically rather than chronologically. Chapter’s One and Five each stretch back a little farther into the prewar and postwar period respectively to provide a proper narrative on the resolution of the malnutrition crisis in Canada during this time.

I chose the topic “food” because is a very essential factor of the human life. The United States surrounds itself with a variety of fast food chains that causes obesity and death. In order to prevent the negative health risks, there must be amends made. Finley suggested that growing your own food benefits you, your health, your health, and even your children.

both argue that food issues should be addressed by public policy. To combat hunger, malnutrition, and growth deficiencies in children, Frank argues that public policy relating to food has to be changed. Poor families should be supplemented with federal grants such as WIC vouchers to care for their young ones. Robertson et al. take a slightly different approach in their article “Food is a Political Issue” by not only holding the government accountable for reducing issues associated with food, but also the food producers and suppliers. Who should decrease the health disparities and care for the disadvantaged members of society? Robertson et al. advocate that although health disparities caused by food have to be primarily tackled through government policies, the health disparities are everyone’s problem and have to be addressed by everyone— from government officials, to religious groups, to the farmers and food suppliers

But, even if local farm women aren’t directly supported, knowing the farm where one’s food comes from also contributes to feminism. As Contento (1980) says, “we need to realize that the moment we rely on someone else to supply us with some food item, we have lost some degree of control over it, both in terms of its ingredients and its quality” (p. 197). In essence, women who take control over their own food, their own health, and their own cooking, end up relying on themselves more than men or society, and contributes to their independence and success as feminists. Feminists are tempted to prioritize food and cooking last, however, “theory is a source of sustenance for political activity… [and] a strong discourse on the kitchen will reveal that daily cooking with a conscience is activism” (Stovall et al., 2015, 113). Women’s work in the kitchen is valuable and empowering, as it breaks down the concepts of man vs woman, humans vs nature (Stovall et al., 2015, 113). Thus, women who take control over their own food, their own health, and their own cooking, end up relying on themselves more than men or society, and contributes to their independence and success as feminists.

But if we join together we could make big changes in one or more ways. The first step toward changing our food system is lobbying together for higher wages and lowering the prices of health foods. Industries are always against raising the minimum wage, because it would lower the need for the underprivileged to buy their cheap genetically modified foods which would hurt those said industries. Joel Berg, Executive Director, New York City Coalition against Hunger said “The biggest problem with food in America is not enough people can afford it. Forty-nine million Americans live in households that can’t afford enough food, so all the talk about organic, locavore delightfulness and fresh arugula is great. But if you’re in a family that can’t even afford the junk food you’re surviving for now, it’s a secondary issue. The way to fix it is the way we almost ended hunger in the 70s: by having more jobs, paying higher wages, and ensuring that there’s an adequate safety net to fill in the gap. It’s quite simple, we know what works, we know what worked in Scandinavia, we know what’s worked in the past in America, and if we do these simple things, we can end hunger in America almost overnight.” Which begs the question why does our government make it so hard to afford food when we produce 30 million tons of food waste each year!

Will Allen’s The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities is not just a book about agriculture, it’s about life. The book is Will Allen’s diary about his past, present and future. This book is an inspiration. Will Allen writes to show us that our past, might always come back to haunt us, but the second time it can be a positive experience based on our efforts. In the following I will provide a summary of the book, describe the importance of the book, and lastly I will provide a critique on Will Allen’s, The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities.

Food is not only a necessity but it is also what defines a person. Different people from distinct ethnicity and social classes have their own particular dishes. Although food is seen a human right, there are some countries that are unfortunately denied this right. Certain countries do not have the resources to attain healthy, fresh foods which influences people to rely on unhealthy foods. In order to impede the growth of this issue, it is important to understand what it means to have food justice, what are the goals to the movement and finally understand how feminism seen as a core factor to be blame for this global issue.

Most people wouldn’t deny that food is vital to everyday life, but perhaps it has more importance than just simply nourishing our bodies. According to Carole M. Counihan, a doctor of anthropology, food is so important that society has constructed rules regarding its consumption. Counihan emphasizes in her 1992 Anthropology Quarterly article, “Food Rules in the United States: Individualism, Control and Hierarchy,” that these rules serve as the “means through which human beings construct reality” (Counihan, 1992, p. 55). Counihan advocates for the importance of studying food rules by explaining that knowledge about how food is viewed in our culture can do three things: improve understanding of other culture’s food rules, allow nutrition

The access and consumption of healthy food is a human right. Food is part of all daily lives, shapes identities and cultures. A food system describes the process that is involved in feeding people. It emphasizes the inputs needed and outputs generated at each step. The food system is influenced by social, political, economic and natural environments. Food justice is “ensuring the benefits and risk of where, what, and how food is grown and produced, transported distributed, and accessed is eaten and shared fairly” (Gottlieb & Joshi 2010, p.6). Food justice is impaired because of economic constraints and social inequalities. Food justice works to bring equality and balance within the food system for everyone. Food justice seeks to eliminate problems that make the food system unjust through its movement that protects the workers, the disadvantaged and even animals. This analysis addresses the challenges that women face within the food system and reveals that feminism aids the food justice movement.

Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio conducted a photographic study of what families around the world eat during the course of one week. They then compiled their work into a book called “Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.” Included are photographs of 30 families from 24 different countries. This photograph allows the viewer to witness the immense differences and surprising similarities in diets around the globe. The photos are beautiful, but it is the questions brought about by the staggering comparisons that make these visuals so provocative. Each photograph contains one week’s worth of food, and the cost spent on that food. One of the families that Peter Menzel chose to photograph was the Patkar family of Ujjain, India. India has a

American agriculture has changed dramatically since the first days of mechanized equipment and large-scale crop production. “Many conceived of farming as a rewarding life . . . and a source of moral virtue” (Mariola, 2005). While presently, many view farming as purely economic in purpose. It has been stated that farming in America is decreasing more quickly than any other occupation. Yet, population increases steadily, making agriculture all the more essential. Many current issues are affecting agricultural progress in America; basic concerns over water, land, and climate only begin to describe the complex predicament. Economics, as well as public involvement and education are important tools, needed to

The dominance of the market-economy worldwide, along with the subsequent rise of the Green Revolution, eventually led to the mass-shipment and globalization of food. In today’s interconnected society, the third- world produces for consumers within western Europe and the United States.(Guptill, Food Access) This market-driven desire to indulge in out-of-season crops fuels demand towards an industrial agricultural system that focuses on cash-crop monoculture (Guptill et al.,Global Food, 125-130).

Throughout the years there has become an ever increasing gap in knowledge in multiple aspects of life. One of the most ever present has been a lack in agricultural knowledge and a growing dependence on corporations and supermarket monoculture to feed the masses. Each new generation has been coming up with new health and fitness issues that could be caused by the new form of supermarket monoculture. Every individual must take responsibility for their actions in this food knowledge crisis and start the change because each step towards a greater understanding and home grown foods will reap benefits in our countries lifestyles.