Currently, the global food system exhibits a lot of disconnect. One aspect of the current food system that especially shows disconnect is the availability of healthy, organic, or even local food to ALL. Food is a human right but it is not as widely available as it needs to be to feed everyone, and cheap food is not necessarily the healthiest. Many people cannot afford to feed themselves or their family’s healthy organic food. A popular view is that due to our modern, busy lives, the value of the calorie has gone down. By this, I mean that many people do not realize the implications that are connected with food. For example, while McDonalds fries are loaded with calories, many argue that the drive thru is not the same as a meal at home with friends or family, and it certainly does not provide the same nutritional value. Many food activists adopt this way of thinking, but I feel that they overlook some of the implications that come with modern life.
In the article, the authors claim that food should be understood as “a set of social relations and cultural practices, including foodways and heritage cuisine that constitute a larger whole” (199). While it would be very lovely for everyone to be able to see food in this light, modern life simply does not allow for it. People who work, go to school, have several children, or who are homeless and struggling to even find something to eat all have something in common: they are busy, and often times, struggling financially. While there are some who are able to provide healthy meals for themselves (or pay someone else to), the others are left out. Healthy food that is available is not always made accessible to people who cannot afford to buy it.
One way some areas are trying to implement a local food system is Community Supported agriculture. The authors express concern regarding the nature of CSA: “these types of ‘designer’ food production schemes may create a two-tiered food system built upon class differences”(200). This is an example of how something that is meant to be creating a good, local food system can be viewed as another privilege for the elite. The goal of creating a better food system should be inclusive and incapable of singling out any specific group. The authors address this when they discuss the “end of local”, calling it “a result of perpetual process of structural violence experienced by peoples and communities displaced” (201). Here, the authors recognize the problems there have been with food activism being exclusive.
The communities being “displaced” can include many different kinds of communities, although the authors choose to focus on immigrant communities. The authors claim that due to the resilience shown by immigrants “the food justice movement should adopt an organizing frame of food sovereignty- including the notion that food is not just about nutrition, it is also about culture”(202). Something should be added to this idea to make it more inclusive. Instead of making culture a specific concept to a specific group of people, the culture part of the idea should include something about the combination of cultures. Not only should there be a more inclusive way to talk about different cultures, there should be a way to put the idea of combining cultures without being exclusive into practice.
Today, there are some systems in place that attempt to be inclusive of all socio-economic groups and attempt to reach all “cultures”. One of my favorite local examples is the Springfield Farmers Market, which accepts food stamps/EBT. This makes many people who might not be able to eat without food stamps able to enjoy shopping at a farmers market and buying local, fresh food. While some people might still be less inclined to shop at the farmers market that accepts food stamps because they can simply get more food somewhere else for less, at least they have an option to buy local and fresh food. Obviously there is a lot more that needs to be done, including providing more widespread and affordable education about food and even redefining how people think about what they eat and the consequences of their shopping habits. These are all lofty goals and might be impossible. However I think the Springfield Farmers Market is setting a good example for a other communities in making local food a possibility for everyone.