I was quite surprised when I read this part in the article “…many African American came to prefer the anonymous supermarkets because they were not a site of racist practices as were the small, corner stores.” Because I go to those big stores for convenience of being able to find products of different categories at one-stop and usually cheaper than smaller stores, I was assuming other customers who shop there were thinking the same or similar to mine. Of course, I know that all African Americans shopping at large supermarkets have that racial issue in their minds, however, it may be interesting to take a survey for any specific reasons why they shop there.
To me, recent food movement somehow reminds me the history of colonization. According to the author, many food movements are guided by whites (I do not personally like this word but in this paper I will respect how the author refers to them), and often their beliefs and practices on food matter is forced to the other groups of people. Until I came to the US, I have not particularly cared about colour or race of people; it was simply either Japanese or foreigners so I can decide the language to communicate with them. Unlike the US, Japan does not have many immigrants in the society so may be that was why it just did not occur to me to think much about it.If someone lives in a country like Japan where population is homogenous, all the issues about the race is a new topic and because of that I might be able to add some fresh thoughts into the discussion.
Here, I am taking the class about the food systems in the US, yet somehow I am reading the article focused about racial issue. It is quite confusing to me. Why racial topic has to come into play in food problems? In my opinion, race does not decide anything about culture or practices people have because race is that people born with and not gained after. So there can be people such as a white woman who does not care even a little bit about what the food she is about to put into her mouth contains. Food dye, GMOs, pesticide residue, etc. but she simply does not care. On the other hand, here is a black man who is very concerned and eager to know about how the vegetables were grown in which farm by what methods and seeds are used before putting into his shopping basket. So, to me, food issues discussed in this article does not have much to do with race, it is more about culture and practices of people. To make the food matter even more complicated is that no matter where you from, people are hesitant for a change in general. When it comes to food habit, that tendency seems to even get stronger. As a result, there is going to be some sorts of conflicts in the course of altering people’s eating habit and no way to avoid it.
As the author mentioned, use of the phrase “food desert” is definitely a target for some discussions. If someone asks where you want to go for a fun trip and probably you will not answer “I want to visit a desert” because it does not really let you dream about your vacation. In addition to the negative image it already has, I think “food desert” also gives similar impact as “malnourished children” that are often used in some helping organizations advertisement posters. It meant to make you feel sad, emotional, and all sympathetic for the unfortunate young children so the organizations would have more chance of obtaining donation from you. It is not because you learned and understand the situation behind the picture of children by seeing the ads, but you want to donate money because you might have felt bad or perhaps even felt guilty living a good life compare to them. That strategy probably works and may earn some money from time to time, but it does not really help solving the situation from its cause. For the food problems, we should not just give people food but instead we teach them how to produce their own food. In this way, they know exactly what it takes to obtain food so less chance of them wasting compare to food just given. Also, they will have to keep it sustainable and not letting tragedy of commons to happen.
After taking several classes relating to environmental issues, I am repeatedly seeing these food movement articles talk about alternative food practices that is better, efficient, affordable, and sustainable. Is it really realistic? To me, it always sounds like such a utopian idea that will not easily come true anytime soon. It will be great if we can reach the food utopia soon, but seemingly it will take more time and efforts. And even still the utopia may not come. Food movement does not have to be a big event for the society as a whole, it can be done by each person. If the movements are keep hitting the walls then may be it is not the time yet. Because if there are enough people with the same ambition, movement can naturally occur with much higher chance of succeeding. Until then, I think there is no need to hurry and push people around against their preference just because “some people” are so concerned and paranoid about their food.
Cited
Guthman, Julie. “Bringing Good Food to Others: Investigating the Subjects of Alternative Food Practice.” Cultural Geographies 2008.15 (2008): 431-47. Print.
I think that Guthman’s ideas are interesting but not exactly valid like you have stated. I, also, do not like the term “white” that is used in this article. I think it’s interesting that so many “whites” are involved in the food change movement but she never really stated any solid statistics, just field studies and interviews. Do you think that there are larger things to address in our food system other than racial issues? Or is this the most important component to change?
The author of this blog does a good job illustrating Gunthams ideas of alternative food systems being forced on people of color. It was also interesting to hear race issues from their perspective, I never really thought about homogenous societies and race. My question would come in response to the last paragraph. If we don’t take steps for these food movements, how will we be able to change our current food system which is environmentally unfriendly and heavily relies on petroleum? If we don’t change this system, doesn’t there seem to be some large catastrophe in the near future?