User:Emmazeko/Food Justice Movement

Legend: Italics are sections from original article

regular text is my own ideas and drafting

Health issues
Research links many health issues to the lack of nutritious food, and since food insecurity disproportionately impacts people of color, so do these health conditions. For example, cancer, diabetes, and other nutrition-related health conditions are disproportionately seen in communities of color. According to the Centers For Disease Control, obesity has been linked to a wide range of health problems including Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, various types of cancer, hypertension, and high cholesterol among both adults and children.

''Further, they found that only 9% of East Harlem bodegas carried all 5 recommended items while 48% of Upper East Side bodegas carried the items. This discrepancy is huge[ according to whom?], and is a representation of many communities in America. Since health conditions such diabetes are more prevalent in Black communities than White communities, this creates a cycle in which type 2 diabetes continues to thrive. '' This discrepancy is an example of how structural inequalities such as lack of access to healthy foods perpetuate high levels of type 2 diabetes in the black community.

Food movements and race
''Positionality and the different food movement perspectives. "Pollan’s analysis presumes that food-ways are individual choices removed from their social and economic constraints. In a critique rooted in the environmental justice movement, food justice activists demonstrate that institutional racism, in its intersections with economic inequality, has stripped communities of color of their local food sovereignty, preventing them from eating in the way the food movement describes as proper. By aiming their critique at the structural barriers communities of color face to accessing local and organic food, the food justice movement hopes to craft collective racial and cultural identities through the celebration of particular foods while reaching out to those whose food-ways still reflect the dominance of American agribusiness."''

Paraphrase quote: The food justice movement points out that many food activists and scholars, such as journalist Michael Pollan, fail to account for the social and economic constraints that shape the food habits and choices of certain groups, and overly emphasize individual choices. Food justice activists point out that communities of color have lost food sovereignty, and they note that racism and economic inequality prevent Black communities in particular from having access to sufficient amounts of nutritious foods. This movement aims to reform the food system by addressing such structural inequalities and also by celebrating foods that are of cultural significance to different groups.

The intersection of race and food justice appears in the food justice movement, for example, in the San Francisco Bay Area and most notably in the city of Oakland. West Oakland, historically a neighborhood with a higher Black population, has also long been known as a food desert, meaning residents must travel over a mile for fresh food. Thirty five percent of residents in this area also lack access to a car to drive to a store, a quarter of residents live below the poverty line, and diabetes is three times more prevalent in this neighborhood than in the rest of Alameda County.

On a national level, Black households are twice as likely and Latinx households 1.5 more likely than white households to be food insecure. These disproportionate levels of food insecurity expose the systemic issues at the root of the problem. People are food insecure because they do not have room in their budget to buy sufficient food for themselves and their families, and the fact that people of color are more likely to be food insecure is because they are more likely to live in poverty. This goes back to societal issues of disinvestment in communities of color, with Black communities in particular being less likely to have access to quality education, job opportunities, and knowledge of government assistance programs. This issue was brought to public attention during COVID-19, when food insecurity levels dramatically increased, particularly for Black communities. The pandemic exposed which populations were most vulnerable; Black people are more likely to work in high exposure jobs, less likely to have access to quality health care, and more likely to face bias by health care workers. It is these inequalities that led to the food justice movement in the first place: a movement that specifically addresses racial disparities in the food system.

Food sovereignty in the US
''Food sovereignty is also an important part of the food justice movement in Global North countries, such as the United States. In the United States, food sovereignty is a critical part of indigenous food activism. Indigenous food sovereignty activists argue that indigenous communities have been systematically displaced from their traditional foodways, which has led to mass food insecurity. They assert that the most effective way to achieve food security for indigenous groups is for those groups to be more involved in the production of their own food. Some activists also argue for food sovereignty as a means of healing historical trauma. Food sovereignty of indigenous groups is also closely linked to seed sovereignty and plant breeders’ rights. This is because seed saving is an important practice both culturally and for the preservation of a large enough seed stock to feed communities.''

The food sovereignty movement in the United States was inspired by the Belgium-based international La Via Campesina movement, and focuses on the right to produce food. This movement challenges current neoliberal approaches to solving food insecurity, and introduces a radical restructuring of the food system. Food sovereignty takes a more rights-based approach than other forms of food movements, where every individual has the right to culturally appropriate, sustainably produced food.

Criticisms [new section #9]
Working locally allows organizations to directly solve issues of hunger in their immediate communities, and this work is often successful in providing more nutritious food to disadvantaged communities. However, critics of the food justice movement argue that working locally also prevents larger structural changes from occurring. Most organizations work around the neoliberal food system in place, and mitigate damage done by this system instead of taking down the system itself. NGOs are an important part of the food movement, yet these NGOs require outside funding which some argue depoliticizes the movement. To remain strong in their values and their mission, some in the movement argue that no connections can exist between their organizations and outside companies that do not align with their goals. However, these organizations need money to have a strong impact, and face the challenge of finding a balance between radicalism and realistic change. Food justice has a longer history in the US than other movements such as food sovereignty, and was initially seen as politically strong with its roots in groups including the Black Panthers. However, more recently, critics argue that food sovereignty is leading to more effective restructuring of the unequal food system.

Rename section "Residential segregation leads to commercial flight" --> Residential segregation
possible addition: Another housing issue related to food justice is the phenomena of green gentrification. Green gentrification is the idea that as initiatives to promote nutritious food in communities such as community gardens and farmers markets grow, neighborhoods become more appealing, and attract wealthier residents. These resources which were originally implemented to benefit low-income and marginalized communities then end up being used by more privileged populations. This was seen in Oakland, California when a community garden started by the food justice organization Phat Beets was shown in a real estate ad. Issues such as this one has led to many food justice organizations incorporating other social justice issues such as gentrification and affordable housing into their missions.

Food Justice and Policy
According to Wekerle, food justice has emerged as a way of applying food security and anti-hunger movements to policy. "Theoretically, the food justice frame opens up linkages to a wider range of conceptual frameworks drawn from the literature on democracy, citizenship, social movements, and social and environmental justice."

''Food justice emerged as a way of applying food security and anti-hunger movements to policy by drawing from established social and environmental theoretical frameworks. The food justice movement is related to food sovereignty in that it critiques “structural barriers communities of color face to accessing local and organic foods” (Alkon et al.) that are largely due to institutional racism and the effect it has on economic equality.'' This movement seeks to create equal access to nutritious food for all people, regardless of race, and policy is one mode that this mission is accomplished through. One way that this policy in integrated is through food policy councils, which have existed in North America since 1982. The implementation of food policy councils at the city level has allowed for changes to respond directly to community needs, with communities being involved with the creation of policy.

Fighting for family farmers to keep and sustain their land, or ensuring access to healthy foods to those previously denied affordable nourishment, there are many ways people contribute to remedy the accessibility of quality of food in the US.

Victim Blaming
''Access to food disproportionately affects minority communities, but victim-blaming narratives about them exist. For example, an article published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service entitled "Access to Affordable, Nutritious Food is Limited in Food Deserts", it is stated  states that consumers' demographic and economic characteristics, buying habits, and tastes can explain why stores do not locate in some areas or carry particularly healthy foods. Some criticized that such argument blames the communities themselves for the lack of access to healthy food and fails to acknowledge the historical influences and governmental policies that have marginalized these minority communities.[ citation needed]'' (added citation)