Food justice movement
The food justice movement is a grassroots initiative which emerged in response to food insecurity and economic pressures that prevent access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods. The food justice movement moves beyond increasing food availability and works to address the root cause of unequal access to adequate nutrition. Like other Environmental Justice initiatives, the food justice movement advocates for rights-based solutions that identify the underlying human rights that allow individuals to achieve adequate food security and nutrition. This differs from policy-based solutions that focus on food availability and affordability by increasing food production or lowering the cost of food.
Food justice addresses various issues such as the ability to grow or purchase healthy food, diet-related health disparities, unequal access to land, and inadequate wages and working conditions in agriculture.
Food justice recognizes the food system as "a racial project and problematizes the influence of race and class on the production, distribution and consumption of food". This encompasses farm labor work, land disputes, issues of status and class, environmental justice, public politics, and advocacy.
Food justice is closely connected to food security and food sovereignty. According to Anelyse M. Weiler, Professor of Sociology at University of Victoria, "Food security is commonly defined as existing 'when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life'" Food sovereignty includes similar principles but differs from food security in that, "Food sovereignty involves a broader vision than food security, asserting communities' power to democratically manage productive food system resources such as land, water and seeds, and to engage in trade on their own terms rather than being subjected to speculation through international commodity markets." Food sovereignty advocates for a shift from corporate-controlled food systems to local food systems.
One component of food sovereignty is farmworker justice. Anna Erwin, Professor of Environmental Social Sciences explained some of the challenges that farmworkers who, "traditionally make low wages, have higher levels of food insecurity than the general U.S. population, and work regularly in dangerous conditions." Many farmworkers in the United States are undocumented immigrants who are less likely to mobilize against unfair working conditions out of fear of deportation and loss of. Farmworker justice highlights the important role of farmworkers in food systems and necessitates farmworker rights to ensure their continued ability to feed themselves, contribute to the global food supply, and protect the environment.
It is argued that lack of access to good food is both a cause and a symptom of the structural inequalities that divide society. A possible solution presented for poor areas includes community gardens, fairness for food workers, and a national food policy.
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations states that the right to food is "The right to feed oneself in dignity. It is the right to have continuous access to the resources that will enable you to produce, earn or purchase enough food to not only prevent hunger, but also to ensure health and well-being. The right to food only rarely means that a person has the right to free handouts."
History and background
Food injustices have occurred since the founding of the United States. Settler colonialism broke down Indigenous food systems and replaced them with settler food systems. European capitalist development encroached on Indigenous food systems in North America, "beginning with conquest over Indigenous food systems as a tool of war, forced assimilation to a settler diet, and finally appropriation of Indigenous cuisine for settler consumption ". Indigenous communities have experienced centuries-long forced dependency on the government that continues to undermine their food security today.In the early twentieth century, Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation, and "relegated Black Americans in the nation's capital to segregated ghettos where housing was substandard, healthcare and education were inadequate, municipal services were limited, and environmental and food security were perpetually threatened by the forces of racial capitalism."
Igor Vojnovic, Professor of Geography and Urban and Regional Planning at Michigan State University, connects disinvestment to food accessibility. "Within this context, considerable research interest has been placed on examining the availability, accessibility, and quality of healthy food options within urban neighborhoods experiencing disinvestment and decline. Particular vulnerabilities have been recognized among poor, minority populations living within cities, who are faced with limited access to culturally appropriate and nutritious food within their neighborhoods."
A study published in 2022 "revealed evidence that living in historically redlined areas is associated with multiple adverse health outcomes including gunshot-related injuries, asthma, preterm birth, some cancer types, heat-related illnesses, and chronic diseases when compared to those living in non-redlined areas."
Individuals throughout the food system have petitioned for increased wages and improved working conditions, adding the treatment of workers to the conversation around sustainably produced food.
Efforts to unionize farmworkers occurred since the 1930s but were suppressed for decades. The United Farm Workers Movement of the 1960s is an example of individuals in the agricultural sector organizing to advance their labor rights, such as improving working conditions and wages for farmworkers. Dolores Huerta and Ceasar Chavez leader this movement, organizing farm labor families in the fields, churches, migrant worker camps, and through door to door advocacy without foundation funding, creating a less professionalized base that was more participatory in nature. These activists were interested in using the UFW to achieve broader social change, recognizing the inseparability of civil rights and economic rights.
In collaboration with California grape growers, organizers of UFW helped workers gain rights to make decisions about health and safety risks in the workplace through collective action. In addition, farm workers achieved the right to unionize, marking a legislative victory for them.
The modern food justice movement was formulated in the early 1960s during the height of the civil rights movement. The Black Panther Party played a big role in the burgeoning food justice movement in the coming years. In 1969, they launched the Free Breakfast for Children program at a church in Oakland, California. Countless cities across the country adopted this model, and ultimately led Congress to increase funding for the National School Lunch Program and expand the breakfast program to all public schools.
A separate sphere of the food justice movement is that of the white community, whose trajectory in the movement differed from that of the black activists. In 1996, the Community Food Security Coalition was an important player in advocating for access to fresh fruits and vegetables. However, this group was composed of all white Americans and neglected to seek input from residents of the food insecure areas they attempted to help. According to Daniel Ross, Director of Nuestras Raíces, food security cannot exist independently of the specific community in discussion because of how central food and agriculture are to a community.
In 1996, the Community Food Security Coalition was an important player in advocating for access to fresh fruits and vegetables. However, this group was composed of all white Americans and neglected to seek input from residents of food insecure areas they attempted to help. It emphasized the consumption of local and fresh fruits and vegetables, and removed race from the conversation. Director of Nuestras Raices Daniel Ross points out that:
...food security cannot be divorced from the issues of concern to communities... food and agriculture lends itself to addressing because food is so central to communities and, if you had working communities, you'd have justice and equality.... At the heart is the element of justice.Other scholars who have done research in food justice and related topics include Monica M. White whose research is focused on the primarily black community in Detroit. In her article Sisters of the Soil: Urban Gardening as Resistance in Detroit, she discusses the work of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network which uses farming as a way to alleviate food insecurity and make political statements. White cites the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2005–2006 to point out that 52.9% of black women are obese, compared to 37.2% of black men and 32.9% of white women due to phenomena like food deserts and food insecurity. Because the socioeconomic status of black communities in Detroit are a huge part of the food insecurity issues black communities face, this serves as an example for the inseparability of food justice movements and social reform.
The United States Department of Agriculture has the National Institute of Food and Agriculture which is a part of USDA's Research, Education, and Economics mission area, NIFA is an agency that uses federal funding in order to address agricultural and food justice related issues that impact people's daily lives. This is a collaborative effort that uses scientists and research in order to locate and find solutions to issues in the agricultural chain. They use science-policy decision making, something to keep in mind when asking what problems are being fixed and for what purpose.