Navina Khanna introduces the food justice movement in the USA, and how from the corner shop to Capitol Hill, communities are making waves, and fighting for fairer policies in both corporate and governmental sectors.
The food system in the United States is deeply racial. Historically built on slavery, dispossession and the exploitation of people of colour, the food system today continues to discriminate against farmers and farm and food workers of colour. With few shops, communities of colour only have access to cheap, processed ‘junk food’ and suffer disproportionally from diet-related diseases. For these communities, taking control of their food system – from production to consumption – is not a lifestyle choice; it is a matter of livelihood and health. This is the basis for the food justice movement in the United States.
From the corner shop to Capitol Hill, communities are making waves implementing innovations on the ground and fighting for fairer policies in the corporate and governmental sectors. Hundreds of organisations play a part in the movement, as demand is rapidly growing for real solutions that enable access to affordable, healthy, ecological, and equitable food choices. As momentum grows, so too does the urgency. Even while climatic shifts, corporate concentration, and income and health disparities linked to broken food systems accelerate, the many forces that comprise this movement often appear disparate and even at odds with each other. Advocates for improved food access are often pitted against those working for the environment; farmers against workers…
Urban Tilth, a grassroots organisation in California, is one such model. It is reclaiming land for a food forest, planting vegetable gardens and providing food for low-income residents in Richmond’s vulnerable communities. By hiring locally and using consensus-based decision-making, Urban Tilth is keeping the food dollar in the community. In doing so, they are confronting a legacy of racism and classism that has left their community under-resourced and over-criminalised. These efforts mirror those of the Detroit Black Food Security Network and Texas’ Southwest Workers Union among others.
We must share power, control, and management of our food systems. Relationship-driven efforts like these, that work towards bioregional and place-based food systems can build political power, honour ecological limits, celebrate culture and stimulate community growth. As a movement, we can learn from grassroots initiatives such as Urban Tilth, that focus on building the economic and political power of workers to thrive in ecologically integrated farming systems. Together, if we each use our skills, expertise, and relationships to support food justice leaders who are cultivating renewed food systems centered on equity and ecology, we forge pathways not only to empower historically exploited communities, we provide an example of how the food system can be transformed for the better – for everyone.
Navina Khanna
Navina Khanna is a Fellow at the Movement Strategy Center in Oakland, California and an active member of the Food Justice Movement in the USA.
Email: navinamoon@gmail.com
