As fake news seems to usher the breakdown of all shared perception of reality, the material nature of food and its undeniable impact on whether we thrive or merely survive, forces us to look at the undeniable foundations of social life. As many citizens feel increasingly anxious about their future, the food system – not despite, but because of its failures – could constitute a new field for civil liberties to express themselves, possibly beyond obvious partisan polarization. The desire for healthier eating and more just distribution offers opportunities to identify common goals and values through debate, political negotiations, and protest.
This shift is especially likely at a time when the president-elect’s picks for the new executive branch of the US government suggest that little or no interest will be paid to food outside the perspective of large business and investment. If the right strategies are put into place, the new political climate could precipitate the transformation of what many already call a “food movement,” eliciting participation from individuals and communities that would otherwise feel cut out of the political and administrative processes.
Many battles are on the horizon, from the Farm Bill to forms of support for children and other vulnerable groups, environmental protection, climate change mitigation, and global trade. It is easy to feel disempowered in front of such complex and overwhelming issues. The presence of transnational forces and private interests, which are ostensibly out of the control of voters, exacerbates such disillusion. However, other aspects of the food system do offer opportunities for concrete and effective action. Food in urban environments is among them, as citizens, politicians, administrators, and lobbyists vie for control – or at least a say - over tangible objectives that impinge directly with the daily life and the well-being of all interested parties.
Understanding and participating in these dynamics is crucial as the numbers of city dwellers are growing around the world. Two recent books by colleagues I have had the pleasure to collaborate with at The New School tackle these topics with both intellectual rigor and passion. In Urban Food Planning: Seeds of Transition in the Global North, architect and urban planning scholar Rositza Ilieva examines the development and the current state of what she describes as “an emergent field of theory and practice committed to the design of more equitable, healthy, and environmentally sound agrifood systems by transforming urban and periurban spaces and the social practices that constitute them in cities and metropolitan regions.” One of her more stimulating observations is that food systems are far from working in the public interest, and that until recently local and regional government had actually given up on shaping the field, leaving it open for the private sector to dominate. That trend is shifting. The inclusion of food systems among the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the signing of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact in 2015, indicate that administrators at all levels are now focusing on food and its relevance. In this new landscape, Ilieva believes that urban food planning can turn into an effective tool for social innovation.
Nevin Cohen’s and Krystin Reynold’s Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City takes a more focused approach, zooming in on the specific phenomenon of urban agriculture and its significance in terms of access, justice and political participation in large cities. While recognizing the positive impact of urban farming, they also call attention to “imbalances in funding, access to resources, and connection to key decision makers that gave particular advantage to white middle-class farmers and gardeners.” Race and class dynamics, as well as the unequal balance of power and privilege, take center stage in Cohen and Reynold’s analysis. The authors highlight the role and the work of people of color, immigrants from the Global South, and “low-income and working-class urban residents.” The parallel with kale, which was part of the diet of poor people in many locations before becoming a hip and expensive “superfood,” is evident. As the authors clarify, “moving beyond the kale means looking beyond the trendy aspects of growing food in the city to see people who have been using urban agriculture to make the food system less oppressive and more socially just… The title also reflects activists’ effort to move beyond the conventional rules, institutions and expectations of existing governance and policy-formulation structures.”
Both books provide us with useful information and, more importantly, fresh perspectives about the interconnection of what we grow, buy, cook, and eat with issues of sustainability, access, and justice. A necessary antidote against any attempt at making food look just like a prosaic component of daily life, showing instead its nature as a political and economic arena within which we are called to engage as citizens.