speaking truth to power: reimagining our collective relationship to food

talking with my colleague today at work, just before our HUD audit, i really began to consider the divergent threads within the ever-expanding narrative of “food justice.” i made the case for the emergence of the theoretical framework for food justice deriving from the nexus of theoritical interfacing together with praxis research and lived experience during my dissertation coursework at university of washington in seattle. but i remember that other initiatives, especially in NYC, note how food justice starts from the premise that access is the central issue that goes beyond a human rights framework and advocacy to consider systemic gaps in equitable distribution, consumption, and “just” spaces. food justice calls for a community organized response to access inequities - responses that are locally driven and owned. so what is the collective relationship to food and food systems in our communities along the border? is the label ‘food desert’ indicative of how the issues are framed FOR us? are we still determined and delegated and decided upon? how do we own and drive and mobilize our own local food networks, our own culturally, historically, and ecologically appropriate value chains?a dominant reality is one of small, corner stores selling cheetos and coca-cola to marginally intersted youth who beg for healthy spaces to move around in. despite of, or maybe because of, the landscape of fear cultivated along the border, vandalism and gangs aren’t as prevalent as they are in major urban centers that aren’t surrounded by such ambiguous rural communities spread through vast desert ecological zones where collective action of any sort is impeded if not derailed by sheer distance needed to travel in order to “gang up” on anything - to tag or to change policy.

i would like to take this time to reimagine our collective relationship to food in meaningful ways that go beyond anecdote, rhetoric, generalization, liberal politics, to see what is really happening on the ground. goddess bless our community gardens and our sustainable farming initiatives and our food justice promotora training curricula. light a candle for us.

more forthcoming…