Food Justice
Food justice, like all other anti-oppression work, is intrinsically interwoven with class, race, sexuality, age and a myriad of other factors that determine and define roles in our society, therefore, the work towards ending hunger isn’t solely about ending hunger just as the work towards racial equality isn’t just about race.
1) What is Food Justice
Food justice is local, sustainably and humanely produced food accessible to everyone regardless of race, class, size, ethnicity, ability, religion, citizenship, or community.
2) Several food justice movements have used the media to shame and alienate Fat people and people of size while their intention around promoting “healthy” cruelty free lifestyle is a good one they sideline an entire population of people by their marketing.
a) A couple examples…..PETA and Slow Food movement ad campaigns targeting POS
“If you're looking for a "miracle diet" you've come to the right place.” Petas home page pledge to be fit for summer and healthy for life.
"There is a war on childhood obesity" – Michelle Obama
institutional Oppression is the systematic mistreatment of people within a social identity
group, supported and enforced by the society and its institutions, solely based on the
person’s membership in the social identity group.
Institutional Oppression creates a system of invisible barriers limiting people based on
their membership in unfavored social identity groups. The barriers are only invisible to
those “seemingly” unaffected by it.
Internalized oppression means the oppressor doesn't have to exert any more
pressure, because we now do it to ourselves and each other.
3) Food justice is a movement away from scarcity mentality towards Nonviolence and abundance
a) Fat food justice movements that counter these anti-fat campaigns and stay in the movement from scarcity and blame to non-violence and abundance must be based in 3 things…
Accessibility – not who needs it but how do we get it to them
Everyone deserves local, sustainably and humanely produced food. Everyone. Not because your going to be fat if you don’t have it or because you are fat so must not eat vegetables and you need to change your ways. But because at this point in our history most all living creatures need to have a local, sustainable and humanely produced source of nourishment to thrive. Thriving is different than living. Thriving is that feeling when you are on track, when you are making more choices than mistakes and you are pointed the same direction you want to be going. Thriving is having a connection and relationship with the with the food you put into your body so that the fuel that drives you is reclaimed in work for the future. living is fine. I have lived for many years at a time but I prefer to thrive and one way to thrive is through the food we eat.
Accountability - from national anti-fat campaigns – not further ostracizing through the privilege of media but committing to become allies to groups of people whom are misrepresented, demonized and disenfranchised, to present a more accurate portrayal of the spectrum of body sizes, types and abilities.
The place at the table to be occupied by POS and Fat people must be defined by us
Inclusivity – the step after accessibility but before accountability. The piece that is the bulk of the work but gets the least attention from places of power. Not just there is a spot for you at the table but where do you want to meet? They need to do it and we need to do it too. Where do we want to meet? What things are nonnegotiable for us and what things can we identify as compromise points?
Organizations that choose to misrepresent and demonize POS and fat people do not get to decide my place at the table of food justice! I define my place and I do that by figuring out what my priorities are, what my resources are and where those two intersect.Make a garden map. That is where we plant.
Where will you choose to plant?
4) Information about Sisters Of The Road work and mission
5) Incorporating Food Justice into daily life (Hand outs available)
List of places to get involved in food justice and websites
A few resources of interest:
http://www.lierrekeith.com/vegmyth.htm
http://kitchengardeners.org/white-house-kitchen-garden-campaign
http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Future_Policy_Award_brochure.pdf
Website for this presentation:
http://fatpanicfoodjustice.blogspot.com/
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