Author Archives: alexjx

A Systems Approach to Racial Justice

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      I want to talk about the racial issues and tension going on right now. I think it speaks to the systemic approach of this class and how there is no such thing as an isolated event. When I think about racial tension, racism and the current protests there is a historical tie and overall a timeline of injustice. 400 years of oppression and the single event of George Floyd’s murder are intrinsically connected, it’s never just one bad cop it is the system that has fueled and allowed for these actions. Specifically when slavery was abolished the police force was created as a patrol to control freed slaves and was also used to maintain slave labor by imprisoning Black people for “crimes” and then forcing them to work as prisoners again. This shows that while it looks like police violence are isolated issues they actually are connected by the fact that the system was created as a racist oppressive force to control Black people. The protests while happening right now, are rather the culmination of 400 years of oppression, government disregard for its most vulnerable citizens, and the final straw of the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others. These events are all connected and show the importance of considering all these factors when talking about racial justice. 

      I think that the food system is actually one of the worst offenders of racist actions. It started with the taking of Native Americans food, and using slave labor to tend to the fields. This doesn’t even stop when the 13th amendment is passed, because convicts can still be forced to work on fields because they’re considered “criminals.” While this practice isn’t used today, there are now migrant laborers who are paid the lowest wages possible. A final problem is the disparity in diet related diseases such as diabetes and obesity. This is primarily because of the lack of healthy resources available in food deserts and low income neighborhoods. To honestly change the food system for better the racism and disparity in resources needs to be addressed first. 

4 Not-So-Easy Ways to Dismantle Racism in the Food System

 

Response to Undocumented Farmworkers are Left at High Risk for COVID-19

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    When I think about food I don’t normally think about where it comes from, I have the privilege of doing this. After reading this blog post I started thinking about the supply chain and how many people my food interacted with before getting to me. The first person was most likely a migrant worker, then people that work in a warehouse, to finally a grocery store stocker. This is just the beginning but it shows that there are many people that will essentially touch my food. Now why am I mentioning this? When thinking about policy and safety during COVID-19, the amount of hands that my food touched is disconcerting when talking about a transferable illness. While this doesn’t necessarily matter in regards to a COVID-19 there is still the issue that farm conditions breed bacteria and illnesses. I specifically think about E.Coli and the amount of outbreaks that cause farms to shut down each year. This happens because of poor conditions, lack of sanitation and bathrooms for farmworkers. Outbreaks like this can easily be stopped by improving conditions and the safety of the laborers. When there is an individual approach to these issues, without overarching changes to the system and conditions, then the trend will just continue and the safety of the whole food system will continually be compromised. 

    Migrant farmworkers have been a staple in this country since the 1800s, the U.S promises a decent job and opportunities that these migrants wouldn’t have in their own country. However, these undocumented workers have always faced harsh conditions and the threat of being deported. Another issue is how many farms call ICE after the work has been finished and the workers don’t ever receive pay for their work. This is obviously extremely unethical but migrant farmers have no federal rights and state rights are far from guaranteeing their safety. Migrant farmers are the backbone of this country and when the country’s food supply relies heavily on this labor, yet they are treated as if they are inconsequential. COVID-19 has shown that essential workers are rarely the ones paid the most, and are the most overlooked. 

Undocumented farmworkers are left at high risk for COVID-19

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/meeting-seasonal-labor-needs-age-covid-19

Contemplative Practice and Hunger

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Buddha says “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” This is exactly what contemplative practice is, it is the guiding of your mind to the present, focusing on your body, feelings and only what is going on right now. When I am in a contemplative practice, time moves differently, I don’t realize what’s going on in the outer world. I think of it as going into my subconscious and I only focus on the important things. As I breath in and out during the practice my personal worries melt away and I find myself completely immersed in the subject. One might say that these practices aren’t actually forms of learning and they actually impair it. However, I argue that because I’m not focused on writing notes or assignments, I’m much more capable of interacting with the subject. The best example of this is the contemplative practice on hunger. In a practice that directly involves the body, contemplative practice is the best form of learning. 

The overarching question I grappled with was; what are the effects of food insecurity? I  feel extremely privileged that I’m just contemplating this and I haven’t had to experience it. There is a direct correlation between food insecurity and health issues. The body is much weaker and is unable to fight off infections and diseases. In fact 3.1 million children under 5 die due to poor nutrition every year. Another major issue of hunger and malnutrition is that it stunts children’s brain development and makes concentrating in school or even getting an education to be extremely hard. This is especially important to mention during a contemplative practice, I wouldn’t have been able to experience the benefits of it if I was hungry. My concentration would be wavering as my hunger overtook my conscious and subconscious thoughts. This question and subsequent feelings are what made this practice the most impactful for me. 

https://www.bbfloudoun.org/news/2019/5/2/effects-of-starvation-on-adults-and-children

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190429-why-food-poverty-is-a-health-time-bomb

  

Food Waste During COVID-19 Panic

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      This article first addresses the issues of food waste and how the U.S already wastes 40% of the food bought and how this will of course rise during this pandemic. There is a focus on food banks and the increased strain on these facilities. It really hit hard for me, at a point in my life my family relied on the food bank and it was extremely essential for us in terms of food stability. I also work at Trader Joe’s and we work with local food banks for donations and I see how this pandemic has affected our ability to help out. However, we are still donating food and it is being picked up so I see that as a good sign that at least there is a push to continue helping the community. Being on the frontline during this pandemic, gives me an intimate knowledge of how the issues brought up in the article are going to affect the supply chain and the food system for months or even years to come. 

       “ Now, anxious consumers who hoarded food may discover there’s no way they can eat everything they’ve bought.”  I saw this firsthand at Trader Joes, the first wave of panic resulted in people clearing out shelves completely, we had almost no product left, and sales were doubled and even tripled per day. Customers would be clearing off shelves and piling their carts high with perishable foods. There is absolutely no way that they can get through all this food, it ultimately will be returned and since we can’t donate returned food it will be tossed. So how exactly do we try and fix this problem? The article mentions a local restaurant in Woodinville that is repurposing food waste and creating lunch boxes for healthcare workers. I thought this was great to hear. However, ultimately this crisis just amplifies current issues in the system such as the food left rotting in fields, and the uncertainty of food banks and the supply and distribution of food to the most vulnerable. There needs to be more cohesive solutions that are on a much larger scale to actually solve the U.S’s food waste problems. 

https://thefern.org/2020/03/food-waste-and-food-insecurity-rising-amid-coronavirus-panic/