Author Archives: alnsnchz

Food sovereignty in the Shellfish Industry

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In regards to action projects, I participated in working with the Center for Food Safety (CFS) on creating a sustainable shellfish scorecard. The scorecard can be utilized by restaurant owners, chefs, and consumers who are demanding to be knowledgeable of which shellfish producers follow sustainable procedures. CFS is a national non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy organization working to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. CFS also educates consumers concerning the definition of organic food and products. Producing a scorecard to determine shellfish producer’s level of sustainability with the help of CFS will certainly be a meaningful contribution to the larger community because it will be functional to exclude shellfish producers that execute practices that degrade biodiversity and the environment it surrounds it. 

What I learned through working with the CFS is the idea of food sovereignty and how important it is for consumers to be knowledgeable about the process of how sustainable the food is being produced. Included in the scorecard, are criteria based on the feasibility and sustainability of shellfish producers in the shellfish industry. The criteria includes; pesticide use, transparency over regulations and environmental legislation, seeding and harvesting methods, and lastly, processing methods. This action project promotes people’s right to to healthy and culturally-appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems which are all tested through the criteria we have generated.

Another thing I wanted to bring up is our capability of getting involved in projects like this simply in our homes, and through our computers. I find it amazing how we integrated elements of collaboration, grasping and creating ideas, and completing tasks without ever seeing each other in person. As Karen said, we really are working and living in unprecedented times, and yet we continue to strive for greatness. We continue to do as much as we can to stay involved, despite limitations. Then, I realized that this is the type of vitality we need to make positive changes within the food system. We have to keep educating ourselves, and work together to amplify what the system lacks and the assistance it needs.

In response to: Feeling Hunger: an Exercise in Mindfulness

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As I was scrolling through the contemplative practice posts from last week, I found  Dakota’s thoughts about Feeling Hunger: an Exercise in Mindfulness showcasing the complexity of hunger, very compelling. The post sheds light to individuals who lack privilege and access to food which are negatively impacted by inequalities embedded in the world’s food system. 

In comparison to Dakota’s ideas, this contemplative practice made me think about food waste. America produces enough food to support and feed its population. However, billions of pounds of food are discarded and millions of Americans struggle with hunger. Contemplating about the interdependence of one system to another and its non-linearity, I witness the relativity between food waste and hunger where the changes implied to one system affect the other. Wasting food means wasting all of the energy and the natural resources (such as water) it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. Once food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane – a greenhouse gas that is far more potent than carbon dioxide. 

Source: stopfoodwasteday.com

Source: stopfoodwasteday.com

Going back to Dakota’s point of view, I see the connection between the inequitable distribution of food, food waste, and hunger. Individuals along with manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc, who have the privilege to effortlessly access food often waste food, not considering the fact that millions of people are dying of hunger. Dakota quoted, “I think that food-secure people may not (or, at least, I did not) conceptualize hunger in the same way that the underprivileged do.” I am one of those food-secure people who take access to food for granted and unquestionably discard food, which makes me a contributor to this problem. The interdependence of these topics are apparent and indisputably woven together which assists my understanding of the way systems thinking work and how each factor affects one another.

What do we do to resolve America’s problem with hunger and food waste? Many grassroots organizations such as Feeding America are utilizing their connections (manufacturers, distributors, retailers, food service companies and farmers) and collecting surplus food, and provide it to those who are hungry and do not have proper access to food. Another course of action to combat hunger through food waste is to promote Freeganism. An ideology that was introduced to me by Tristram Stuart, in which is an exhibition of the injustice of food waste by utilizing minimal consumption of resources. They target disposed food that are often gathered from grocery stores and restaurants dumpster.

The longevity of these provisional solutions may be uncertain, but what’s important is that we’re dedicating these surplus food for mouths, rather than landfills. It starts with us. One small contribution could lead to huge impacts that could lead to a major and positive shifts in the system. Let us work together to combat food system problems one step at a time.

For more information about Feeding America, click this link. 

 

My Guilty Pleasure

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Out of all the contemplative practices, my attention was captured particularly by chocolate. I have always appreciated and indulged every single chocolate I have laid my hands on – up until recently. It is both haunting and disturbing; the inhumane activities such as exploitation of workers and child labor associated with something that brings most people pleasure. This contemplative practice made me feel  empathetic to those children who are impoverished and stripped away from their childhood – which prevents them from attending school and living a normal life, spending most of their time working in cacao farms. 

source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/

After witnessing the video of Ivory Coast cacao growers tasting chocolate for the first time and child labor in cacao production, I instantly felt guilt – being a consumer supporting products that are sourced from people that are exploited and had been taken advantage of. Eating chocolate suddenly becomes difficult, thinking about farmers’ lack of privilege to taste chocolate – when their product is its number one ingredient.

Cacao is a multi-billion dollar industry, and yet growers in Ivory Coast are employing children (free labor) but still struggle to make enough profit to provide for their families. Considering the amount of money and power the chocolate industry possess, they most certainly have the upper hand to prevent child labor and exploitation of farm workers by providing a fair and just wage in exchange for their product.

This situation in the chocolate industry is something that I was not aware of prior to the contemplative practice addressing it. This shows that these practices may be difficult to understand for most people like myself, but it is a very useful tool to contemplate the big picture behind things. This specific contemplative practice about chocolate encouraged me to see through a bar of chocolate and think about the unjust practices associated with it as well as the actions that should be implemented to resolve it.

 

Farm workers and Covid-19

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While most of us are in the safety of our own homes, more than a million of farm workers are continuously working to keep food on America’s table.

Workers and advocates are currently concerned about their safety because some farms do not have adequate supply of disinfecting soap and protective equipment, and the negligence of social distancing guidelines. Another major concern is the limited access to medical care and crowded living conditions. Many of the farm workers are undocumented immigrants, and most of them don’t have health insurance or receive sick leave.

The co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which represents thousands of farm workers in Florida says that rural communities like his where most of the workers live aren’t prepared for a health crisis such as the current pandemic.

It is very sad and disappointing to hear these statements in regards to people who put their blood, sweat, and tears to provide food for the people of America. Farm workers are supposedly a part of the ‘essential workers’ and yet, they aren’t receiving the support and resources they need to keep themselves healthy and protected from the virus. Growers say that they are doing the best they can to protect workers, even stating that farm workers are their top priority when farm workers have to bring their own soap and masks because their company does not provide any.

Farmworkers harvest zucchini on April 1 in Florida City, Florida.

Photo: Farmworkers harvest zucchini on April 1 in Florida City, Florida

This is obviously a huge concern. We need farm workers. And if they don’t have enough equipment to keep themselves safe and healthy, this may cause disturbance in the food system, disabling production of food which could lead to a food crisis.

It is very difficult to get assistance especially in times of pandemics like this. Even essential workers are struggling to get all the equipment they need to protect their health. This makes me wonder, who should be prioritized the most?

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/11/us/farmworkers-coronavirus/index.html