About Zoe

Political Science Major freshman at the UW :)

Food is a Political Subject

One cannot ignore what is happening in the US right now. Peaceful Protests have turned to rightful riots against police brutality when militarised cops decide violence is an “okay” response to anything they deem threatening. Racism is what built this country and it what it continues to stand on today, from the genocide of native people and the slave trade to mass incarceration and unfair representation in media. Food is a building block of life, and it has been a building block of the United States, as we will always be an agricultural and cultural powerhouse to the world, but how that food is produced and shared is how it becomes political.

Thanksgiving is one of the only true American Holidays, and it is built on lies, deceit, and the mass burial grounds of Native Americans. The hallmark story told in schools is that the pilgrims and the native peoples came together on this day and shared food, teaching each other how to grow different plants like maize, and became the first sharing of culture amongst the peoples. It was a day of a “peace treaty” following the massacre of the Pequot people in 1637, to which the native people were not even invited. The native people did teach the pilgrims how to farm American crops, but the teachers were sold into slavery or died of smallpox introduced by the Pilgrims themselves. It is impossible to partake in this holiday without recognising the false stories used to sweeten the history of the beginnings of American agriculture as we know it. 

Cotton and Tobacco are not food crops, but their agricultural value drove the slave trade in the United States to a massive extent. Black and brown people, primarily from Africa, were treated as livestock to work on farms to make money for their owners. The generational trauma and erased generational wealth of the slave trade have built the culture of racism that is still prevalent today. The ability to own a human being is something that should be looked upon in shame but is still revered by statues of confederate generals, including ones in my own neighbourhood (sign the petition to remove it). Agriculture is what drove slavery to exist and be as prolific as it was in the United States, and without it, the culture of black oppression would certainly not be the same as it is today.

These incidences seem an infinite distance from us, as the past is something we do not have the ability to change, but racist practices exist in food and food culture today. Bon Appetit, a highly respected and revered food magazine, has just fired its Editor in Chief after BIPOC staff accused (rightfully) Adam Rappoport of racist hiring practices, paying BIPOC staff significantly less than white counterparts, not featuring black and brown cuisine as much as Asian, European, and American, and of false allyship by putting BIPOC on camera as just a display of diversity. Black and Brown people’s food is not seen as complicated, mainstream, or high cuisine as its white counterparts that have dominated the food industry, such as French or Italian cooking, when they are often just as complex, and honestly better tasting. Food is inherently political, especially when influence over it is filled with racism. 

Food is important for our health and culture, but when these areas are filled with racism and racist practices, it becomes hard to separate them. Food should be something created with love, not hate or intent to harm. Changing this is how racism can start to become less prevalent in our daily lives, as food and the practice of cooking is something people do every day. Dismantling individual ideas about food and food culture and the racism that is inherently a part of it is important as it will help us move forward.

How are you challenging yourself and the racism in your food system today?

Connections with the World System and Ourselves

Response to Sarah  Champ’s “A refocusing Around Connection”

Feel Connected

This reflection on the Contemplative Practices ties in the very present issue of COVID-19 and the stresses it is bringing to daily lives, and the stresses it puts on the world system. I personally have never felt more transient, with my family’s summer move plans no longer set in stone, all future plans cancelled, and the uncertainty of even returning to school in the fall taking its toll on my ability to feel connected to the life I left (as I am out of state) and even the sense of self I have built over the last year. Sarah feels the same way, as there is both an internal sense of pressure to feel tied down to something, and an external through responsibilities such as coursework and household duties, but an inability to feel a connection to either. People are interconnected, and this sense of connection being disrupted has led to a more systemic approach of every individual and entire countries evaluating their connection to each other.

The greatest impact of this can be seen on the fossil fuel industry. COVID-19 has decimated oil prices as production continues but no consumers are using it, as car use and industrial production are halted due to economic shutdowns worldwide. Divestment in Fossil Fuels: A Preventive Public Health Strategy ...According to Forbes, renewable energy has become more appealing in fossil fuel’s place as they are not nearly as volatile economically, and increase energy sovereignty as constant imports of scarce fossil fuels are cut. Economic bailouts are being drafted for relief, and lawmakers are being given an opportunity to focus relief on more economically viable and environmentally safe instead of continuing to fund the dying fossil fuel industry. Peak Oil and Coal were reached decades ago, and the supply is only fading more and more.

The connection between individuals, the pandemic, and the fossil fuel industry’s future is clear, and it is paramount to make sure that change is enacted for the better.

A Culture of Chocolate

The chocolate I drink is still grown, processed, and sold from the province my grandparents are from. Ancient Mexican tradition regarding chocolate involves no sugar, but plenty of cayenne and cinnamon bark mixed for a bitter warm beverage with unprocessed cacao. My Dad instead enjoys cloyingly sweet Chocolate de mesa as a snack instead of melted to make hot chocolate or Mole. Ibarra is superior to any imitation of hot chocolate, as the large granules of sugar and cocoa melt perfectly into warm milk and the cinnamon smells warm and comforting. Jalisco, the agricultural heart of Mexico, was home to the first cacao beans over 3000 years ago where they are still grown today, albeit far more industrialised and worldwide now than even when my grandparents immigrated to the US. Ethical labour standards and sustainability for the community and peoples producing chocolate are tenants of the chocolate production in this cult-followed product, but unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the chocolate I eat.

I ate a piece of old easter candy for this contemplative practice, a dark chocolate caramel-filled bunny. This is my mom’s favourite chocolate; she is white. Ghiradelli, as part of the Lindt & Sprüngli Group, sources 100% of its beans from Ghana where it is making albeit small strides but strides nonetheless in creating safe and sustainable working conditions and practices for their workers. Providing mosquito nets, investing in community education centres, and training and capacity building for sustainable farming practices. The information available is spotty, and workers are not guaranteed competitive wages or benefits or protection from exploitation that middlemen between the farmers and chocolate producers. The palm oil used for the caramel filling is World Wildlife Foundation certified sustainable, but these certifications are never followed up upon and are often falsely handed out. I feel guilty about eating this piece of chocolate.

Chocolate is part of my culture, my ancestors having drunk it thousands of years before being exploited by the people who made the chocolate we now eat. How many people were hurt in the long history of Chocolate to feed me right now, and how many were people I share blood and history with? As a mixed-race person, I feel guilty that one half of my family is descended from pillagers while the other half were pillaged, but at least it came to a somewhat happy end with me…? The diminution of bad actions and effects ignored in favour of the good outcome is a disservice to those hurt along the way. I am a bit like chocolate in that way.

Me and My dad 🙂

 

 

 

Coronavirus highlights the low-income grocery divide

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/08/amazon-walmart-and-a-coronavirus-low-income-grocery-shopping-divide.html

SNAP food stamp restrictions mean that food shortages affect those already struggling harder, and food stamp recipients cannot buy groceries online, which is the only way those who are chronically ill and elderly are recommended to do to reduce exposure. 700,000 to 1.3 million are estimated to lose food stamp access with Trump administration reductions, further endangering food security. This article details that which we already know, but can now fully see, that poor people are hit harder by everything that happens in times of crisis. This is a systemic issue that stems from poor protections in place for those who require assistance, especially as they lack political power without financial means to bankroll it. 50% of the people on SNAP are children, and the requirement of working 20 hours a week to qualify is unmanageable with layoffs and furloughs that will extend for the next few months, disqualifying those need it to counterbalance increased childcare costs with kids home, and rent/mortgage payments without an income. Some pilot programs in a few states through Amazon and Walmart are allowing curbside pickup for SNAP recipients, but this does not extend to the majority of the people on it. This article is depressing but also reveals what must be done. The working hours requirement must be dropped, as this pandemic has destroyed the ability for most to work outside of essential businesses. Technology must be distributed/funded for grocery stores in states that qualify to identify SNAP recipients online, increasing access and use of the online ordering in states where it is applicable. Most importantly, people who receive SNAP, those at <130% of the poverty line, must be advocated for and elevated to speak on what they need going forward, not just in times of crisis but to secure benefits going forward.