Tag Archives: blm

Sharing systems thinking in our ongoing advocacy

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As our world grieves in the aftermath of the horrific murder of George Floyd, I have become extremely grateful for the knowledge about systematic racism my education at UW has afforded me. My greatest takeaway from this class was learning to think systematically about the world food system, which allowed me to realize how everything from climate change to land grabs to severe income inequality in the food distribution chain levies a disproportionate impact on people of color in their struggle to access affordable and healthy food. Through course content such as Lester R. Brown’s “Full Planet Empty Plates” we have learned that there is an abundance of food in America, yet the reason so many of our citizens go hungry is because of a lack of income, and ultimately, a lack of privilege in our capitalist system leading to the harshest impacts of food insecurity to be felt by POC and BIPOC communities.

Systematic impact of the Pandemic on our food system.

                         

Examples of the disproportionate impact felt by communities of color.

 

Much of my undergraduate education has been focused on race relations in the America, and I was able to incorporate this knowledge into my group work with Our Climate this quarter. We were given the opportunity to meet with Representative Tina Orwall, who has been a champion for racial equity throughout her career. We were able to advocate for bold, equitable climate change policy with a focus on the disparate impact of climate change on poor people of color. Representative Orwall was extremely receptive to our goals and told us that we had taught her new things about racism in the ecological system. From this, I became cognizant of my power of advocacy and sharing information, as Representative Orwall was able to get us in contact with other relevant politicians and added that she would further research and incorporate our findings into her agenda. Now as we are in the midst of a widespread Black Lives Matter movement, I find myself again as an advocate, and I have similarly been able to share useful information about the systematic racism in the world food system as part of the widespread sharing of resources against racism we are seeing. Just as we have achieved recent policy changes by educating our fellow advocates and putting pressure on our politicians, we are slowly dismantling systematic racism, and I am confident that if we can keep pressure on, we can one day create a just and equitable ecological system for all.

Finding the Common Ground Between Defunding the Police and the Transition to Local & Organic Agricultural Practices

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Our police system and the industrial agricultural practices we have in the US are unsustainable, both in nature and in practice. They have no place in the just, peaceful world of the future. The roots of the police system make it an inherently violent institution, as it has developed from a slave catcher system.  A LONG history of criminalizing Black people, in addition to for-profit prisons in the US, broken windows policing in neighborhoods, and over militarized police have culminated in a disturbingly unjust “justice” system. As it currently functions, our justice system results in violence being disproportionately perpetuated against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. 

Currently, I have sensed a lot of apprehension around the idea of defunding the police, a popular demand within the Black Lives Movement. Common reactions I’ve heard include the fear of anarchy and chaos, crime running rampant, and concern regarding the livelihoods of those who are currently working within the police system. I feel that these concerns mirror the concern that replacing industrial agriculture with local, organic, food-sovereignty centered agriculture would not be sufficient to feed a growing population. 

Based on what we learned in class, I would argue that yes, an immediate, complete overhaul of the industrial agricultural system we have now would not only be unsustainable, but would have some very negative repercussions for the most vulnerable populations. Lower income communities of color and Black communities currently depend on cheap, processed food that is made possible by industrial agriculture. In order to avoid disastrous consequences that a complete overhaul would pose for these communities, industrial agriculture must be dismantled while simultaneously investing into organic practices. For example, instead of having 80% of the Farm Bill go towards food stamps, what if 80% of the Farm Bill went towards conservation efforts and investing into regenerative development projects, like the Sweet Water Foundation? 

The Perry Avenue Community Farm in Englewood, Chicago. This farm is overseen by Emmanuel Pratt, the executive director and cofounder of the Sweet Water Foundation. Read more here. Sweet Water Foundation

The dismantling of the industrial agriculture system will not be sufficient without investment into critical resources. This same argument can be made for defunding, and eventually abolishing, the police. It is important for people to understand that the call to defund the police is also a demand to invest in critical community resources, like social workers, mental health resources, rehabilitation centers, housing for homelessness, and education just to name a few. The investment in these resources will lead to a decrease in violence and crime, working simultaneously to decrease the significance of a police force.

This image shows some of the thoughts behind the Defund the Police/ Abolish the Police Movements. The demands have a heavy focus on community investment. 8toabolition.com

With both of these examples it is important to understand that systemic change is a long-term goal that involves investing in the people and practices we intend to see in the future. It cannot be done overnight, but that should not stop it from being done at all. Here is to a just, sustainable, and peaceful future for all!

No System is Immune: Structural Racism in the American Food System

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This past quarter I had the opportunity to work with a Washington organization fighting to empower the youth of the state to fight for bold, equitable, and science-based climate policies. Through my work with Our Climate, coupled with my politics of the world food system course, I became more educated about the concentrations of power in wealth that dominate and dictate the processes and practices of the world food system.

The richest fifth of the population control 90 percent of the world’s wealth and emit 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.[i] This block of people is mostly white. This fact does not exist without substantial consequences for the rest of the population. For example, 10 percent of white households experience hunger in the United States, Black households experience hunger at rates of 20-25 percent.[ii]

Source: https://alliancetoendhunger.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Hill-advocacy-fact-sheet__HUNGER-IS-A-RACIAL-EQUITY-ISSUE_Alliance-to-End-Hunger.pdf

Food insecurity, as we know can and does lead to inability to attend school or jobs, decreased health and health outcomes, disease, shortened life expectancy, and more. Systemic racism does not solely exist in our legal and governmental institutions. It shows up in the global food system, especially in the American food system. Systemic racism is not isolated to a few systems or institutions, food insecurity is not the only manifestation of systemic racism. Private agricultural land ownership is dominated by white people.[iii] Only 1.3 percent of farmers in America are Black.[iv] Black farmers receive less assistance from the government than white farmers.[v] The list goes on and on.

Source: https://foodfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/DRnumber2_VF.pdf

Systems are inherently interconnected and organized to achieve a function. Yet, our national food system fails Black Americans. Change in systems is inevitable and we must leverage this inherent change to ensure that food systems serve Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color just the same as they serve white people. We must call upon our politicians and listen to Black activists to address these issues.

Lastly, I want to share some important resources, activists, educators, and organizers to turn to during this time.

END NOTES:

[i] Political Ecology of the World Food System Lecture, April 16, 2020

[ii] https://alliancetoendhunger.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Hill-advocacy-fact-sheet__HUNGER-IS-A-RACIAL-EQUITY-ISSUE_Alliance-to-End-Hunger.pdf

[iii] https://foodfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/DRnumber2_VF.pdf

[iv] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/why-have-americas-black-farmers-disappeared

[v] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/why-have-americas-black-farmers-disappeared

– Sophie Stein

Racism in the Food System

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Systematic racism is the basis of every aspect of the USA and the food system has no exception. In the 1600s, the first enslaved people were brought from Africa to America and were forced into labor. This included working on sugar, cotton, rice, and tobacco plantations. This brought on a sense of superiority to the white Americans, seeing anyone who is different from them as less than. The exploitation of many people of color were used to keep the social hierarchy going and it kept money in the white man’s pocket. This past of the United States has helped create the racist laws, actions, and institutions that are here today.

Now that forced labor is seen as immoral, even though it is still happening in the present, people have found a more covert way of keeping people of color oppressed. This is shown through wage gaps, the job market, the housing market, and so much more. A majority of minorities cannot find good-paying jobs with the only reason being simply that they are not white. Because of that, they find themselves working in factories, farms, and other jobs seen as undesirable and underpaying. This means that all the food being put on people’s tables are most likely being harvested or packed by people of color. While they are doing all of the hard labor, it is usually the white people that are in charge, gaining massive amounts of wealth.

Because of the unjust treatment of minorities, it makes it more difficult for them to support their families. It is harder to buy basic necessities, which can lead to a multitude of problems. This cycle continues on through generations because nothing is there to pass on to their children. However, most white people have the privilege and wealth to live healthy and have opportunities to pass onto generations of their families.

These disparities have magnified during the pandemic. For example, the wealthy have enough money to stop working while the poor continue to work in factories, farms or other underpaid jobs to keep food on America’s table and to keep their families afloat. Along with that, the systematic racism in the health care system keeps a lot of people of color from getting access to testing for COVID or getting treatment. 

Racism and oppression are at the very base of what America was built upon. With that, the food system cannot be ignored in this equation. It is often looked upon as a basic process of the way it gets to your fridges and pantries, but it is not that simple.

ENVIR 385 Reflection

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For my project, we worked with Landesa and linked their goals to the relevant UN Sustainable Development goals and then created infographics based on those.

 

We created a survey to figure out what peoples preferred ways of learning on social media were. We could saw exactly what our targeted audience wanted to see in educational social media posts.

 

Knowing that these infographics I made would be seen by an audience for advocacy and educational purposes was really meaningful to me.

This made me evaluate how important knowledge and education is. We made the infographics because there are people who may not know the information we do. Education is one of the only ways for people to gain more insight on a topic. By creating the infographics I was facilitating the viewers learning. This gave me a great sense of accomplishment when I completed my infographics.

This knowledge can be applied to what’s happening in our lives right now. The Black Lives Matter movement has been going on for years. The murder of George Floyd has sparked decades of built up oppression, inequality, and unjust treatment of people of color to be brought to light through protests. The protests have been larger and on a wider scale than we have seen before. I believe that by completing the Landesa project, it caused me to have a different understanding on the importance of advocacy during this time. Landesa asked us to create social media posts for a reason; social media is one of the most powerful tools we have in modern day. Doing this project caused me to be more vocal during this time. It made me understand that by posting on social media

According to neoreach.com

I actually can engage people. If I post informational pictures, stories, and statistics it can promote education and conversation, which is the first step that people need to collectively get together and fight a truly devastating problem that people in this country shouldn’t be facing. It may not feel like you will make much difference by posting, but that’s the benefit of social media, your post could reach anyone, and that one post could be what causes a change.

 

I wanted to connect my learning this quarter to what is currently going on in our society as this has been my primary focus over the past few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Holism & Combating White Supremacy

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Political ecology asks us to recognize the ways in which politics and the philosophies informing our politics, informs our understanding of environmentalism. It engages us to reflect on the evolution of our politics, and in that, we are explicitly coming face to face with white supremacy. Commonly these white supremacy ideologies surface in the pattern of individualism. I argue this to be a counterpart to reductionism (or atomism), which is a popular approach taken to identifying and solving the issues expressed throughout our environment and related fields such as our food system (ex. inverted quarantine). This approach is informed by western philosophies and sciences. It assumes that we may break down complex systems and their issues into smaller parts, tackling them one by one, as a solution. This is based in speculating that a system is no more than the interaction of these parts, and fails to considering the role they play in a system’s whole (which includes both their inputs and outputs). Holism is a shift away from this approach. This philosophy asks us to recognize that the sum of a whole system can not be reduced down to individual parts because they are constantly in relation to one another.

For this course, my group’s action project worked with the NGO Landesa to help develop social media material that would increase the awareness of women’s land rights. To do this in the most efficient manner, we decided to connect this topic to COVID19 by exploring the ways women’s land rights may help to combat the effects of pandemic diseases in underdeveloped communities. Through this research we found that in increasing women’s access to land, a community can find greater success in building resiliency to health crises via various avenues. This project was a first hand experience in discovering the interdependence of what may seem to be an ‘individual’ piece of the puzzle. This discovery uncovered that inhibiting a woman’s access to own land is not only a disservice to her own prosperity, but a disservice to the community as a whole. This is a framework that can be reflected in our own developed country when we consider how racism, sexism, classism, ableism, etc. is expressed within our society. Excluding groups of people not only limits abilities to fulfill their own capacity, but limits the fulfilment of our society as a whole.

Considering our current time, as communities come together to rise up and work towards dismantling white supremacy – it is our duty to recognize all of the ways our white supremacist society informs our decision making and daily actions. Taking the time and effort to adopt a holistic world view not only opens us to the realization that the liberation of black americans (and other marginalized groups) is the liberation for us all, but it is also an action we can take to unlearn deeply ingrained white supremacist ideologies and values.