The Food Justice Social Movement

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Food justice is an initiative set up by society to combat food security and economic oppressions that limit access to healthy and nutritious foods culturally acceptable. Food justice was formed based on social movement theories, and it viewed the available food system as not fair (Alkon & Agyeman, 2011). According to the movements, food production and distribution were biased against the blacks and the low-class people (Smith, 2019). Food justice movements have helped to overcome nutrition issues such as dominance, food security, racial, and gender biases.

Urban theorists came up with the urban planning theory build on the scale to globalization; they debate that scale is not standard or fixed but created and that social movements more often work globally. It is viewed that within a globalized environment, there are network creations that operate within local, intermediate and transitional levels (Brons & Oosterveer, 2017). This theory points out the concept of resistance and self-dependency and directs networks and movements that link issues and scales. The state is also discussed for its role in promoting or hindering food justice movements by the policies they put in place. This theory influenced the movements to be soft oppositions to the global economy, and it informed them to be resistant to the global scale.

A theoretical framework of place-based movements argues about how food justice movements were held in place, their culture, daily activities, knowledge, and policies. The theory argues that place-based movement strategy enhanced the identity and defense of a movement. Place-based movements are viewed as advantaged because they can participate in locality production by setting up politics of scale from the ground, enabling a simultaneous focus on locality and state partnerships. Place-based theory informed the movements to be democratic and self-servicing in their activities and daily practices.

The movements were created to solve food issues that affected the communities objectively. The key goal was to promote food security to combat hunger and provide essential daily meals. Family empowerment was also an objective whereby the movements aimed at ensuring families could sustain their land and guarantee them access to healthy foods (Gottlieb & Joshi, 2010). Food justice movements also target opening up opportunities for community members to network with food producers and distributors. Linking consumers and producers would also solve class and race boundaries, promoting equity amongst the parties (Smith, 2019). Dominance in the food industry by food companies would negatively impact people. The movements provided an economical alternative source of food, discouraging dominance.

Though the activists aimed to solve food issues affecting the community, it is clear that they primarily focused on helping discriminated groups. They fought mainly for female rights in the food system as they are overlooked by other institutions (Allen & Sachs 2007). Some of the feminist possibilities in food justice include a push for increased wages. Their work is directly related to their ability to feed their families; hence, they will want an increased salary. There is also a possibility of feminists trying to address food gender bias. According to Avakian & Haber (2005), histories of women and food are interwoven, and several books have been written to highlight the relationship between the two. Feminism is about equality for both genders, and feminists will try to balance gender roles regarding food.

Almost every woman takes most of their time sorting food-related issues. The responsibility of feeding a family serves shows how women have been oppressed and exploited. Most mothers tend to feed their families well but deprive themselves of food (Arlene & Barbara, 2005). Despite the sacrifices to feed their families, they have little power in the household. In the events of food shortage calamities, it has been noted that women and girls suffer more compared to their male counterparts (Johnson, 1997). Women’s subordination has been reduced to food matters; they engage in the majority of food-related duties. Through the movements, women have networked to restructure the food system to enable them to access healthy food and give them a voice to air their issues (Allen & Sachs, 2007). The movements aim to solve gender relations in the food system by dealing with women’s relationship to provide food.

The intersectional theory is an analysis framework used to study and understand how people’s social and political aspects are used in discrimination and privileges (Hoskin, 2017). Intersectionality points at various advantages and disadvantages, and aspects used include gender, sex, race, sexuality, religion, and class. The theory started as an exploration of black women’s discrimination in society. A black woman is likely to be discriminated against access to culturally acceptable healthy foods due to her race, and this privilege would be accorded a black man (Hoskin, 2017). The aspects of race and gender have been used as an oppression factor on the black woman. From the point of food justice, racial injustice was an aspect of concern because black people were denied the opportunity to keep their lands and access healthy foods with cultural acceptance.

The movements formed earlier exclusively pertained to the concerns and struggles of white women to help gain equity between white men and women. No attention was given to race, class, and gender, giving room for oppression amongst black and low-class people. It was based on race, gender, and class that black and low-class people had no access to healthy food. In conclusion, the efforts of the movements helped solve issues of food security and fairness.

References

Alkon, A. H., & Agyeman, J. (2011). Cultivating food justice: Race, class, and sustainability. MIT Press.

Allen, P., & Sachs, C. (2007). Women and food chains: The Gendered politics of food. International Journal of Sociology of Food and Agriculture. 15(1), 23-40, Web.

Avakian, A. V., & Haber, B. (2005). From Betty Crocker to feminist food studies: Critical perspectives on women and food. University of Massachusetts Press.

Brons, A., & Oosterveer, P. (2017). Making sense of sustainability: A practice theories approach to buying food. Sustainability, 9(3), 467. Web.

Gottlieb, R., & Joshi, A. (2010). Food justice. MIT Press.

Hoskin, R. A. (2017). Femme theory: Refocusing the intersectional lens. Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice, 38(1), 95-109. Web.

Johnson, A, G. (1997). The Gender knot: Unravelling our patriarchal legacy. Temple University Press.

Smith, B. J. (2019). Building emancipatory food power: Freedom farms, Rocky acres, and the struggle for food justice. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(4), 33-43. Web.

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The Food Justice Social Movement

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