The Fight for Food

by Cristina Flores

In the previous blog posts I’ve written, all have ended in some sort of call to action--being more aware of where your food comes from, who makes it, and who ends up benefiting in general from your purchase. And while I believe that there are people out there who choose this more conscientious path to consumption, there are others who decide to blindly follow in the same footsteps. Those individuals, who tell everyone they know about “that great organic and local kale they bought the other day”, post about it on social media, and act as “woke” members of society because of it? Not really the call to arms I’m looking for. Even if they seem to be contributing to an increase in local produce and markets, this can become problematic in other ways.

“But why are you so up in arms about it? Regardless of whether or not someone does it for the likes, it’s still a different means to the same end, right?”

Not necessarily. In Warren Belasco’s Food, he opens up the fifth chapter with a quote from a report on the East India Company: “We taste the spices of Arabia yet never feel the scorching sun which brings them forth”. This quote is used to refer to consumers who purchase and utilize goods almost mindlessly, not thinking about how their sugar came to be on their table, and certainly not questioning the process of how a chicken was shaped into the dinosaur nugget that’s now on their plate.

But let’s extend that idea a little further.

The “scorching sun”, which in this context would equate to the amount of life exchanged, used, and sacrificed, is not only limited to just the lives of the agricultural workers who collect your kale, or the slaughterhouse workers who slice up your chicken into “fun size” bits. In fact, I would argue that these lives can also extend to individuals living in your same state, your city, your neighborhood, and even your very own street.

As the demand for more conscientious and ethical foods increase, shops like Whole Foods and New Seasons have been emerging left, right, and center. With a focus on promoting local shops and businesses, they not only provide ethically produced foods, but also offer support and services to nearby impoverished communities in need of food. Ideally, they would be killing two birds with one stone--appealing to the masses in search of locally grown kombucha while providing for people too poor to purchase their cage free eggs sounds pretty great, right?

But unfortunately, we don’t live in such a happy world.

In the South Park episode The City Part of Town, everyone in the city of South Park gets ridiculed by Jimmy Fallon during his late night show. This distresses the population, causing the people to frantically search for a solution that won’t make them appear as bigoted and ignorant as Jimmy makes them out to be. One of South Park’s citizens, Randy, proposes that a Whole Foods should come to their town, in the hopes of South Park appearing more “socially conscious” in the eyes of the media. In order to draw in the attention of a Whole Foods, however, the town creates the “SodoSopa” district, an urban development project to showcase their progressive and quaint ideals. This, however, is done at the expense of eradicating the most run down part of the city, where Kenny’s house is located. The town justifies their actions by informing Kenny’s family about the great opportunity to live in such a revitalized part of the city. Ignoring the family’s qualms, the town moves ahead with their development.

Coming to a devalued neighborhood near you!

To add insult to injury, the SodoSopa district is built around and on top of Kenny’s house, inviting the well-off with local and exquisite dishes while effectively keeping out Kenny’s family due to cost. His younger sister craves the ice cream sold at one of the bourgie restaurants, to which their father angrily yells that they can’t afford it, and tells her to get a job. A pre-existing local restaurant, City Wok, is hurt by the dwindling customers all flocking to SodoSopa’s fancier establishments instead. And despite fierce attempts to take back his community, the town’s efforts finally prevail over Kenny’s. A Whole Foods is then born, almost invading the space of the City Wok in front of it.

Much like in South Park, several cities across the nation have been subject to gentrification at accelerating rates; 20% of lower income neighborhoods have experienced gentrification since 2000, compared to only 9% in the ‘90’s. South Park’s real life equivalent rests in the heart of Portland, Oregon, where a massive 58% of these lower income neighborhoods were “revitalized” in the form of small tea shops and local boutiques. These small local businesses have attracted those well off enough to purchase their goods, and with it, an influx of progressive ideas that covered all bases. From where they purchase their clothes, to where they can grab the season’s apples, tastemakers with firm ideals have swarmed to the city, pushing out the old to make room for the new. Clouded by the belief that their support in local businesses is enough, not much thought is given into the families that are like Kenny’s, who are now surrounded by a sea of expensive produce and other goods that they can’t afford to buy. Washington, D.C. has also seen its fair share of gentrification--Ward 3, the land of the wealthy, has eleven full-service stores. In comparison, Ward 8, host to the district’s highest poverty rates, has only three full-service stores available. And despite efforts to support local businesses, Whole Foods has even planted itself where former businesses once stood. Even in our “modern” century, food continues to be an “act of conquering”, pushing out what displeases us to make way for what does satiate our appetites. Even markets oriented at providing ethically produced goods can’t escape the ropes of capitalism. Those families that New Seasons and Whole Foods provide food to? Those families might as well be the same families they pushed out to the corners of the city, forced to look for cheaper food elsewhere. While buying your local kale might seem to you as if you’re contributing to a better society, you might in fact be contributing to another problem altogether.

So now the question is, how can we fully support those communities affected by food deserts so that as little lives are sacrificed for our food as possible?

1. Be aware of food banks in your area. If you are able, donate or volunteer. Food banks can be good sources of meals for those in need. They are not, however, places that you can dump your expired food in. If you find yourself with a little extra cash, get in touch with your local food bank to find ways that you can either donate to the cause, or bring fresh food altogether. If you don’t have the money but have the time, volunteer. Get to know the facility staff, the community, and what it takes to provide the food needed for low income families.

2. Support that small convenience store on the street. Why rely on a fast growing supermarket chain to do all the work for you? Now don’t get me wrong--while quaint shops and restaurants have their appeal, they primarily exist to market to those wealthy few. See if there are any nearby convenience stores nearby that market to lower income communities, and do your business there--there are many incredible finds that you can get at these stores, which can also open up exciting food opportunities.

While the advocacy for bringing in locally supporting supermarkets can be good, we have to realize that these same stores might not be accessible to everyone. To claim that we are woke, while still contributing to ever-growing gentrification and the food deserts that come with them, seems rather counterintuitive. So the next time you promote yourself on social media with that kale, ask yourself why, first of all. Even if you’re following in your favorite Instragrammer’s footsteps on the path to a more conscientious life, becoming aware of all intersecting issues around food can take you to a much better standing overall.

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