I believe that food is a tool that can help or hinder lifestyle and culture. What we choose to do with that tool, and how we choose to use the energy derived from it, differentiates between empowerment and victimization.
This base belief is what leads me to believe in the power of agroecology. Agroecology is a holistic approach to agriculture and food systems development, and is based on traditional knowledge, alternative agriculture, and local food system experiences. Agroecology links ecology, culture, economics, and society to sustain agricultural production, healthy environments, and viable food and farming communities.
“Food has become central to the precarious economy, it has become a form of social control, and, while it remains a means for great change and a source for love, community and solidarity, it has also been captured and turned against us.” The Fife Diet
How has this come to be? How is food being turned against us? From food banks to growing your own, to shopping local, to farmer’s markets to foraging and gleaning – food is political. Eating is a political act and every time we eat we make a choice. But food isn't always a simple choice there are issues like economics, access, awareness and governmental control that affect these choices. Food tends to epitomize power relations. Around the globe, unequal allocations of food according to a patriarchal system are common.
Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice Now, writes: “Agroecology poses a challenge to the dogma of the free market, in whose name so many millions have starved over two centuries. It is a system of production and distribution which treats people as deserving of control over their lives, and nature as deserving of our respect. It says that if we want a just and sustainable food system, we need a paradigm shift in how food is produced and distributed.”
Food systems – like social systems – are made up of countless interconnected parts and people, who are intertwined through dynamic relationships. The disturbance of one part has a ripple effect on many others. Left undisturbed, patriarchy, colonialism, capitalism, neoliberalism will all continue to the detriment of our planet. Agroecology is like a skipping stone in these waters.
Yes, eating is a political act and every time we eat we make a choice. Yes, there are issues like economics, access, awareness and governmental control that can affect these choices, but only to the extent that we as participants, especially those of us with more privilege than others, allow these issues to become barriers.
Outside of dysfunctional systems, food remains a means for great change and a source for love, community and solidarity. Food anchors our identity. It gives us a sense of belonging. We rely upon food to satisfy us physically, culturally and spiritually. Seldom are we aware of how our social fabric encompasses food through the acts of creating, giving, receiving and rejecting. In my experience, food culture has the capability to initiate, solidify and sometimes rupture social bonds.
Here at Boreal Food Studio we help women find their new normal after breaking up with fast food culture.