Notes from faculty panel: “Building Equitable and Inclusive Food Systems”

How did they do at communicating?

~they were great in defining terms and ensuring that everyone of all backgrounds understood what was going on

~the first speaker was difficult to understand- he read from a piece of paper, didn’t change intonation, didn’t add emotion. He had meaningful words, and defined difficult/ambiguous terms, but he was difficult to listen term

~Second speaker: slow and easier to understand but still not engaging, I had to really focus in to understand what was being said. true we are all here to listen, but they still need to be communicating effectively in my opinion

~third was much more engaging, she used emotion and passion and intonation to express what she was saying. she wasn’t just reading

~it was better to have them responding to questions

~opening up questions to the audience was very important

Topics:

1. What is equity and inclusion?

~more than just access- includes social/cultural inclusion regardless of diversity.

~financialization is the network of a complex of societal, technological, economic, cultural, informational, global issues. Force that enables a restructuring of monetary value. The process where all value is dissected down to traceable markets.  

~corporate control and consolidation- influencing policy on taxes, trade, markets, regulations/deregulations and wealth accumulation. creating an environment for future corporate growth. vertical and horizontal.  ex. seed monopoly. ex. of commodification of human heritage. threatening small farmers access to seeds

~Today the majority of our food comes from 12 plants and 5 animal species

~corporate consolidation means a reduction in variety and mono crop culture

2.Food justice-empowering people through eating food- Gottlieb and Joshi “Food Justice” book- following the whole supply chain

1. what do farmers need? i.e water, seeds, etc. how do farmers get access to this if they are not the dominant white farmer? lots of institutional racism- i.e denying loans to black farmers. “land rights”- minorities and small farmers have a right to what they need to grow their food
2. what power do food and farm works have to control their own patterns of work? what are the abuses they are suffering? how can their suffering be heard? Without their labor most fruit and veggie industries wouldn’t function. Plight of cooks and laborers in restaurants as well. they don’t have the ability to choose when they work. They need to become visible. they have rights too. 42 million people suffer from food insecurity. Many eaters don’t have the choice due to time and convenience. lack of public transportation is big issue in food deserts. it is white and wealthy eaters that often get to choose to eat organic. classic market distortion- diversified farming isn’t diversified eating/ justice. For who and whom does the food system work? we are all made to compete by the system. We need to restructure this and prevent this justice.

3.Creating an inclusive research agenda- exploring ways to co-create research questions and support community led solutions to building healthy and just food systems.

~CA has been dominated by large agro industrial farms, but we are seeing an increase in minority farmers- they struggle though bc of language, cultural, and historical barriers to resource access.

~uncovering agricultural labor laws. working to elevate concerns and supporting smaller scale farmers to keep them in business

~urban food disparities- going back to corporate consolidation. we have 35 bill dollars of the food industry here yet we still have high food insecurity. injustices in CA- the most productive areas have highest food insecure levels. land access, zoning and tenure issues.

~grassroots and community engagement efforts ex. collaborative research project in Northern CA for increasing access to healthy, fresh, culturally relevant foods for local peoples and helping them gain access to their cultural heritage and traditional ecological knowledge

~we need to think about the research we do and to make sure it responds to the community, includes all voices, and is collaborative.

On campus: there are students choosing between paying tuition, housing, books, etc. over food. Important to recognize that it's not just about calories in and calories out, but rather nutrition of that food that food insecure are eating. If we want to change food security, we can’t just change food access, it is so much more than that. Through food, we can work with so many other injustices in our society. Overarching goal of inclusivity and equality. Understanding the larger issues at work

Manifestation of food insecurity among staff as well- more women, mothers, color, first generation. difficult tradeoff decisions must be made for these people. problem is external factors like high cost of rent in the area- taking all of students money. local farmers losing access to land as well because of this.

Uc berkeley has the unique opportunity to build inclusivity- it can equip diverse students with practical food systems and farming techniques, it can provide more land for students to learn how to produce and consume food. can contribute to research and policy advocacy aimed at allowing these behaviors. As students, we can always learn more about food systems while engaging in practices on the land. creating spaces on campus to foster the future generation of policy makers, activists, etc.

We need to challenge the conceptual framework we are operating under, in order to tackle this. We need to get away from using food insecurity as a term. it does not encompass the reality.   Need to understand a whole host of scarcities. Need a diversity of voices brought to the table to uncover solutions.

Food insecurity is a term that makes the situation tangible but their are a lot of nuances associated.

One important group often left out are people with disabilities- strong barriers of entry for people with disabilities into agriculture. hards to have these people join research and understand farming practices.   

It is not the work of individuals but the work of a structure. It is the institutions and structures of where a person lives that is set up to marginalize a person.

We need to think about the corporate control of our life

We need to create a society in which every person from color, to class, to culture, to anything at all - making all those invisible - has the right to food and inclusivity and equality.

Need to do what all humans are supposed to do- to humanize each other. it will bring us all clarity- i don’t need to agree with you but i need to support your right to live and express your opinions.

lack of accountability of groups allowing for students and staff  to gain access to food security and justice. need to pinpoint who is creating injustice on campus- need to ramp up accountability of these groups.

Corporations spend years writing out agreements and contracts for this system that are disgraces to the U.S. constitution. They create structures that are detrimental to environmental health and human rights. The system pushes inequality- so we need to think about how to reform the system. Reform only will happen when we shift the power and tilt conversations in human dialogue.

How can we make a change in our daily habits?

~stop eating meat. eating meat is destroying our ecosystem and peoples access to food.

~voting with your fork- purchasing from farmers markets, from minority farmers

~influence policies by becoming engaged with local food policy councils. getting aware of food policy options and finding ways of supporting that.

~we need to change the food environment- change our purchasing decisions, work to pass policies, and encourage others to do the same.

~idea of voting with your fork comes with moralizing the poor- low income people of color often don’t have the opportunity to buying organic, fair trade foods.

~We are fortifying the decisions and justifying opting out- but often times low income people aren’t choosing to opt out from these choices, they don’t have a choice.

What can the chancellor do to change the food system?

~decrease fees for undergrad and grad students

~increasing salary for faculty

~expand spaces where students and faculty can learn about food production experientially

~chancellor to take a pay cut