The term “food justice” is new to me. However, as I sat in a coffee shop reading and discovering what exactly it meant, I had the realization that my understanding of the issues facing our food system had been previously incomplete without it. By that I mean that my perspective had been lacking a critical consideration for greater political, economic and societal issues that form the basis for the “food justice” movement.

My realization was most impacted by the contrast to what Agyeman calls the ‘alternative food movement’ (AFM).  For a variety of reasons, a large portion of my support for change in the food industry has been dependent on concepts of supporting local farmers and local industry, environmentally beneficial farming practices and ethical production- essentially the AFM. Given that I am a white, middle to upper class woman, Agyeman would probably argue that my perspective was predictable. Agyeman criticized the AFM for “working within current capitalistic market frameworks and disregard and demotion of social justice considerations” Essentially for being exclusive and working under the pressure of private market. On the other hand, while Agyeman strongly criticized the AFM, he also mentioned that Food Justice incorporated some aspects of the AFM. Although he goes into little elaboration of what aspects specifically he supports, I am glad that he, at the very least, made a reference to some positive component. I truly do believe in aspects of the AFM, specifically the local movement, and it’s ability to contribute positively to our food system by doing things such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving community awareness. That being said, I am now of the opinion that the AFM cannot solve the world’s food issues on its own.

A flaw of the AFM that really resonated with me was the idea of being able to ‘buy a solution’. It’s easy as a citizen of a capitalistic society to fall victim to the belief that everything can be bought. A prime example of this idea was the idea presented by Agyeman of “fixing” a food dessert by supplying the community with a grocery store. Though at first one might think that this is an obvious solution, in reality it’s simply a band aid. The real questions that need to be asked relate not solely to the physical presence and specific sourcing process of food, but also to the root causes of the food dessert itself. What social injustices have allowed for an area to exist where people not only live without adequate access to food but also without adequate funds to purchase food?