This weeks readings were a bit of a reality check for me; like Agyeman mentioned, I’m one of those people who believe I am doing something good when I find alternative food methods. I always feel so proud that I buy as much food as I can from the farmer’s market and avoid food that isn’t local as much as possible because I truly believe that I am making a difference. But, a back story exists that I usually put little thought to, and the story, which most people like me are oblivious to, would be food justice.

While I’m busy studying the label on the back of a product or asking a butcher if their cows are grass finished, someone is buying processed food (or going hungry) because that’s all he or she can afford. What’s even more baffling; the people who grow food I eat (even if it is local) can’t even afford to eat their food. As one woman put it “we provide people food- why don’t they respect our work?”

So much truth exists in that statement. It takes so much time, energy, and knowledge to grow food, yet our society views farming as a sub-par job that old men do. In all honesty, I’d probably die if I had to feed myself with what I grew being that I know next to nothing about farming. I can barely keep the herbs in my window alive for a week; hearing the farmer I bought the plants from explain how to move the plant into a planter gave me a anxiety. I’d probably kill the plant in the transferring process. Clearly, it takes a vast amount of knowledge to be able to take care of an entire field. Farmers and farm workers deserve our respect because without them we would be dead.

Changing society’s view of this is probably difficult, especially considering the structure of our economy and food system in general. Food has become a commodity in our society which is clear in the monoculturing of food and animals. This past week in DC, we discussed contracts of corn farmers typically sign to protect themselves financially. Individuals who never even see the corn can make a profit off of it, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. Yes, it does protect the farmers, but they need the protection because their work does not have enough value to keep them afloat. Furthermore, in this type of market, all corn is considered the same and quality does not matter, so farmers are producing as much as possible regardless of environmental effects or the overworked farmworkers who play a key role in the food justice story.

Producers and consumers are so concerned about making or finding the lowest price that they’ll resort to treating employees unfairly. Some are so desperate that the government convicted (seven Florida growers) of slavery involving more than 1,000 workers.” These people produce the food that nourishes us and keeps us healthy, yet they can’t afford to eat what they’re making. This is a huge problem; the alternative food movement (or whatever movement that likes eating food contrary to pop culture) should consider food justice and the hungry people of this world more.

Before we spend time focusing on the locality, anti-GMO aspects of the food we’re eating, maybe we should also consider the treatment of the people working on the farm too. We should also consider dignified ways to ensure the availability of healthy food access for individuals who cannot get this food and in a way that is as dignified as possible (ie maybe allowing these individuals to choose what food they receive rather than just receiving unwanted food or “left overs”).

As Janet Poppendieck asks activists, don’t just think about eliminating hunger, think about eliminating poverty, the root of hunger. Yes, seeking out food that treats workers fairly probably costs more, but just think about it. If you were a farmer worker you would want to be treated fairly and be paid enough to afford what you are producing. Furthermore, you are putting this food into your body. (Cheap food that exploits workers probably contains a large amount of chemicals.) Hunger and poverty are huge problems in general, but that is a way to start.