Food Justice Movement

The Food Justice Movement is a grassroots initiative emerging from communities in response to food insecurity and economic pressures that prevent access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods (food should fit the cultural background of the people consuming it).[1] It includes more broad policy movements, such as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.[2] Food justice recognizes the food system as "a racial project and problematizes the influence of race and class on the production, distribution and consumption of food".[1] This encompasses farm labor work, land disputes, issues of status and class, environmental justice, public politics, and advocacy.[1][3] Food justice is closely connected to food sovereignty, which critiques "structural barriers communities of color face to accessing local and organic foods" that are largely due to institutional racism and the effect it has on economic equality.[4] It is argued that lack of access to good food is both a cause and a symptom of the structural inequalities that divide society. A possible solution presented for poor areas includes community gardens, fairness for food workers, and a national food policy. [5]

Background

The modern Food Justice movement grew out of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) in 1996, which sought to provide affordable, culturally appropriate, healthy food to Americans. A shortcoming of this group, was that it was composed entirely of white Americans, and accepted little input from residents of food insecure areas which the CFSC was trying to help. It emphasized the consumption of local and fresh fruits and vegetables, and removed race from the conversation. Director of Nuestras Raices Daniel Ross points out that:

…food security cannot be divorced from the issues of concern to communities […] food and agriculture lends itself to addressing [racism and power imbalances] because food is so central to communities and, if you had working communities, you'd have justice and equality. […] At the heart is the element of justice.[6]

Other scholars who have done research in food justice and related topics include Monica M. White whose research is focused on the primarily black community in Detroit. In her article Sisters of the Soil: Urban Gardening as Resistance in Detroit, she discusses the work of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN) that uses farming as a way to alleviate food insecurity and make political statements. White cites the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2005-2006 to point out that 52.9% of black women are obese, compared to 37.2% of black men and 32.9% of white women due to phenomena like food deserts and food insecurity. Because the socioeconomic status of black communities in Detroit are a huge part of the food insecurity issues black communities face, this serves as an example for the inseparability of food justice movements and social reform.[7]

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medial care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations states that the right to food is "The right to feed oneself in dignity. It is the right to have continuous access to the resources that will enable you to produce, earn or purchase enough food to not only prevent hunger, but also to ensure health and well-being. The right to food only rarely means that a person has the right to free handouts." [2]

Chocolate of Peace is a part of the food justice movement. It is the work of a British-Colombian team who believe in transformative power. They are a group of victims of the armed conflict and have been using grassroots for twenty years to create peace. However, Juan Manuel Santos's government and the FARC-EP guerrilla is hard to negotiate with. This disheartens the Community's efforts in international human rights circles. Many Colombians are unaware of the peace movement.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) which is a part of USDA's Research, Education, and Economics mission area (REE), NIFA is an agency that uses federal funding in order to address agricultural and food justice related issues that impact people's daily lives. This is a collaborative effort that uses scientists and research in order to locate and find solutions to issues in the agricultural chain. They use science-policy decision making, something to keep in mind when asking what problems are being fixed and for what purpose.[8]

Research and theory

There is a plethora of research pertaining to community gardens, urban farming, and their impact on local communities.[9] The literature tries to connect the activities of community gardens and urban agricultural projects to social, health, and economic outcomes. However, due to the overwhelming lack of diversity in the perspectives that inform the food justice movement, a new concept of just sustainability[1] has been proposed. To address white and middle class culture dominating the discussion and priorities of organic food and sustainability practices, a more multi-cultural and intersectional approach is suggested that includes the narratives of historically marginalized communities.[1]

Food movements and race

Positionality and the different food movement perspectives. "Pollan’s analysis presumes that food-ways are individual choices removed from their social and economic constraints. In a critique rooted in the environmental justice movement, food justice activists demonstrate that institutional racism, in its intersections with economic inequality, has stripped communities of color of their local food sovereignty, preventing them from eating in the way the food movement describes as proper. By aiming their critique at the structural barriers communities of color face to accessing local and organic food, the food justice movement hopes to craft collective racial and cultural identities through the celebration of particular foods while reaching out to those whose food-ways still reflect the dominance of American agribusiness."[1]

Food justice and policy

According to Wekerle, food justice has emerged as a way of applying food security and anti-hunger movements to policy. "Theoretically, the food justice frame opens up linkages to a wider range of conceptual frameworks drawn from the literature on democracy, citizenship, social movements, and social and environmental justice."[10] Food justice emerged as a way of applying food security and anti-hunger movements to policy by drawing from established social and environmental theoretical frameworks. The food justice movement is related to food sovereignty in that it critiques “structural barriers communities of color face to accessing local and organic foods” (Alkon et al.) that are largely due to institutional racism and the effect it has on economic equality.[11]

Fighting for family farmers to keep and sustain their land, or ensuring access to healthy foods to those previously denied affordable nourishment, there are many ways people contribute to remedy the accessibility of quality of food in the US.

Organizations and festivals such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Familias Unidas por la Justicia,[12] and Farm Aid are credited as working to raise awareness of or assist with food justice by fighting for family farmers to keep and sustain their land, fair pay and treatment of workers, and ensuring access to healthy foods to those previously denied affordable nourishment.

Food deserts
Main article: Food desert

Food deserts are a phenomenon described as geographic areas wherein there is a lack of access to food supply, such as a typical chain grocery store within reachable distance. In a so-called food desert, it is typical that liquor stores with no fresh food, only offering bagged chips, sodas, and other quick eat items that lack nutritional substance, are available, alongside fast food restaurants who lack healthy options.[13] In a Report to Congress done by the United States Department of Agriculture, it was found that 23.5 million Americans live more than one mile away from a grocery store and do not have access to a car.[14] While public transportation can help bridge the gap and get individuals living in a food market to a grocery store, economic factors have pushed many local stores out of business requiring some individuals to take many buses or trains just to gain access to a sub-par market.

Although access to healthy foods is beneficial, the communities in which markets serve are disadvantaged in the economic sphere. If the cost of fruits and vegetables do not meet consumer budgets, they will not purchase them.

Food apartheid

Anthropologists studying diet and culture, have re-termed food deserts, into food apartheid. The change in colloquial term has been made to represent that "food deserts" are not desolate, empty neighborhoods, but are neighborhoods who have been deemed to be unworthy of having access to nutritious food. Food apartheid is a form of apartheid because in most cases, the lack of availability of healthy food disproportionately affects communities of color. According to Jacqueline Bediako, food apartheid affects people of all races, including poor white people, although Black and brown people are affected disproportionately. Under these conditions — which are overtly abusive — whole communities are geographically and economically isolated from healthy food options.[15]

Food mirages and food swamps

While food deserts have been used as a blanket term to describe food deserts, food mirages, and food swamps, they are not synonymous and they all differ in how they relate to the access of food.

To further support that prices play a key role in the consumption of healthy foods, the term "food mirage" has been used to describes low-income communities with access to supermarkets but with financial barriers to access those healthy foods.[16] In a study done by researchers at Portland State University, a food mirage was examined in a neighborhood where residents living in poverty were surrounded by new grocery stores. Researchers found that out of the 81% of impoverished residents surveyed, 61% percent lived in moderate or extreme food mirage. Resulting in traveling more than 1.8 miles past their neighborhood grocery store in search of better prices.[16]

While food deserts are often assessed by the distance in miles between individuals' homes and supermarkets, and food mirages assess price and poverty relativity, food swamps differ in that they are described as geographic areas with a high density of establishments that sell high calorie "fast food" and "junk food".[17] A comprehensive review of research done on food swamps by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, has found that 10 out of 12 studies provided evidence that fast food restaurants are more likely to locate in areas where there are higher concentrations of ethnic minorities than areas populated by Whites.[18]

Structural inequities and disparity

The relationship between food environments and its effects on obesity has been examined and has revealed to play a major role in the contribution to health disparities, particularly the presence of fast food restaurants and convenience stores. In neighborhoods that have access barriers to supermarkets because of proximity or prices, consumers are left with only two options; convenience stores and fast food restaurants. Low-income communities that are "lacking healthy food access—can simultaneously be ‘food swamps,’ consisting in a saturation of access to unhealthy food (e.g., fast-food, convenience stores) and nonfood (e.g., gas stations) venues, characterized by calorie-dense and high-sugared food items",[19] these environments reinforce unhealthy behaviors among residents. Currently, there are few policies that look at the food environment, beyond food deserts, in disadvantaged neighborhoods. In one intervention by Los Angeles policymakers, a zone ordinance that banned new free standing fast food restaurants overlooked the complexities of low-income environments. Rather than focusing on limiting specific types of fast food restaurants and convenience stores, the policy left many loopholes that allowed establishments like McDonald's to open among strip malls.[20] Strip malls are abundant in low-income communities, they are attractive to fast food restaurants because of lower rents and greater access to consumers. Although it was one of the first attempts, this demonstrates the importance of creating research based policies that clearly examine the complexities of low-income neighborhoods to address health disparities.

It has been argued that living within close proximity of fast-food restaurants increases the consumption of high calorie foods. For example, in one study, results indicated that "Fast food establishments within both a quarter and half mile had a statistically significant negative relationship with fruit and vegetable consumption."[21] This means that the easier access a resident had to fast food, the least likely they were to consume fruits and vegetables. Moreover, fast food restaurants provide inexpensive meals, making them highly attractive to low-income consumers. Using Geo-coded information, a study for the Harvard School of Public Health, found evidence indicating that fast-food restaurants are more prevalent in minority neighborhoods, which are often low-income neighborhoods.[22] If food prices have shown to make an impact on food choices among under-served communities, it would make sense that the low cost of fast food would be appealing to consumers in low-income communities. Unfortunately, the low cost of fast-food comes at another price, fast food is high in calories and unhealthy fats, like processed food in convenience stores or supermarkets, consuming these foods puts one at risk of obesity.

Many residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods rely on fast and convenient foods, corner stores such as liquor stores are abundant in low-income communities. Convenience stores carry foods that are highly processed to extend shelf life, resulting in an abundance of calories, fat, sugar and salt.[23] Additionally, consumers turn to convenience stores because they accept government assistance programs such as SNAP,[24] further perpetuating unhealthy behaviors in food choice and the significance of redesigning food policies. Another reason convenience store foods are appealing to those living in low-income communities is that those living with food insecurity require to stretch their food, processed foods do not require refrigeration and last longer than perishable foods. By considering how food environments affect low income communities, policymakers can make better informed decisions on how policies can address contributing factors.

Additional to food insecurity there are further social determinants of health, including residential environmental hazards, and institutional discrimination and segregation. Food justice and health justice can go hand in hand addressing the root causes of poor health among low-income and minority communities.[25]

Residential segregation leads to commercial flight

Food apartheid and the lack of access to food are the results of racist politicking and they stem from socioeconomic injustices that disproportionately affect low income Black communities. According to the ACLU—food deserts are the direct manifestation of structural inequities that have been solidified over time. These institutional racisms that have resulted in a lack of access to healthy food for minorities are innumerable—but among them include housing policies leading to segregated communities and financial policies leading to commercial flight. These policies have all interacted over time to contribute to health disparities among the Black community.[26]

In 1962, 61% of white Americans shared the sentiment that "white people[possessed] a right to keep blacks out of their neighborhoods if they [wanted] to, and blacks should respect that right."[27] Despite years of policy changes a result of the Civil Rights Movement, 30 years later in 1990, a Detroit survey of whites found that a quarter of white respondents would not move into a neighborhood that was more than 50% Black.[28] Discrimination towards Blacks continues to influence real estate practices, while public policies and institutional discrimination continue to reinforce race segregated living patterns. Although segregation by race is illegal, it has not ceased to be the standard in America. Living patterns are not only correlated with access to educational opportunities, and employment opportunities—they are also correlated to access to food.[28]

Studies published by American Journal of Preventative Medicine have found that low-income neighborhoods and minority neighborhoods are less likely to have access to large supermarkets.[29] Federal government policies have directly hindered the development of supermarkets in Black populated communities. As middle-income whites got subsidized government loans to move from cities to suburbia, businesses, including supermarkets, relocated with them.[30] Grocery stores and retailers alike, were supported by the United States government to relocate to the suburbs—catering to the White middle class and leaving the cities desolate.

Although causal relationships between food habits and substandard health have not been exclusively made, it is well accepted that there is a definitely a correlation between the two. Since communities of color are disproportionately affected by food apartheid, it is no shock that Black Americans and Hispanics suffer from rates of obesity at 45% and 36.8%, respectively—which is comparatively higher than the white rate of obesity at 30%. According to the Centers For Disease Control, obesity has been linked to a wide range of health problems including Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, various types of cancer, hypertension, and high cholesterol among both adults and children.[31]

In a 2004 study done by medical doctors and public health professionals of New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a community coalition study was done to compare the availability and cost of diabetes-healthy foods in a Black populated neighborhood in East Harlem with that of the adjacent White, wealthy Upper East Side in New York City. Researched surveyed 173 East Harlem and 152 Upper East Side grocery stores to find whether or not they stocked 5 basic diabetes-diet recommended foods. Results showed that only 18% of East Harlem stores stocked the recommended foods, compared with 58% of stores in the Upper East Side. Further, they found that only 9% of East Harlem bodegas (convenience stores) carried all 5 recommended items while 48% of Upper East Side bodegas carried the items.[32] This discrepancy is huge, and is a representation of many communities in America. Since health conditions such diabetes are more prevalent in Black communities than White communities, this creates a cycle in which type 2 diabetes continues to thrive.

Victim blaming

Access to food disproportionately affects minority communities, but victim-blaming narratives about them exist. For example, an article published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service entitled "Access to Affordable, Nutritious Food is Limited in Food Deserts", it is stated that consumers' demographic and economic characteristics, buying habits, and tastes can explain why stores do not locate in some areas or carry particularly healthy foods.[33] Some criticized that such argument blames the communities themselves for the lack of access to healthy food and fails to acknowledge the historical influences and governmental policies that have marginalized these minority communities.

Food Sovereignty

Food sovereignty is defined in the Declaration of Nyéléni as “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.”[34] It revolves around the issues of “self determination, global uneven development, and ecological degradation,” issues commonly associated with the Global South and rural Global North.[35] This differs from food justice, which mostly describes inaccessibility and consumption of healthy food.[35] Other common areas of food sovereignty discourse include issues of scarcity, environmental factors, population growth, and allocation of resources. Food sovereignty often places emphasis on property rights of indigenous communities and small-scale farmers.[35]

Food Sovereignty and the Global South

Colonialism is also a major source of food insecurity in the Global South. Colonialism had a direct impact on those who depended on seasonal farming due to prolonged droughts in certain regions, however, colonial policy often made important pasture and water resources legally inaccessible.[36] Food insecurity has been perpetuated by post-colonial policies more recently through the inflation of food prices, aggregation of cropland, and displacement of groups from land available for food crops.[37] Similarly, colonial policies that encouraged the planting of cash crops for export over subsistence crops has continued to affect food security in the Global South.[38] Many Global South countries have subsequently become dependent on food aid from Global North nations.[36]

Food Sovereignty and the United States

Food sovereignty is also an important part of the food justice movement in Global North countries, such as the United States. In the United States, food sovereignty is a critical part of indigenous food activism. Indigenous food sovereignty activists argue that indigenous communities have been systematically displaced from their traditional foodways, which has led to mass food insecurity.[39] They assert that the most effective way to achieve food security for indigenous groups is for those groups to be more involved in the production of their own food.[40] Some activists also argue for food sovereignty as a means of healing historical trauma. Food sovereignty of indigenous groups is also closely linked to seed sovereignty and plant breeders’ rights.[41] This is because seed saving is an important practice both culturally and for the preservation of a large enough seed stock to feed communities.[42]

Possible solutions

Food insecurity recognized as one of the world's current most pressing issues. In fact, agricultural food scientists and corporations argue that responding to the issue using food justice practices is not sufficient in regards to the urgency of the issue.[35] Such argumentation is the basis for defending the use of GMOs to feed the world. However research from scholars, farmers, and NGO's go to disprove this by presenting that smaller scale farming has been proven to be not only environmentally friendly but can in fact ‘feed the world.’[35]

Urban or community farms

One of the first tactics to battle the food injustice and scarcity found in both rural and urban areas is by the use of community or urban gardens. Community gardens, according to the American Community Gardening Association's (ACGA) mission statement, are essential catalysts for the neighborhood and surrounding community by not only helping combat food insecurity in providing healthy food options but it is also economically and environmentally sound, these gardens also provide a source for recreation, therapy, beauty and education.[43] In addition, having communal gardens may also benefit immigrants and refugees who use gardening as a tactic to immerse themselves in new surroundings while also getting a chance to reconnect with their culture and receive food for their family and community.[44] This epitomizes how the Center for Rural Affairs sees the working of the community food system of which may take many forms but at its core aims to, form a connection between the producers locals who grow or make the food and the consumers, the community.[45] Despite the great change and development community gardens bring, many in these communities had to fight for the right to use the land for gardening which was evident in the 1960s with "guerrilla gardening" tactics to combat land scarcity and resist the, "inequalities between the powerful and powerless."[46] Today, according to the ACGA annual report, 61% of community or urban gardens are found on government lands, indicating the important role local governments play in the allowing or blocking the use of community gardens through the implementation of opposing legislation or strict land use policies.[47]

Produce availability

Equity in both the decision making process and the distribution of resources is the core of the food justice movement and can be achieved through government policies. One possible course of action to combat food deserts may be in mandating that corner stores and such in food deserts provide some variation of fruits and vegetables. For instance, in Minneapolis, the Department of Health and Family Support understood, that residents in food deserts, who were unable to travel to grocery stores or farmers markets, purchased their staple foods from convenience stores, which also carried more unhealthy quick foods rather than fresh produce.[48] To combat this issue the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance requiring Minneapolis corner stores to carry, “five varieties of perishable produce” and the Minnesota Department of Health requires, “WIC-certified stores to carry a minimum of seven varieties (and thirty pounds) of fresh produce.”[48]:3 However even with the ordinances North Minneapolis residents who, "shopped most often at corner stores...did not purchase produce from them,” due to factors such as produce being out of site or not fresh.[48]:3 This indicates however that ordinances as such may not always be enough. In the case of Minneapolis, the MDHFS created the Healthy Corner Store Program to ensure the success of the ordinance by providing assistance from a grocery store consultant to store owners to, “making healthy foods and fresh produce more visible, affordable, and attractive to neighborhood residents.”[48]:4 Another possible solution to food injustices and specifically food injustice, may be in making new regulations providing that there be more grocery stores in urban and rural areas. The USDA also sees this as an issue in stating that 2.2 million Americans have difficulty in accessing large grocery stores due to have to travel over a mile in urban areas or more than 10 in urban areas may increase reliance on convenience stores and restaurants(fast food), resulting in a poor diet and diet-related health problems.[49] The USDA recognizes that the limited food access in Urban core areas, “are characterized by higher levels of racial segregation and greater income inequality.” In small-town and rural areas with limited the lack of transportation infrastructure.”[49] However not all chain groceries will go into small neighborhoods due to the risk and upkeep, For places like West Oakland in California, where just about half the residents don’t have a car, access to grocery stores is even more so a struggle, so Brahm Ahmadi, decided to open his own full service grocery store na health center by selling bonds directly to the public.[50]

Food vending

Food trucks and other local services provide another option to help provide food to food deserts and other rural areas. In some places these food trucks like the Second Harvest Food Bank's Produce Mobile Program help communities and neighborhoods in need by providing them with high-quality and fresh produce.[51] Food trucks are another important source of food, and are unique in their mobilitiy but also in their locations.Food trucks are found in cities, towns, and universities all over the United States and Canada although they have a longer history in places like Portland where there was little laws preventing them or Los Angeles where immigrants carried on traditions.[52] Other spaces for these vendors became fairly recent in places like Montreal where trucks and cultural spaces were previously regulated.[53] Although often overlooked because they may not always supply the most ‘healthy’ food, they help combat food insecurity by supplying food to communities that either have no other means of getting food or simply bringing more food options into the community.[54] Food trucks have also been labeled, “powerful affirmation of pop-up urbanism,” that are controlled by ordinary people creating culturally different and creative spaces.[52] However, food trucks and other street vendors have often been banned by cities if they did not have permits or if they were considered a competitive threat to establishments nearby.[55] Yet recently, new legislation in California (SB946)and Arizona ( HB 2371) are aimed to not only legalize food trucks statewide but also decriminalize the sidewalk vending.[55] Legislation like these will not only help to boost the local economy but it will also allow vendors to safely and securely provide food to the community.However food trucks are not just an American or Western phenomenon, they are part of a phenomenon that has been quite common in much of the Global South.[52] Food vending in the Global South slightly differs as food vending enables many to simply survive, hang on, and cope with urban towns.[56] It also allows them to develop networks and strategies to get by in these towns by forming relationships with commercial and small-holder irrigation farmers.[57] Food delivery services are another way from either local grocery stores or market boxes sent to your door. However, some of these tend to be expensive or require internet accessibility to control your account, depending on the community especially those in rural areas this option may not be possible.

There are other innovations from the nonprofit, social enterprise sector that show promise for connecting residents with limited access to fresh food to sources of fresh produce. New Roots Fresh Stop Markets were created in 2009 with the express purpose of "igniting community power for fresh food access." Fresh Stop Markets are fresh food markets that pop up biweekly in urban fresh food insecure communities in Louisville, Kentucky, southern Indiana, and in two rural Kentucky towns—Hazard and Brandenburg. Families agree to cooperate with each other and pool their resources—SNAP Benefits and Debit/Credit—on an income-based sliding scale, a week ahead, purchasing in bulk from local, organic farmers. This big buying power creates an opportunity for farmers to sell to a committed group with no risk, while families benefit from wholesale prices. Each family receives the same share (bag) of fresh, seasonal produce regardless of what they pay. Fresh Stop Markets always feature a chef or culinary enthusiast who demos fresh, plant-based dishes, distributes recipes and shares information and support. Veggie cheerleaders advocate for the vegetables so that everyone feels comfortable with the varieties offered. Fresh Stop Markets are volunteer driven by shareholders so that everyone from children to older adults can offer to share their knowledge with others.[58][59]

SNAP and other food assistance programs

Another solution to potentially combat the food injustice, both in terms of quality and quantity of food, is in government provided subsidies and vouchers to help alleviate financial burden in affording food, as well as making healthier options available. The U.S. Federal government, as many other governments has put in much of its resources, approximately 50 billion dollars per year towards nutrition assistance programs.[60] Snap is one of these programs, mitigated by the federal government under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the 1960s that according to one of their publications, “improves health, enhances self-sufficiency, and alleviates food insecurity.”[61] The Public Policy Institute has conducted research showing that since the introduction of food stamps, they have reduced illnesses attributed to poor diet such as diabetes and increased average birth weights among adults who had access to the program from youth.[61] Food vouchers such as Calfresh had success in reducing, “food insecurity among low-income households” during the recent recession.[61] However, despite the efforts made by these comprehensive assistance networks the United States has failed to make little to no advancement towards reducing food insecurity to 6% , relative to 1995 when measurements of food inequity within households began.[60] With prevalent ideas/facts like these as well as the fear of fraudulent cases the federal government has proposed a new way to alleviate food insecurity and provide what it deems as healthier choices in the Food Harvest Program.[62] The harvest program would cut the budget for SNAP by 30% over the next ten years by using a food delivery service to provide a box of non-perishable “surplus” goods to the recipients including a set box with canned fruits, vegetables, meats, peanut butter, and canned or frozen meat, and shelf stable milk, each box will be sized to the family size and granted benefits.[62] However other sources note that those with more than $90 a month in benefits, additional to the box will have any remaining balance put on to their EBT cards.[63] In terms of what the impact on food insecurity is unknown however there is a lack of choice in terms of what food the participants can have. Even though many still purchase foods that are deemed unhealthy much of this is due to the fact that some may live in substandard housing or not have a functional kitchen so these foods, although some may be healthy will not always be suitable for all recipients.[63] In comparison to SNAP, the administration's new program would only cover 90,000 people, while the former helped millions to come out of poverty.[63] There are still many questions left to answer, like delivery and how recipients will receive their boxes, as the use of delivery may pose a risk for delays.[62]

Beyond money there are children and summer food programs enacted in various states including California that allows either free or reduced lunches for those in food deserts and underprivileged neighborhoods. These initiatives allow these individuals to have food security in having necessary access to food they wouldn't be able to have otherwise. Being that schools are pivotal institutions in securing food availability, the USDA has, done its part in having healthy/wholesome options available by adding new items to school lunches such as frozen rather than canned mixed berries and vegetables, grilled chicken breast fillets, egg patty rounds, and white whole wheat flour.[64]

Education

Many argue that simply increasing availability and providing vouchers will not solve the food justice issue in regards to food deserts, which is where the argument for nutrition education comes in. Studies have been shown that eating habits don't change when put grocery stores in poor neighborhoods as reiterated by Barry Popkin, a professor of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina stated that simply adding a grocery store in poor neighborhoods, will not make a huge impact as food prices and people's shopping and eating habits undermine convenience.[65]

GMO’s

Many solutions target how to improve conditions in urban areas or rural areas however the food injustice and food sovereignty issue is a global one that also deals with resource availability and scarcity. Food Scarcity is and has been a motivating force behind companies such as Monsanto who campaigned on feeding the world by using genetic engineering of plants. Such plants that Monsanto and other companies create include, Herbicide-tolerant soybeans, herbicide-tolerant corn, and Bt or insect repellent corn.[66] However, according to recent reports in comparison to conventional methods, GMO's and herbicide tolerant plants have failed to increase intrinsic or operational yields.[66] The report does acknowledge the possibility of genetic engineering eventually contributing to increase crop yields, however, the Union of Concerned Scientists note that when using farming practices that use minimal pesticides and synthetic fertilizers such as organic farming, "can more than double crop yields at little cost to poor farmers in such developing regions as Sub-Saharan Africa.”[66] According to a study, within the first year government-subsidized supermarkets in high need neighborhoods households were reported to have a significance effect on food availability and consumption habits.[67] Reasoning behind this includes that individuals formed reliance on their usual supermarkets and the abundance and affordability of processed foods.[67] Due to these reasons, overall lower income families bought less healthy food than wealthier families, however there were even greater disparities found, “between families with and without a college education.”[65] These results suggest that in order to improve a person's diet and change perceptions it is essential that their be education on diet and health on top of increasing food accessibility and affordability.[65] However the affordability of food may in fact influence food choice if the government chose to not only subsidize fruits and vegetables but also tax fast food, "to improve weight outcomes among children and adolescents.”[68]

See also

References
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  2. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Right to Food Unit. Right to Food Questions and Answers. 2007
  3. Sbicca, J (2018). Food Justice Now!: Deepening the Roots of Social Struggle. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9781517904012.
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  5. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/fixing-food
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