Food Policy Councils: Lessons Learned

As the food and financial crises bring fresh urgency to concerns over hunger, food access, public health, labor and economic development -- citizens and governments are beginning to connect these issues back to the food system as a whole. Councils are springing up across North America to "connect the dots"1 between the growing number of neighborhood food initiatives and communities forging policies for just, healthy food systems. Food Policy Councils act as both forums for food issues and platforms for coordinated action. The first Food Policy Council started in 1982 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Since then Food Policy Councils have been established at state, local and regional levels across the county. Some have remarkable success stories. Others have failed, disbanded, or spun-off into other service and non-profit organizations.What lessons can be taken from North America's three-decade experiment in formulating local food policy? Food Policy Councils: Lessons Learned is an assessment based on an extensive literature review and testimony from 48 individual interviews with the people most involved in Food Policy Councils

Empreendedorismo como ativismo? Resistindo à gentrificação em Oakland, Califórnia

This article investigates the cultural politics of entrepreneurship as a form of opposition to gentrification in Oakland, California. Building on Watkins and Caldwell’s (2004) foundational work, I examine the relationship between political projects–– resisting gentrification, racial and economic disparities––and the cultural work of signifying a community’s continued presence amidst displacement and glorification of newcomers. Based on 30 interviews with employees of food justice non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and government agencies, I argue that activists promote food-based entrepreneurship to create employment and business opportunities for long- term residents that enables them to stay in their hometown. In doing so, the contri­butions of long-standing communities to Oakland’s diverse food cultures are highlighted. However, property values are rising rapidly that even these opportunities cannot ensure that long-term communities remain. For this reason, I conclude by offering examples of direct action and policy advocacy that can supplement these entrepreneurial approaches.Este artículo investiga la política cultural de la iniciativa empresarial como forma de oposición al aburguesa­miento en Oakland, California. Basándome en el trabajo fundacional de Watkins y Caldwell (2004), analizo la relación entre proyectos políticos -resistencia al aburguesamiento y las disparidades raciales y económicas- y el trabajo cultural de significar una presencia continuada de comunidad en medio al desplazamiento físico y la glorificación de recién llegados. Con base en 30 entrevistas con empleados de organizaciones sin fines de lucro de justicia alimentaria, iniciativas sociales y agencias gubernamentales relevantes de la ciudad, planteo que los activistas promueven la iniciativa empresarial basada en alimentos para crear oportunidades de empleo y de propiedad empresarial para residentes a largo plazo que pueden permitirles permanecer en su ciudad natal. Al hacerlo, destacan las contribuciones de comunidades duraderas a las diversas culturas gastronómi­cas de Oakland en un momento en que estas comunidades están siendo desvalorizadas y desplazadas. Sin embargo, los valores de las propiedades están aumentando tan rápidamente que ni siquiera estas oportuni­dades pueden asegurar que permanezcan comunidades a largo plazo. Por este motivo, concluyo brindando ejemplos de acción directa y apoyo de políticas que pueden complementar estos abordajes emprendedores.Este artigo investiga a política cultural de empreendedorismo como uma forma de oposição à gentrificação em Oakland, Califórnia. Com base no trabalho fundamental de Watkins e Caldwell (2004), examino a relação entre projetos políticos – resistindo à gentrificação e disparidades raciais e econômicas – e o que significa, em termos culturais, a presença permanente de uma comunidade em meio ao deslocamento físico e a glorificação dos recém-chegados. Com base em 30 entrevistas com funcionários de organizações sem fins lucrativos de justiça alimentar, empresas sociais e agências governamentais relevantes da cidade, defendo que ativistas promovam o empreendedorismo de base alimentar a fim de criar empregos e oportunidades de negócios para residentes de longa data que possam permitir-lhes permanecer na sua cidade natal. Ao fazê-lo, desta­cam-se as contribuições de comunidades de longa data para as diversas culturas alimentares de Oakland, num momento em que essas comunidades estão sendo desvalorizadas e deslocadas. No entanto, os valores das propriedades estão aumentando tão rapidamente que mesmo essas oportunidades não asseguram que as comunidades de longa data possam permanecer. Por esse motivo, concluo oferecendo exemplos de ação direta e advocacia política que podem complementar essas abordagens empresariais.

Black, white, and green ::farmers markets, race, and the green economy /

Farmers markets are much more than places to buy produce. According to advocates for sustainable food systems, they are also places to "vote with your fork" for environmental protection, vibrant communities, and strong local economies. Farmers markets have become essential to the movement for food-system reform and are a shining example of a growing green economy where consumers can shop their way to social change. Black, White, and Green brings new energy to this topic by exploring dimensions of race and class as they relate to farmers markets and the green economy. With a focus on two Bay Area markets--one in the primarily white neighborhood of North Berkeley, and the other in largely black West Oakland--Alison Hope Alkon investigates the possibilities for social and environmental change embodied by farmers markets and the green economy. Drawing on ethnographic and historical sources, Alkon describes the meanings that farmers market managers, vendors, and consumers attribute to the buying and selling of local organic food, and the ways that those meanings are raced and classed. She mobilizes this research to understand how the green economy fosters visions of social change that are compatible with economic growth while marginalizing those that are not. Black, White, and Green is one of the first books to carefully theorize the green economy, to examine the racial dynamics of food politics, and to approach issues of food access from an environmental-justice perspective. In a practical sense, Alkon offers an empathetic critique of a newly popular strategy for social change, highlighting both its strengths and limitations

Reflexivity and Environmental Justice Scholarship: A Role for Feminist Methodologies

This article explores the potential analytic and practical benefits that a reflexive, process-oriented approach to research and representation might hold for community-based environmental justice scholarship. Reflexive analysis can challenge the supremacy of positivist methods, illuminate the social production of knowledge, attend to the remaining influence of hierarchies of power and privilege, and aid academics and community members in developing realistic expectations of the collaborative research process. This article uses three vignettes from the author’s ethnographic study of food justice and farmers’ markets to demonstrate one model of what reflexive analysis of community-based environmental justice research might look like and to illustrate theoretical insights gained through this technique.</jats:p

Empreendedorismo como ativismo? Resistindo à gentrificação em Oakland, Califórnia

This article investigates the cultural politics of entrepreneurship as a form of opposition to gentrification in Oakland, California. Building on Watkins and Caldwell’s (2004) foundational work, I examine the relationship between political projects–– resisting gentrification, racial and economic disparities––and the cultural work of signifying a community’s continued presence amidst displacement and glorification of newcomers. Based on 30 interviews with employees of food justice non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and government agencies, I argue that activists promote food-based entrepreneurship to create employment and business opportunities for long- term residents that enables them to stay in their hometown. In doing so, the contri­butions of long-standing communities to Oakland’s diverse food cultures are highlighted. However, property values are rising rapidly that even these opportunities cannot ensure that long-term communities remain. For this reason, I conclude by offering examples of direct action and policy advocacy that can supplement these entrepreneurial approaches.Este artigo investiga a política cultural de empreendedorismo como uma forma de oposição à gentrificação em Oakland, Califórnia. Com base no trabalho fundamental de Watkins e Caldwell (2004), examino a relação entre projetos políticos – resistindo à gentrificação e disparidades raciais e econômicas – e o que significa, em termos culturais, a presença permanente de uma comunidade em meio ao deslocamento físico e a glorificação dos recém-chegados. Com base em 30 entrevistas com funcionários de organizações sem fins lucrativos de justiça alimentar, empresas sociais e agências governamentais relevantes da cidade, defendo que ativistas promovam o empreendedorismo de base alimentar a fim de criar empregos e oportunidades de negócios para residentes de longa data que possam permitir-lhes permanecer na sua cidade natal. Ao fazê-lo, desta­cam-se as contribuições de comunidades de longa data para as diversas culturas alimentares de Oakland, num momento em que essas comunidades estão sendo desvalorizadas e deslocadas. No entanto, os valores das propriedades estão aumentando tão rapidamente que mesmo essas oportunidades não asseguram que as comunidades de longa data possam permanecer. Por esse motivo, concluo oferecendo exemplos de ação direta e advocacia política que podem complementar essas abordagens empresariais.  Este artículo investiga la política cultural de la iniciativa empresarial como forma de oposición al aburguesa­miento en Oakland, California. Basándome en el trabajo fundacional de Watkins y Caldwell (2004), analizo la relación entre proyectos políticos -resistencia al aburguesamiento y las disparidades raciales y económicas- y el trabajo cultural de significar una presencia continuada de comunidad en medio al desplazamiento físico y la glorificación de recién llegados. Con base en 30 entrevistas con empleados de organizaciones sin fines de lucro de justicia alimentaria, iniciativas sociales y agencias gubernamentales relevantes de la ciudad, planteo que los activistas promueven la iniciativa empresarial basada en alimentos para crear oportunidades de empleo y de propiedad empresarial para residentes a largo plazo que pueden permitirles permanecer en su ciudad natal. Al hacerlo, destacan las contribuciones de comunidades duraderas a las diversas culturas gastronómi­cas de Oakland en un momento en que estas comunidades están siendo desvalorizadas y desplazadas. Sin embargo, los valores de las propiedades están aumentando tan rápidamente que ni siquiera estas oportuni­dades pueden asegurar que permanezcan comunidades a largo plazo. Por este motivo, concluyo brindando ejemplos de acción directa y apoyo de políticas que pueden complementar estos abordajes emprendedores