Food Rebels, Guerilla Gardeners and Smart-Cookin' Mamas, reviewed by Jill Piacitelli

Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart-Cookin’ Mamas:  Fighting Back in an Age of Industrial Agriculture by Mark Winne

Reported by Jill M. Piacitelli

Today, people are persuaded more than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet… And we alone shall feed them…. Oh, never, never can they feed themselves without us! No science will give them bread so long as they remain free.  In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet, and say to us, “Make us your slaves, but feed us.”

-          Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

 Here’s a picture of the author – which I bet is exactly what you thought he’d look like.  Me too.  Mark Winne was long-term Executive Director of the Hartford Food System, organizing community self-help food projects that assisted the city’s lower income and elderly residents including the development of commercial food businesses, Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, farmers’ markets, a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm, a food bank, food and nutrition education programs, and a neighborhood supermarket.  He is also co-founder of a number of food and agriculture policy groups.  He just finished up a Visiting Scholar position at Johns Hopkins University school of Public Health and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Most of the book draws on his experiences with these foods and policy groups/circles that he works within – though I didn’t quite get that until looking him up.  I just thought he was really interested in New Mexico and Connecticut.

I hated  Chapter 1 – as in thought that I would not read the book and didn’t for a long time.  I skipped that first Chapter, a ten page futuristic glimpse into a story of 2020 with fictional characters – and everything got better.  Much, much better.  He ended up being a smooth, poetic, compelling writer highlighting all the right stuff and right people for the right amount of time. My complaints would be that opening chapter and that for being published in 2010, most of the statistics used were from 2006 – which makes a 2012 reading of them feel really antiquated. 

The message of this book is:  You have a choice between the global industrial food system (the system from which most of us eat whether we like it/know it or not) and a new, emerging food system that is undergirded by a respect for locality, sustainability, and equity (a distinctively different model of food production, processing, and distribution). The only choice you don’t have is to not choose. You can be an obedient food consumer and eat what they hand out, or you can muscle up some moxie and set the table to your own specifications.

The industrial food system is highly organized, rational, efficient, and possesses a singular focus on the financial bottom line.  This book is a call to arms against the industrial food system, which fills the first half.  He writes of policies that promote “food sovereignty, sustainability, and ensure that the social conditions of the people who produce food are just and fair, and promote equal access to fresh, affordable food.” The US food system does not do this.  He highlights the country’s current policies that undermine food sovereignty, most grossly by pointing out some trade stories and detailing some impact that CAFOs have over agricultural land and water. These policies devalue local food systems and communities, and sustain a distorted domestic food market dominated by a handful of large corps.

Major takeaways:  Monsanto = gross, meat=disgusting (unless you are really intentional about it), CAFOs= horrible labor practices, and warning! warning!  Watch out of philanthropy becoming partner to agribusiness.  Danger! Danger! Danger! (Example:  the Gates Foundation partnering with Archer Daniels Midland to “have compelling conversations on topics related to enhancing feed security”.)  Calls fast food expansion into other countries a “modern form of colonization” and says we are exporting our disease (much like colonial white settlers in Massachusetts):  obesity and diabetes. 

Local food, as best I can see, varies by definition.  Some states consider anything in the region or the state (Walmart), to be local.  Whole Foods says it’s food that doesn’t travel any more than seven hours to the store where it’s sold.  One cattle organization said 300 miles and Barbara Kingsolver narrowed that down to 100 miles in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  It is distinct in that it has positive impact on regional economies, individual health, and the quality of community life = intimacy.  It also promotes “good food”.

“Good food*” is: 

1.        Healthy – food that is nutritious and readily available; wont’ over time lead to heart disease, diabetes, or other chronic diet related problems;

2.       Green – produced in an environmentally sustainable manner but not necessarily organic;

3.       Fair – all who are involved in the food system from production to point of purchase receive fair wages and have safe working conditions; no on in the food chain is exploited;

4.       Affordable – people have the means to purchase it.

*In 2007, only 1.8% of U.S. Food sales was classified as good food.

He highlights the work of Maurice Small in Cleveland who gave me maybe my favorite quote of the book:  “I can’t wait for the politicians or policy to turn this around.  This (the garden) is the kind of practical politics I’m talking about.” 

And:  “We’re going to make this the model, man!  You gotta tweak ‘em; get that virus in their (the institution’s) veins.  Yes, it starts in a poor community because a wealthy community wouldn’t accept a compost pile.” 

Loss of land, loss of skills (grow and cook own food).  Increase in number of mouths to feed –especially in poor communities or countries.  The industrial food system would tell you that the only way to feed them is these huge systems.   This is not true.  Brahm Ahmadi – who is forwarding the People’s Grocery in Oakland is trying to overcome the “leakage” created by a food desert, transportation system cutting through the city, and so on.  He is great example of one who “accepts democracy as a first principle and then actively promotes it by building the systems what will allow it to flourish.”  He also probably hates alternative breakers, but would love ones that have taken the diversity workshop seriously. 

Food justice acknowledges that we have two food systems in the US – one for the poor and one for everyone else. Hunger, food insecurity, food banks, food stamps, and Wal-mart are on the menu for those at the wrong end of the food gap, while local, organic, Whole Foods, farmers’ markets, and CSA farms are set graciously before those at the affluent end.  The divide is wide, growing, and potentially disastrous for a nation that prides itself on its social equality and justice.  “What justice demands of us is to ask ourselves what more we can do… and then do it.”

Take down the system by:  urban gardening, policies around food deserts, getting food education into elementary schools and into high-risk communities (i.e. Hispanics in New Mexico with Happy Kitchens). “So there you have it, my recipe for a simpler, self-reliant, and more fulfilling life.  Eat local and season (start with the food closest to you and build out), support causes that are promoting the same for everybody, and get loud with your lawmakers.”

My favorite parts were this wildly interesting insertion into Chapter 2 of a couple of pages (see opening) from The Brothers Karamazov, specifically a peak in the novel called “The Grand Inquisitor.”  “God and the devil are fighting… and the battlefield is the heart of man.”  Set in Spain in the 16^th Century, Christ is imprisoned and the Grand Inquisitor (who has sentenced him to die, fearing his power) visits him in his cell.  Their conversation centers on whether freedom is a gift to humankind or a burden it’s better relieved of.  The Inquisitor criticizes Christ for His rejection of the three powers that hold humankind in their sway: “those forces are miracle, mystery, and authority.”  We have given away life-affirming choices around food to mystery, miracle, and authority – just give us bread.

Recommended Reading:

The Brother Karamazov – well, the 16 pages with the Grand Inquisitor anyway

Self-Reliance – Emerson

Studies from the Leopold Center (which has churned out more research on local and sustainable food systems than just about any other academic institution)

June 19 & 20 – Macon, Georgia – Mark Winne presenting to Central GA Food Policy Council Regional Meeting at the Macon Marriott City Center Hotel.

Remaining Questions: What happens to all that manure?  Seriously?  And why all the farm subsidies again?

"The Way We Eat" reviewed by DJ Mounga

The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter

By: Peter Singer & Jim Mason

            Hello LPF Book Club members!  I hope that my report finds for some interesting findings and encourages you to explore it as well.  I will be honest and say that I did not complete the book reading in its entirety and will suffer the consequences, but I believe I have enough to make an accurate account of my findings as I review, although I will finish reading as to keep my commitment to the cause!

             A little background on the two authors is that their first book, Animal Factories came out in the 80s and focused on factory farming which was part of the initial movement of exposures to the treatment of animals and the impacts on the environment. Jim is the farmer, born and raised in Missouri and brought the farming perspective and the ins and outs of the industry, while Peter was professor and a writer and brought about the ethical stand points.  The two together make a great duo in my opinion offering the most informative information while keeping a steady focus on the realities that are out there about food justice issues and how to truly make an impact.  Like many social justice issues, food justice is no different with its compacting issues that need to be viewed in a holistic manner, rather than detailed nit-picking.

            The book is broken into three parts and the point they wanted to make with this book is to give a well rounded look at food issues, rather than focusing on one particular issue or point like they discuss in their other books.  So I liked it because it offered a snapshot into the realm of food and what is happening on the multiple levels and it gives you a lot of “food for thought” (no pun intended).  The book focuses on three families.  One that eats the typical “American diet,” the second is a family that focuses on organics, and third a family that is vegan.  The way the authors tell their stories is through their food choices.  Where they buy, why they buy, and what is the mentality that goes into those purchases.  While those questions are being answered, the authors offer insight into the food world and issues that go along.  Below is what that breakdown would look like.

Jake and Lee: The American Diet

• Shop at Wal-Mart Supercenter
• Purchases primarily based on cost and convenience
• Issues discussed: cost of cheap chicken, meat factories, and Animal Care Certified

Jam and Mary Ann: The Conscientious Omnivores

• Shop at Trader Joes or local to get fresh produce…organics when available
• Purchases are made based off of health, ethical standards, and impacts on the environment
• Issues discussed: “Organic” and “Certified Humane” labels, seafood (scarily interesting), fair trade and workers rights

JoAnn and Joe: The Vegans

• Purchases are made at local grocery stores or Wild Oats (national chain) and food co-ops
• All choices are ethically based, purchase organically when possible
• Issues discussed: health concerns for vegans, raising children on a vegan diet, and ethics of why vegans choose to not eat meat

Here are some facts and things I found interesting from the book-

• The Vegan Society in Britain was the world’s first vegan society founded in 1944 by Donald Watson
• Although there is the arguments about cheap food being offered because that is what consumers want, the idea of free market still stands.  If people don’t like the way animals are treated or the way their food is being grown…take your money elsewhere.  That is the strongest way you can make an impact and directly fix the problem.  No profit coming in for the product…the product will have to adapt
• I liked this.  Gandhi has remarked that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treat its animals.  Ouch.
• Want to know about your eggs?  Let me give a little excerpt from the book.

“…American egg-producers typically keep their hens in bare wire cages, often crammed eight or nine hens to a cage so small that they never have room to stretch even one wing, let along both.  The space allocated per hen, in fact, is even less than broiler chickens get, ranging from 48 to 72 square inches.  Even the higher of these figures is less than the size of a standard American sheet of typing paper.  In such crowded conditions, stressed hens tend to peck each other – and the sharp beak of a hen can be a lethal weapon when used relentlessly against weaker birds unable to escape.  To prevent this, producers routinely sear off the ends of the hens’ sensitive beaks with a hot blade – without an anesthetic.”

• The European Union.  I don’t know what they are doing there, but they seem to be doing something right when it comes to their food.  I’d be interested if anyone knows more about this.  The standards for food are much higher than Americans.
• United Egg Producers…bad!  Europe changes their standards, UEP makes minor changes…simply to save face in front of the public
• Male chickens.  Sad.  They are considered no good so they are often thrown away…alive!
• “Animal Care Certified” stamp…lies, lies, lies
• Meat stats
• The average American eats more than 200 pounds of red meat, poultry, and red fish per year
• Beef consumption has fallen, but poultry consumption has doubled
• Pork=51 pounds per person…and that’s third place behind chicken, and beef
• 60 percent of the pork eaten is processed (sausage, hot dogs, bacon etc.)
• Studies have shown that pigs are intelligent animals that feel just like humans, but wording is often used to create a gulf between human and animal
• “farrowing” rather than “giving birth”
• “feeding” rather than “eating”
• Gestating” rather than “being pregnant”
• Europe…feeding cattle meat is a no no!  U.S.-eh, it’s okay!  WHAAT!?!
• Yes organic and cage free/field raised meat products you will pay more for your cuts BUT what you don’t pay (cheaper cuts) we as a society are paying on our environment…air pollution, sewage seeps into creeks and rivers, and health concerns for living in towns with animal factories.
• We are seeing the affects of fish farming have the same effects like we are in the animal factories…but in the sea.  Which is worse because their aren’t as much restrictions put on yet and the cross breeding between fishes are killing off entire populations
• Is buying locally always the best?  Could we do better by supporting other local communities abroad through fair trade?  Is it actually economically and environmentally safer to take that approach?  These are questions posed by the authors and things that I found interesting to ponder.

What I appreciated about this book is that there was a lot of information and the authors did a good job to stay middle lane.  It offered some interesting points that I never considered.  Like if it is truly better to eat completely locally or if we have an obligation to help other country farms?  Which is right or which is more right?  I’m not 100% sure where I stand on that but it is interesting to think about.  How about the cost of shipping food to and from place to place?  Those are the compares and contrasts that the authors looked at because in some instances the family that shopped at Wal-Mart was actually being better activists with some of their purchases than the family that shopped at Trader Joes!  Interesting you think?

            I will say that for a first time book clubber of any kind, I really did and still am enjoying this book.  I’m enjoying the bits of knowledge I’m getting from all over the food world.  I’m enjoying the take on the set up with the families and looking into their personal lives and analyzing food from that respect, because I think it is easy to look from a wishful thinking point of view, but these are real people.  What I will take from the book for sure is that a change for good no matter how small is a change for the better.  An example is Henry Spira.  He pressured McDonald’ to change the way the treated animals.  Even by implementing animal auditing and changes to the area space of chickens, believers thought that Spira was fighting a lose/lose battle.  But Spria had other thoughts in mind.  He knew that if McDonalds moved a millimeter then the entire industry would.  Since those small changes, all restaurants will only buy from chicken farms that meet these standards.  A small act with a huge impact and I would say in such a tough battle, we need to accept and be thankful for the small victories.

Grade: B+

DJ  

           

The power of gratitude

Sometime in the late eighties, I learned pesticide use in California vineyards and decided to enact my own re-dux of the great grape boycott of the 60s.  And so, for the greater part of a decade, I did all I could to avoid eating grapes. Raisin bran? No, thanks. Grapes with your free cheese & fruit snacks at a college event?  Skipped ‘em.  But when a friend asked me during my first year of theology school who else I’d told about my personal boycott, and I had to say, “um, nobody.”  And so I realized that no matter how good it was for my own integrity to choose the earth and farmworkers over my preferences, the power of my choice was diluted by my silence.

This year with the LPF Compact has been a refreshing reversal of that experience.  Our work for a better food system has allowed me to feel good about the integrity of my choices personally and with this little group of friends.  Even more, telling other people about it has brought ripples of connection – and ultimately, I hope, a bit of power behind each of these choices.

This month’s exercise of sending thank-you notes to five leaders in our local food systems was one of those ripples.  I sent all of mine by email, so I could hyperlink our blog and spread the word of what we’re doing through the power of a blue underlined phrase.  The responses I received (from three out of five of my designees) ranged from enthusiasm, exclamation points and returned thanks, to several lines of thoughtful reflection including the word “robust” – a favorite of mine this year.

I’ll paste some of my emails in below, for your reading pleasure.  But before I do, one quick request: Help our ripples go even further.  Think of someone who needs a thank-you note because they grew you something yummy, made you think about food in a new way, or work hard every day to provide variety to our tables and health to our earth and bodies.  Send ‘em a note, and enrich your own choices with the power that comes with integrity, words and gratitude.

To Shalom Farms

Dear Dominic,

Two emails in one short weekend!  I'm writing now as part of a little group of people across the US who are working together to promote better food systems by committing to one action or learning about one thing, each month for a year.  We call ourselves the LPF Compact because we also are part of the Laziness Philanthropy Fund, in which we donate a dollar for every to-do we don't get done during our workdays, and send it all to a different social justice organization each month.

This month, we're taking some time out to say thank you to those who are hard at work every day, making our food system stronger and healthier.  You and Shalom Farms are on my list of folks to thank, for these reasons:

- Our students got to experience a way to work for food justice, up close and personal with the dirt & the veggies because of you.
- You bring people together as volunteers, and in the process, they build community.
- You connect ideas of faith and justice to the one of the most important things we all do every day (if we're lucky enough): eating.

So, thank you!  Thanks for being part of the movement and for filling the dinner tables of so many with good things.

Peace,
Melody

PS You can read more about our little group in the blog I hyperlinked above, with the caveat that we're still working on adding our book reports, examples of thank-you's we've written, and more food tracking blog posts.  All a process!

To Victory Farms, currently being renamed as Origins Farm

Dear Alistar & Rebecca -

I'm part of a little group of people across the US who are working together to promote better food systems by committing to one action or learning about one thing, each month for a year.  We call ourselves the LPF Compact because we also are part of the Laziness Philanthropy Fund, in which we donate a dollar for every to-do we don't get done during our workdays, and send it all to a different social justice organization each month.

This month, we're taking some time out to say thank you to those who are hard at work every day, making our food system stronger and healthier.  You're on my list of folks to thank, for these reasons:

- You grow almost every vegetable I eat.  And they're yummy!
- You've committed to a way of growing that is nurturing to the earth and nourishing to those who enjoy the food.
- You've promoted a connection between eaters, yourselves and the earth that is stronger than most Americans get to experience even for a short time in their lives.

So, thank you!  Thanks for being part of the movement and for making my dinner table abundant with goodness.

Peace,
Melody