Looking Ahead

Looking back to the beginning of the year, I have immersed myself into the local food scene even more than before. Gathering knowledge of all aspects within the food systems greatly helped in putting all the pieces together: the economic, environmental, social, and beyond. Like a puzzle, putting all the pieces together requires proper arrangement and seeing the bigger picture; all stakeholders have a different role within the food system. In my case, it has come with difficulty to find where I best fit, since I try to spread myself thin by sharing my efforts within several aspects of the community.

Throughout the semester I was able to attend several events that really boasted the energy to make local food a big issue. Events such as Veg Fest, Collards & Cornbread, and the Vegan 420 Mac N’ Cheese bake-off really sparked up how great it is to share food with others that comes from its own people. What is particular about all of these events is that they heavily rely on its community, the stakeholders of the local food hub. I have become very passionate about engaging people, which leads to awareness of what is happening with their food, and ultimately have a stronger sense of their surroundings. Ideally, my goal is to develop awareness whilst creating social cohesion, awareness that entails environmental stewardship and longing for a more sustainable lifestyle.

Funny enough, Dr. Butler called me a community planner, but I really enjoy the title and the opportunities it may bring. As the summer approaches, I am greatly invested in making my summer project based on community engagement and farmers market. With this independent project I aim to observe and interact within diverse farmers markets across the country and see what are some effective methods to attract the community, and seeing the positive effects it brings when it comes to diet and customer-to-vendor relationships. Additionally, it will be a great source of knowledge to bring back to Tallahassee once I return in the fall term.  

Two years from now, I will –hopefully- be working towards a master’s degree in urban and regional planning, which I hope to focus in sustainability and food systems. Even though if I do not go to a school that has a program especially designed to address food issues, I will strive to engage communities in programs such as farmers markets, urban gardens, food policy councils, and other activities that educate people. One of the major benefits I hope to see in the coming years is the shift in people’s demands toward fresh, healthy, affordable food. This will require action both at the social and political level, which will entail efforts from different sectors of communities to join forces, demanding for better policies that benefit the health and diets of all. In the meantime, several questions loom in my head: Will people advocate for low-income families to give them a just share of vegetables? How can we get kids to start eating kale instead of candy? Can your front yard be your own edible garden?

Even if change does not occur from day to night, I hope to see healthier people, people that do not lack of access to fresh foods and can share it with their families and neighbors. When people eat well, people feel great and health issues go away. I firmly believe that food is the solution to the majority of earth’s issues. Nations need food. But we must give them vegetables, grown by their people, with the people, for the people. 

"Did you know that some people don't want you to grow a tomato in your front yard to feed yourself?"

The following question was posed to me by Ruben Fields', owner of Miccosukee Root Cellar. The Miccosukee Root Cellar restaurant may be found right here in Tallahassee across the street of TMH hospital.  The restaurant is actually a farm to table restaurant that contracts with 12 different local vendors to bring local and organic foods to our community. "Did you know that some people don't want you to grow a tomato in your front yard to feed yourself?" I quickly replied, "yes, can you believe that?" However, 60 days ago I was completely oblivious to the fact food sovereignty was even a thing. Being a 90s baby, I was unaware to the extent in which America's imposed limitations on food and agriculture policies shape our contemporary society. As unbelievable as it sounds, during one point in time, our country's economy was heavily dependent on the agriculture sector. I think the government should probably decentralize the agriculture market whether it will be in through policies or programs while incentivizing States in engaging in the agriculture in their own way as an effort to stimulate small businesses and combat dietary and nutrition related issues that are plaguing our public health system.

A big difference in my philosophy considering food systems is the way public health initiatives emphasize on individual behavior as the primary determinant in modifying behavior. Evaluating the course material this semester makes me shift public health related efforts to the private sector, as well as other distributors and producers of food. Most importantly public health will probably need reform as their current policies lack the concepts of promoting equitable food environments. Or maybe it is not the responsibility of public health figures to fix the inadequacies in our food systems. Toronto's establishment of food policy council is probably the type of changes that need to occur nationwide to create food justice for all Americans.

Going forward I will make sure that my planning efforts include integration of local agriculture movements. There is just so much more that can be done in sustainably creating urban agriculture will be resilient in its ability to reduce the dietary burdens that is evident everywhere, regardless of race or ethnicity. During the first couple weeks of class we talked about food meeting spiritual needs of people. I still think that is the case more than ever as we end our semester. You look at the way people are aging today and it is undeniable that food, or the lack of food rather, has serious implications on our society's wellbeing and livelihood.

So, where am I going with this? I think everyone from now on should look to cultivate and harvest their own produce one day and go to the neighborhood farm for fresh goat milk, but what you can do right now is support those the existing institutions related to local food systems. Remind them why did they decide to serve our community with integrity by the means of fresh and organic products with a thank you - and buy something to enjoy later, of course :)

Final Blog Post

Within the greater scheme of “the food movement”, each person has their own, unique internal food movement.  I see this as a food journey, shaped and embellished by individual food stories along the way.  Slowly, over the years, I began assimilating information and experiences in a way that allowed me to see the broader connections within the area of “food justice” or “food sovereignty”.  

Over the last few years, I’ve had different ways I’ve thought I might be involved in the food movement.  My partner and I tried starting a farm project in his hometown in Puerto Rico in 2013, but ran into a several bureaucratic obstacles in participating in the Department of Agriculture incentive programs.  Lately, we’ve had some leads to start a program in PR similar to the Southwest Conservation Corps in Salida, CO, which would be part trail building crew, part food corps, with a youth employment/education focus similar to the Urban Roots program in Austin, TX.

One of the reasons I’m attracted to the field of Planning is that I feel it will allow me to better navigate municipal policies, ordinances, and legal considerations to organize a community-based food initiative.  I’m also interested in studying food issues at the policy level, so it would be wonderful to find a way to be engaged at different scales.

Now what?

     With all that we have learned about Food Policy Councils, Community Food Assessments, Food System Planning, community engagement, farmers market appeal, and much much more, I have wondered throughout these lessons how I should take the material. My experience in the past with food systems is along the lines of food appreciation and hands-on work. What can I say- I love to eat awesome food and I love the experiences I've had volunteering at farms. I've always been conscious of food on an individual level, such as how I shop for food and what businesses I choose to support. I've never dealt with administrative implementation of food policy, and I'm not sure if I ever will work solely in this area.  At the same, I feel that this is an issue that can be integrated into any public policy or administrative framework.

     With my Environmental Studies classes, this course kind of closed the gap on how to go from theoretical ideals to actual implementation of these projects. Agriculture is hugely important in creating healthy communities, and hearing perspectives on what cities are doing to address a lack of healthy, fresh food was inspiring. Looking not only at the benefits and successes, but also at the obstacles and failures of projects created a realistic image in my mind of what food system planning needs to look like moving forward. It's amazing to be learning about an effort that really seems to be taking off fairly recently and has much more ground to cover. I'm excited to be part of the food system planning pioneers, and I hope I'm able to integrate what I have learned into my career.

     Personally, where I really want to see myself one day is working alongside one an active international entity like the United Nations or the World Bank. I want to push for environmentally sustainable projects to be prioritized in developing areas. A lot of this takes into account the power of ecosystem services like clean water and unpolluted soil as economic and social necessities. Because of the parallels between them, my passion for Environmental Justice has been matched by a new appreciation for Food Justice. It is in the overlapping of these movements that I see a big, shining future ahead of us... as long as we're ready to work for it. 

     For now though, I'll continue volunteering with farms around Tallahassee and beyond. Over the summer I'll be working in Northern India in the city of Naddi on implementing a solar oven project as well as working with local women on their organic gardens. I hope to utilize what I learned in class to create microfinance projects with the women based on the products we can make and grow. I can't wait to see where I can plug into the global environmental movement, and I know that somehow planning for agriculture will come with whatever I plan to do.

     

Life

Food is a precious commodity that my parents have always taught me to respect. Respect it by finishing my plate of food, not asking for too much, and not playing with it while eating because others may not have any all. The culture of family taught me to respect food and especially water, as something precious. I can recall learning about water conservation in Africa when I was in elementary school and being feverishly passionate about doing my part. Although I may have lost that fire as I grew older and learned new information to fill my head, now I have to come to a decision of my career.

Whether in rural Cambodia or prestigious England, food systems exist globally and have a snow-ball effect on our environment, society, economy, health, and the list continues. I have contemplated inserting myself into this food equation as an Urban Planner whose focus it is to learn the culture and needs of a community while enabling their change in their local food system better sustainable and culturally appropriate food. Being that there is a large demand for planners in food system planning, I can find a specific area I would like to work in for a few years and implement projects that may or may not contribute to alleviating famine or shrinking food swamps for healthy food options. Health and food go hand in hand and not many people know the benefits of herbs or a dairy-free diet. I even witness my college friends saying they feel sick or weak because they cannot afford leafy greens to add to their diets.

If possible, to spread awareness on affordable, accessibly healthy foods then maybe families can come closer together and be less plagued with diseases that distraught them mentally and financially. I would like to actively participate in my career my being involved hands-on in the community - running outside, knowing the local people who would be my neighbors, creating programs for the community to attend and receive feedback from.

Although I am still not sure about the details, I think I would like to combine Urban Planning in Food Systems with healthy, affordable, and access-able food.

Bonus Blog: Separating My Interests From My Passions

Separating My Interests From My Passions

Throughout this semester, I have taken into account multiple positions in the world of food systems planning. Whenever I came across an interesting job in this field, I would instantly scope out the position to see if it was something I could see myself pursuing in the near future. After doing a lot of researching I instantly became overwhelmed with all the different opportunities. I struggled to find a career in the food systems planning field that matched my passions. It wasn’t until the end of my internship at the Frenchtown Heritage market that I realized my curiosity for food systems planning was just an interest and not a passion of mine. To me, an interest is being so intrigued in a topic where you are inspired to learn more about it. However, I define a passion as having more than just an academic attachment to a topic but also having a strong emotion and connection to the topic. I want my passion to be something that I could see myself joyfully committing my time and dedication to for the next 30 to 40 years of my life. I will definitely incorporate all of my knowledge of food systems planning into my passion of helping to sustain traditional medicine and cultural history of indigenous and minority communities in both the Caribbean and Latin America. Being still very interested in food systems planning, I could see myself playing an interactive part time role and not a full-time role in the field. Therefore, I do not see myself working in food policy, food planning, nor a community organizer in the field of food systems planning. Instead, I see myself playing an indirect role as a naturopathic physician serving to sustain traditional medicine and cultural history of indigenous and minority communities in both the Caribbean and Latin America.

Final Reflection

When I first started attending Florida State University I had no idea that I would end up taking any sort of class that dealt with food, but frankly I'm glad I did. This course coupled with my Food and Environment class which I took a year ago have truly changed the way I look and and understand food. I like many other was very naive to just how complex and involved the greater food system is and what it takes to keep it going. It is very encouraging that I can leave this course feeling truly inspired and educated on an issue that so many people take for granted on a daily basis. For something that is such a huge part of our lives I feel as though we still manage to neglect the complexities of the food system, too often we don't give it any thought and just continue on with our grocery shopping. By gaining this newfound appreciation with food I hope to profess the lessons I've learned with those I meet in the future and once I've settled into my new surroundings I hope I can get involved with local food groups by preaching sustainability within local food. My passion is for the environment and how we can as a collective work to better it, with my understanding of the food system and just how much it effects the environment I am excited to continue my education in reference to how the two seem to go hand in hand.

Again I have enjoyed this class much more than I anticipated to and I feel very fortunate that I have the knowledge now to try and make an impact even if it's something as small as volunteering with local food organizations.

Thank you Professor Butler!