Unmasking Food Politics

In the Food Politics chapter of An Unjust Food System, the authors summarized Obama's stance on the American agricultural system from an alternative food perspective. His short paragraph eloquently detailed the major discrepancies in our national agricultural system, as explained in the all three of the articles. Policy seems to be everything when it comes to both the environment and agriculture. A Unjust Food System really honed in on the impact of political motives in the overarching scheme of the United States agricultural sector. It was incredibly disappointing that Obama appointed Tom Vilsack for agriculture secretary, because of his association with Monsanto and support for genetically modified foods- however, there seems to be many political leaders associated with the corporation.  

The comparison between President Obama and the presidential hopeful Barack Obama created the stark difference between moral intentions and political will. When running for office, Obama discussed the impact of agriculture on levels of green house gases. He also mentioned how over dependency on a select few crops leaves the country vulnerable to a major security issue if these crops fail, which is something that often goes unspoken. As we have learned through natural phenomena and disasters, nature is often incredibly unpredictable and, because of this, we've seen countries like Syria fall to unrest when their people are unable to secure the most basic necessities such as water and food.  On a positive note- now that we have witnessed his drive to repair our health care system, it was very insightful to hear Obama's perspective on how these primary crops are serious causes of extreme health problems such as heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. 

Of course, learning so much more about genetically modified organisms in GMO Food: Food Fights Among Adults changed my perspective on how genetically modified food fits into our food systems. Anyone familiar with the bullying tactics of Monsanto has felt trepidation towards GMOs, but I always tried to understand the perspective that GMOs have the potential to feed the masses in typically difficult parts of the world. This article quickly shattered my disillusionment when it discussed the limited research done to help those in Sub-Saharan Africa and other drought-ridden regions with their crop yields. I have learned in previous courses that there is a plenty abundance of food on Earth, but it never registered with me until now that this breaks down a major pillar of the pro-GMO argument.  Do we even need to be treading in this unknown territory if it does nothing for world hunger? An initiative I might like to see is an entrepreneur or nonprofit campaign to create incentive for biotechnology companies to develop crops for high salinity or drought.

The articles left me with a few questions to think about as we continue to learn about issues within food system planning:

1. Can we only effect real change through policy action?
2. Food Inc. wrapped up with a positive message pushing consumers to speak up for a more ethical food system. Is this a naive effort in a world where consumers are faced against a huge political and financial force like Monsanto?
3. Is freedom to choose your food an illusion when a small group of powerful corporations own most of our food products?
4. As there are intersections between food justice and environmental justice, are there also opposing perspectives? Or do they function completely alongside each other?