Week 2 Reflection

Growing up in the past twenty decades has made humans disconnect from the sources of food that sustain nations every day. For myself, looking back at my teens, I realized that questioning industrialized food systems were never an issue I talked about, nor did I ever hear my parents talk of it. Carolyn Steel’s Hungry City tells the story of the world’s food evolution and how industrial food distribution chains have made food a commodity nowadays. Most alarmingly, little has been done to revert the many problems it causes to cities, the environment, and food security for new generations.

Tallahassee provides a plethora of sources for local food, and farmers markets are a source of fresh, short-mileage produce that benefits every aspect of the community, and oneself. Carolyn Steel reflects how food was a crucial part of every person’s life, telling that cities had strong ties to its suppliers, which hailed mostly from the city’s surroundings. In comparison to Steel’s ancient civilizations, the majority of Tallahassee’s food –like many other cities– comes with a costly and long fuel mileage created by large-scale companies. In the short run, people prefer to pay for cheaper food, either by necessity or preference, and it represents the disconnectedness of humans and food, as Steel names it, a commodity.

One possible solution to begin a cooperative change can be through supporting local economy. And from personal experience, I can say the efforts for food sustainability are anything but burdensome. Getting the majority of my groceries at local markets has expanded my food budget and certainly made me more aware of the community’s sustainable food source.

If more people were to shift their shopping patterns to more local hubs, the connection between “city and country,” as Steel mentions, provides food security that has a lesser impact on the environment. Furthermore, having a connection with the sources of what we eat enhances how communities can rely on its surrounding instead of fuel-intensive foods from other cities or overseas. 

Creating consciousness about possible solutions industrial systems can be the answer to prevent food scarcity in the future. Cities can utilize local food as a means of progress and better models of green cities, which will also be crucial to mitigate climate change, ensuring the quality of life for many centuries to come.