These articles also try to describe Community Food Assessments as a way to solve more than just food justice issues, but also a way to begin addressing racial and social injustice issues. One thing that another one of my courses has discussed is the way that we look at food desert maps and find that African American and Hispanic populations are usually placed within them. We never really address that within an African American population, there may be different cultures who want different foods and who ultimately are completely different sets of ethnicity. Community Food Assessments, in theory, can then look at more than just a spatial map and through working with the community, can find the best healthy food options that the people actually want. These assessments can help to put decision-making back into the community's hands by creating this dialogue and using food (culture) to reshape their area. I think the most important and potentially effective strategy laid out by Thomson would be to support grassroots activism in food and to help foster more of it and increase access to information. The more the community has a say in the way that a food system is grown, the more it can be tailored to the actual needs of the community.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Community Food Assessments culturally appropriate healthy foods. Week 6
The article 'Understanding the Food Environment' highlights that there are gaps in the way that we think about the food environment. Although we might be able to spatially identify that there are supermarkets present, it does not help us to identify whether or not the quality of those markets are high (as the article points out) but more importantly brings us back to the question of being able to identify if these markets are culturally appropriate. Even the list of other options for healthy foods besides conventional stores, such as farmers markets, growing your own food, or programs, forgets to address the importance of cultural food stores that may have culturally appropriate healthy food options. Pothukuchi, on the other hand, does mention that with community food security, there is an importance of having safe, nutritious, sustainable food that is culturally appropriate. I think it is so imperative to understand that a community is more than just a group of people, but a group of cultures that are rooted in different food traditions.
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Michelle, your focus on not only addressing culturally important food, but addressing differences in "one" culture is important. As you point out, "We never really address that within an African American population, there may be different cultures who want different foods and who ultimately are completely different sets of ethnicity." There are so many layers to addressing "adequate" food supply, and this is one that often gets overlooked. This is really unfortunate, because by assuming one group of people is all the same, not only are we not addressing their needs, but we may be veering into harmful racial/ethnic stereotypes. I am currently reading a cookbook called "Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine" by chef and activist Bryant Terry. He addresses many of these same issues -- how our perception of African-American/Southern cuisine paints it as being uniformly unhealthy, and how his twist on African-American/Southern cuisine reclaims its true roots in healthy, fresh produce. I just started it but it's a great read that I recommend to people interested not only in cultural critique, but great recipes!!
ReplyDeleteI think that your last line, "The more the community has a say in the way that a food system is grown, the more it can be tailored to the actual needs of the community" really resonates as how all planning should be approached. Too often you see communities gentrified by collaborations between city planners and developers that leave local culture out of the picture. Food is such an integral part of cultural heritage, that to put in food places that do not match these values is to disregard an area's identity entirely. Bringing the citizens of the area into the planning process is so crucial to prevent losing what makes the community great.
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