This week’s readings discussed some of the reasons that
planners may not consider food systems in their line of work. Some of the
reasons included:
It’s not
our turf.
It’s not an
urban issue, but rather a rural one.
There’s no
funding.
What’s the
problem?
It’s the
responsibility of private markets.
These reasons highlight one of the biggest issues in our
food system: people don’t feel immediately responsible for food other than what
each individual cooks and eats. We often fail to recognize our role in the
larger food system, perhaps because of a lack of education or just general naivety
that stems from a larger societal issue: as a whole, we don’t value or
recognize how important and influential food is in our lives. Food is everyone’s
“problem.”
It’s been heavily ingrained into my head that food is more
than just something to chew n’ swallow. It’s most likely due to the fact that
my dad is a chef, and growing up, food wasn’t just there to fuel us, it was a
chance to gather around the table with my family (granted I know that family
dynamics can be different for everyone/ some families have different work
schedules where a night shift is taken to make ends meet, etc.). There was
value placed on it. It’s wasn’t an after thought, it was a first thought. I
know that most people don’t have a professional chef for a parent, but many of
us have some of our best memories around a dinner table, whether with friends,
families, a date, whatever.
The authors offer some suggestions about how to have
planners integrate food into their planning process; some of their suggestions
include compiling data, analyzing connections, assessing impact, and the like,
but I think the only way to start planning wholesome, healthy, successful, and
efficient food system is with a societal change. What can we do to make the public
recognize the importance and the impact of food?
I agree with you that growing up with a professional chef in your household allowed you to view meals differently from a lot of Americans. My parents made it a priority that we had dinner as a family. This was our time as a family to catch up on what’s going on in each other lives and also a time to discuss family issues. At times it felt that dinner was the carrot needed to get us all in one place and to talk. However, there are families that don’t get to spend that quality time together over a meal because, as you mentioned previously, of work schedules. For some, the only time they may share a meal as a family is on a holiday or at a family event. In low-income families a lot of times, the parents are just concerned with making sure that everyone is fed or the responsibility may be placed on an older sibling. Either way, I agree that we have to change the way we view food, but how do you propose we change a viewpoint that is a result of multiple complex factors?
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from when you say people do not immediately feel responsible for food, other than what they cook and eat. Due to our fast paste society, food responsiblty has definitely not one of our concerns. I feel as though we as a society have given that responsibility to the corporate world to handle. For example, fast food corporates has realized our lack of concern for food and has taken advantage of this by adding ingredients that most people would not a prove of.
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