As we frequently discuss in class, food is the center of all things. Over time, food has moved out of the center of our cities to the rural parts of our states. Due to the ruralization (word?) of our food system, it is no surprise to me that planners have not included food into urban planning until recently. After reading the Clancy and Kaufman/Pothukuchi articles, it reminds me that the reason planners have not included food into their comprehensive plans (prior to 2000) is not because they did not want to, but because food was not a topic that was on their radar. The lack of understanding can be seen through their responses --"It's not our turf; It's not an urban issue, it's a rural issue; the food system is driven primarily by the private market not by the public; Planning agencies do not have the funds to consider food systems planning; and What's the problem?"
What's the problem??? Really?
Didn't the planning profession emerge from concerns relating to health?
Didn't the planning profession emerge from concerns relating to health?
Fast forward fifteen years and food has become a hot topic. Urban gardens, farmers' markets, and community based food systems are making their way into the spot light. Documentaries, articles, and books are not only produced, but also have a significant audience! The food movement is here--and its moving! That being said, it is important to note that urban planners must make strides to join the movement. We must create viable access to "good" food, food that is fresh, fair, affordable and nutritious. We must create zoning policies that promote the sale of fresh foods within neighborhoods that we determine to be food deserts. We must become activists within our cities. We have made moves, but we have a long way to go if we wish to create urban spaces that promote healthy behaviors for all.
Namaste.
I do agree that now food has been become so much more of an important topic to the planning world which is super necessary and great, yet I do believe there are still so many gaps in how to address it successfully. Grassroots movements seem to the most influential; breaking away from policies and still following zoning regulations but focusing more on the planner as an activist. I think that's also important to discuss when talking about food, that maybe the 'traditional' rational planner isn't really the one to fix. Do you agree? Do you think that more of activist, grassroots planning may be better off here? The example that I keep coming back to is D-Town Farm in Detroit which is based on a community member (Malik Yakini) who brought everyone together, found funding, created a for profit affordable urban farm, and brought the black voice into the conversation in order to use urban food movements to also address racial inequalities.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Health was the reason planning even came into play. I also think that planners have not been incorporating food because it has been below their radar. As for the new food movement, I kind of alluded to this in my post as well. Food is definitely becoming more prevalent in planning, and I believe this is a very good thing. I love your enthusiasm!
ReplyDeleteWould it look like this??? https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/53/de/cf/53decf059fcb12660ef9378347e2a997.jpg (search: food ambulance)
ReplyDeleteOr maybe this one (more likely): http://www.georgiahealthnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Veggie-Van-Driver.jpg
DeleteMel, as usual, love your post!! I'm your biggest fan. Anyway, I think it is interesting how you mentioned that planning emerged in response to health issues. I think this is partially true. Looking back, we can see that health advocates at the turn of the century were "planners," but were contemporaneously known more as social activists (what's the difference, really??) But I think traditional planning came about as cities became crowded, noisy, and unpleasant. Nuisance laws and zoning were meant to both protect health, and protect property and wellbeing. Now we can see that some of this early planning has had some negative, unintended consequences (such as sprawl) that affect our food systems, but planning was not traditionally meant to protect these systems. In fact, I think in a lot of ways it sought to remove people from the production of food, again, for nuisance, property, and wellbeing reasons.
ReplyDelete