The Pothukuchi article once again brought up the importance that is the role of the planners in developing the food system. Specifically she says that many public officials wondered whether it was part of their mission. The public sector, more specifically the planner in local government, has the ability to work toward incentivizing grocery stores to develop in certain areas, to incentivize and provide resources for farm to school, and to help organize farmers markets. All of these articles allude to the fact that planners play the role in spatially creating the food system and helping to guide its existence within their jurisdictions. Although as we discussed toward the beginning of the semester, there are a lot of other factors at play that affect the choices of individuals working within the food environment, I think there is no doubt that the planner has a foundational role in shaping it.
I watched a Ted talks in another one of my courses that was by a woman named Majora Carter. She lives in the Bronx and saw all of the blight, the lack of healthy foods, and the many other inner-city environmental justice issues that made it difficult to get to fresh food and enjoy being outside. The downfall that was expressed within our class and is now a recurring comment with her movement, is that she was able to bring money back into the Bronx to create some green spaces and help through a few avenues, but in order to truly get anything done she was charging high prices for people to come in and talk with her. In a city that is already low income but has a lot of individuals that want change, it’s not very advantageous to have the changemaker be privatized and costly, and therefore inaccessible to the greater community.
These articles and a few of our previous ones really highlight the advantage that planners can have in this instance, Planners can act a liaison between multiple platforms, whether private or public. There is also much more accessibility when planners are already connected to various industries and have more power to help create incentives for grocery stores or farmers markets. In my opinion, the best option would be having that champion and resident (such as Majora Carter) work with local planners to create a solution that is accessed on all fronts.
Although the example isn't perfect, I feel that it really highlights the differences in what can be accomplished by the planner versus local private entities.
https://www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal?language=en
As someone who appreciates the importance of leadership, you bring up a good point here. Private changemakers, while having good intentions, may have opposite of the desired effects. They do not necessarily have to be held accountable. Plus, they may stop what they're doing at any point in time when they feel like their goals have been accomplished. They could easily move on to a different area or project without looking back at what they did previously.
ReplyDeleteAfter talking with planners who have worked in both government and consulting, the main downside of consulting is that once a project is done, it's done, and you do not necessarily get to stay for the results. I think this holds true for private changemakers. So I agree, local government planners certainly have a role in working with these changemakers and establishing credibility as well as accountability. This way, if the private changemakers suddenly disappear from the scenario, the effort can continue with local planning instead of coming to a complete halt.