Admittedly struggling to find a creative way to approach and pen this week's blog--my task, personal reflection--I opted to look beyond the readings to uncover my opinions and experiences with food policy. In the fashion of your average student, I started my endeavor by googling, "food policy." (This sort of ingenuity isn't abundant, y'all!) Surprisingly, the first link I clicked on--after an intense vetting process of which sites ended in the most credible extension of internet-dom (i.e., ".org")--I found the Food Policy Action website. Following the directions (see "average student," above), I clicked on the panhandled state of Florida on the interactive map. This a list of the national representatives and their food policy "scorecard." It should come as no shock that the Democratic members of Florida's congress repeatedly outvoted Republican members on food policy issues. Of the Republicans, Sen. Marco Rubio not only lead the pack as the most food-friendly, he outscored his colleagues by two- and three-times as much. Republicans tended to score approximately 10-35% by the FPA's standards, whereas Rubio reached 60% for his voting history, accountability, and amenability to sustainable food policy. Such a phenomena can at times seem paradoxical; why do farmers--who are (without generalizing) typically conservative--tend to either, one, elect delegates who do not represent the same values, or two, why do farmers continue to operate under unsustainable pretenses? Could that also raise a third, perhaps more salient question, that our sustainable food policies as of late have not addressed the right issues?
We have "simplified" sustainability to three dependent variables: economics, equity, and environment. We have since viewed every topic through the lens of these three values. Yet, the big farmers and half of the state's politicians can't seem to to get behind the text behind the policy issues. Our congressman don't seem to have an incentive to alter the status quo, let alone through the institutional change that their Democratic counterparts gravitate towards. How can policy intended to alter they way food is grown, manufactured, distributed, and purchased without raising an eyebrow? On the other hand, to what degree should the government be involved in food enterprise? Disregarding the need for food safety regulations, of course. Has our government failed to protect consumers in the past? And particularly, were they preventable situations? Perhaps it's time that our food decision need to be taken out of the hands of politicians and turned over to scientists, doctors, and nutrition specialists.
Jamie, those are some really great questions. I don't want to generalize either, but I would assume that a lot of these issues have to do with big agricultural companies having the money and power to lobby for unsustainable practices to go unregulated. The farmers can easily lose the floor beneath their feet if they don't cater to their buyers- and this means bigger, faster, "cleaner" produce. From what we've talked about in class, it seems like a tumultuous industry to work in, due to the variability of nature and the ever-growing demand for the perfect food. Hopefully the congressmen and other politicians who have voted against sustainable agricultural practices will be pushed enough by the public to change their stances one day.
ReplyDeleteI like that you mentioned the three E's of sustainability, t is a great way to illustrate the main components that need the most attention for sustainability to occur, but I agree that it seems to not mean much to politicians. Our government is largely bought out by companies who are more interested in personally profit rather than providing the public with a more nutritional and sustainable. I am not sure why farmers support this government, maybe because they have a disposition to be republican. And if that is true as well as your figures on Rubio then their votes for him are justified. As far as government involvement in the food system I think we need more regulation and policy implementation from them to make our food system more sustainable. The main thing about that is, we as a public need to vote people into the office who will do this, and demand civic engagement in the matter as well.
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