As I watched the Ted talk, I liked how Professor Alkon talked both about the current issues facing the people in agriculture, but the history of agriculture in the US and how it has impacted people. The history of US agriculture has created issues that many people still deal with today. Alkon spoke about the multiple minority groups (African Americans, Hispanics, Women, etc...), and how they have been historically mistreated. Learning their stories and the negatives of our agricultural system can help us to make changes in the system and understand how to help these different groups of people. The individual experiences that people provide connect them to other people and can help to create communities. These communities can bring even more people together and be a catalyst for change.
I agree with Alkon that accepting and highlighting the different cultures in our agriculture and our daily meals is also a great way to build community. Alkon also gave multiple examples about how food is used to connect different people and build relationships. I personally love to try foods from different places, and I think we should encourage more of supporting small businesses and trying new things. Although large chain restaurants are good, supporting farmers markets and family-owned businesses lets people make real connections with others in their communities. In a world where we are separated by screens it is much and have digital communities that bring people from all over together. Overall, I like the idea of how food is this constant factor between everyone, and how everyday people can use it to make changes in their lives and the lives of those around them.
2 comments:
I really liked how you mentioned the importance of supporting farmers markets and small businesses. Whenever I visit farmers markets, I'm always amazed by the diversity of not just the products (not just food) being sold, but the people selling them. Many of the vendors will have signs or pamphlets that share the story behind their products, and many of them come from a wide array of cultures. I believe that farmers markets are one of the most powerful tools in creating a sense of community and food empathy. Seeing people from all types of backgrounds converse and try each other's cultural foods is very inspiring.
I like how you said radical empathy through food can be a "catalyst" for change. I was looking at it from a perspective that it is useless if it doesn't solve the problem itself. You wrote a really good explanation on how it is a catalyst.
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