My initial reaction of the Ted Talk was shock. I have never considered food to be that much of our society. But just as she said in the intro (was my favorite part of the video), everything we do is based around food. It is sad to know food workers are among some of the lowest wages, it is obvious that industrial agriculture does not care about nutrition or favor the people striving for it.
I chose this title because the line "Food has potential" was swirling around my head throughout the rest of the video after I heard her say it once.
Awareness about industrial agriculture and its increasing number of negative effects on our society should be raised, and everybody in the "food world" should have radical empathy and should accept Alkon's encouragement to watch food blogs. However, it felt like most of the important issues such as: creating alternatives to industrial agriculture, raising wages, and curbing industrial agriculture's worst practices are all tasks too dawning for individuals to fight for without government assistance.
She encouraged us to do a couple things to achieve radical empathy, but I fear that the effort is in vain. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching cooking ASMR videos of Asian cuisine and wouldn't mind stepping out to watch a food blog every now and then or enjoy another culture's dish and hear their story, but I don't see how achieving radical empathy will change any of the terrible practices of industrial farming or increase wages without federal incentive. Global warming is happening really fast, and I do not think the industrial agricultural system can be rebuilt before it is too late.
Despite my criticalness, I thought it was slightly reassuring to hear how food has given power to activists in the past. Like Georgia Gilmore, who used food to fund a critical movement towards ending racism.
1 comment:
I agree that the state of agriculture today is dire, but I think that radical empathy can be a start to that can help change the industry. By using radical empathy to connect both farmers and everyday consumers, people can be aware and help to solve issues in the industry. I understand your thinking of how it is too late. Although it is extremely hard to make major changes in any industry, radical empathy can lay the groundwork to create change. Eventually any movement will need to turn to the for permanent change. By educating many people and building support through means like radical empathy, the movement can more quickly gain traction and gain the attention of those in the government.
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