I appreciated the historical/economical/social explanation of current day food forests. The obvious role racism played was disgusting though. The almost identical overlap of the maps of non-whites in Oakland and then population in poverty, the fact new housing developments were legally racially exclusive until almost 1950, and that merely the presence of blacks was enough to rate an area "hazardous" (pg. 101) are all striking examples.
I've heard of redlining before but didn't really know it referred to how supposedly risky a neighborhood was for loaning. Redlining corresponds to Type D and most risky, Type C was "declining" and in yellow, and Type B was "still desirable" and in blue (Wikipedia).
I also didn't know much about the suburbanization of industry and housing, to "attract a better brand of labor", which referred to and benefitted the whites already allowed to live in those areas. This seems like an example of positive feedback, such as how cold global temperatures increase ice cover, which increases the earth's albedo, which prevents heat absorption and thus keeps the earth cold, which then reenforces the cycle over again. Only whites could afford/were allowed to live in certain spots, industries were attracted to these people who were wealthy enough to afford housing, which increased jobs and wealth for those citizens, blacks were kept out of these area, so these regions grew/stayed white and relatively wealthier.
I find it sad but understandable how fast food and liquor stores dominate in places like Oakland. There are few other option for grocery stores, and junk food is cheaper and convenient, especially when there is little money or time to spare.
I was surprised at the ratios showing how few supermarkets were in Oakland: in 1935 there was 8 groceries to every liquor store, but in 1977 there was less than 2 groceries to a liquor store, and the tables shown showed other stats on the decreases in supermarkets. I was also struck by the thought that inner city citizens have to go outside of their community for healthy groceries, which is then money leaving their community's economy; even if they are able to afford and obtain fresher produce and food options, there are still negative effects on their lives.
I did like the hopeful ending of the description of the urban garden, especially in contrast to the liquor store the chapter opened with.
1 comment:
I really enjoyed your comparison of suburbanization to the global temperatures increasing ice cover. It's a nice way to visualize the effects redlining has had on our society. There appears to be no end to this issue unless people intervene. As briefly mentioned by a few other classmates, "ignorance is bliss". A lot of people don't know about some of these issues that affect our society. Hopefully pieces like this can make their way to more people to help better prevent issues such as this from continuing to repeat themselves.
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