Food Justice and Municipal Governments

 

The big idea of this week’s article is that the municipal or local government can play a crucial role in the fight for food justice but has limitations that make their efforts ineffective if not properly addressed. Before digging into the cases, the author mentions the common barriers within our food systems and the efforts to break them which some of them we’re already familiar with. It’s known that food justice is more than equitable access to food but now we can understand how to fix the injustices from a structural standpoint being the municipal court. Like I stated earlier, they can make changes, but it won’t be easy. Problems that were already in place like zoning or cutbacks in benefits and food assistance create challenges for the local government and food justice organizations to address food insecurity. An important idea that was discussed about the municipal intervention is the importance of planning. From my understanding, planners can be good and bad for the food justice movement. It is possible that the goals of fighting insecurity can get neglected with the planners changing their focus. One example was presented one region prioritized their economic development and improving the lives of the urban elite rather than advancing in food equity and justice. That kinda goes back to where the author argument of the municipal planning gaining momentum then stopping.