"Whiteness in Farmer's Markets.." - Week 6 Blog Post

In food justice, sustainable agriculture, and environmental science, it’s imperative to see the bigger picture. As we know, market systems drive industry in our economy. Alkon, this time with McCullen, does a great job of highlighting the disparities between neoliberal practices within the scope of U.S. food systems while ignoring the building blocks that ultimately hold up these structures. They also touch on something very interesting, which is the contradiction of these two figures.  

We see this in many forms of the capital machine. As Marxist theory states, these contradictions and their solutions are what create societal and political histories. Ultimately, it is driven by our need for material objects. We have fundamental needs that differentiate us from other species, and that is food/water and shelter. We must produce these material items to sustain our existence. 

 

As a result, how we produce and attain these means is what determines society. In the U.S. and much of the world, these are market-driven systems. At both of the farmer's markets discussed in their research, you can see how the affluent and wealthy are seemingly the only deserving of our basic needs. Berkeley of course has been a hub of wealth and affluence since the 60s, carrying with it inherited wealth from predominantly white people in that area. 

With neoliberal policies, class is very apparent. I think McCullen and Alkon are looking to explain how class divisions, what is very visible in some of these locations, are even more seen when flooded with Caucasians and Europeans as the “haves” and anyone else as the “have-nots”. Something the text also describes as “liberal habitus of whiteness.” Truly speaking to systematic racism, something that inherently exists within the system due to historical policies-- they mentioned how they didn’t seek to find these objectives. The whiteness observed was their separate, individual research in agriculture and farmers' markets.  

Not only is the process of the environmentally destructive side of agriculture hidden, but so are the racial inequalities. A notable contradiction is that the food that is the essence of these communities is mostly seeded, grown, and produced by Latin Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Mexicans, and other non-European peoples. These workers generally have less access to healthy foods and those with access to the foods that these workers are growing, are then using them to create dishes made exclusively for the privileged.  

Alkon and McCullen continue explaining the de-fetishizing that is currently part of new-wave agriculture does not disrupt this narrative but enforces it. The idea, “know where your food comes from” is a popular trend among Americans overall. However, preaching this narrative but not exemplifying the truths of the entire food process from "seed to sale", renders the narrative invalid. You do not know where your food comes from at most farmers' markets, as it is not sold by the people who are growing or cultivating the food they are selling.  

Although there is resistance and some attempts to draw light on these marginalizations, it’s vital to know that market-exchange relations to address social change will not bring about the necessary structural changes. However, it does speak to collective power among farm workers and laborers. And even educating consumers on the truths of the food they are consuming may not necessarily lead them to become supportive of better environmental and sustainable agriculture.