Food Justice and Municipal Government in the USA

 This article talks about two cases in western Washington, PSRFPC and the city of Seattle, going over five major aspects of food justice which include land, labor, trauma/inequality, exchange, and democratic process. The goal for this article was to investigate the opportunities and restraints in the municipal food system. Personally this article was a little harder to read just because it did not seem super organized. 

The main points for PSRFPC were how they advocated for urban agriculture and subsidies for low income populations. They also acknowledge indigenous food system destruction. The main points for the city of Seattle were their initiatives like community gardens, municipal gardening and their urban agriculture policies. They hired a food policy coordinator to form an interdepartmental food team. The goal was to integrate equity into planning. 

There were still many challenges within these cases though. There were neoliberal constraints where corporate interests dictate food policies. Urban agriculture also boosted property values rather than advancing the food justice system. Lastly, the food policy councils cannot engage marginalized communities resulting in white-centric perspective. While there has been some progress in food justice there are still limitations. We must move towards a structural reform to redistribute resources.