Food Justice and Municipal Governments

 In Liz Carlisle’s Book, Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming Chapter “Municipal Governments and Food Justice”, she starts off by addressing some missed opportunities for fertile sites. Cities are overlooked as a food system even though they have fertile grounds when we could be utilizing this to our advantage. She doesn’t like the idea that regenerative farming is only meant for rural spaces. I think if we were to reshape our perspective of agriculture, we could have more sustainability in our food systems especially in areas that need to import most of their food (cities). 

In order to move forward in the world of sustainable agriculture, in most cases you need to get the approval of federal or local governments. Governments can make or break policies that fight for food justice. Carlisle talks about how if local governments support community land trusts and protect farmland it will help improve food justice. The author not only wrote this to inform people of what needs to be done, but to bring out initiative for action. Although it might seem that nothing can really change without national legislation, it is not the case. 

One of the main points Carlisle brings up is how we need to reconnect with our land and food relationships. Governments should be seen as a collaborator not just a ruler in these situations because it is collectively affecting humankind. To end the chapter she reminds the readers that regenerative change can happen wherever you are even a city and it is everyone’s role to do their part in this movement.