Food, Access, and Inequality

 In her TED Talk, Alison Alkon talks about food justice and how food access is shaped by social and economic systems. She explains that eating healthy is not always a choice for everyone. Many people want to eat better, but their income, time, and location limit what food is available to them. Alkon makes it clear that food justice is about more than personal choices. One important point Alkon makes is that unhealthy food is often the cheapest and easiest option. Fast food and processed meals cost less and are easier to find than fresh food. Because of this, people should not be blamed for choosing these options. When people are trying to survive and save money, they choose what works best for them. Alkon challenges the idea that people should feel guilty about what they eat when the system does not give them fair choices. Alkon also talks about how food culture can judge people based on what they eat. Certain foods are seen as “good” or “bad,” and this often connects to class and race. Foods that are common in lower-income or minority communities are often criticized, while foods linked to wealth are praised. This creates shame and unfair judgment instead of understanding. Another topic Alkon discusses is the labor behind the food system. Many farmworkers and food service workers are immigrants or people of color. These jobs are physically demanding and usually pay very little. Even though these workers play a major role in feeding the country, they are often ignored or underpaid. Alkon shows how unfair it is that the food system depends on their hard work while giving them little support. She also explains that farmers who are women or people of color do not receive the same recognition or resources as white male farmers. Many of these farmers face problems getting land, loans, or government help. This shows how inequality exists not only in food access, but also in who is allowed to succeed in agriculture. Overall, Alkon’s TED Talk shows that food justice is a shared responsibility. Instead of blaming individuals, she encourages people to look at the systems that shape food access and labor. Her talk helps viewers understand that real change requires fairness, empathy, and support for the people who grow and serve our food.

Alkon Food Justice

 I had never considered food to be used as racism and this TED Talk really opened my eyes. I was shocked to hear about the way systemic racism plays into food and how processed unhealthy foods are cheaper when healthy food costs the same or less to produce. Fresh produce is so expensive when the farmers working to grow it are not being paid enough to live. White people are taught and brought up on the idea that white people farm and created farming and cultivating is for them only when the slaves were farming, and black people and people of other races are farming all over the world and in America and America is supposed to be for immigrants so the mistreating of them is truly insane. America is so heavily established on farmers and being producers to export when no other countries want as much corn and soy as we produce, and there is no need for farmers to be underpaid to overproduce. I think at a fundamental level this issue could be fixed starting with our kids. If we teach that differences and history matter, they are more likely to respect and understand it and fight for what is right. Alkon discus's the idea that kids are bullied for being different in schools because of the traditional meals they bring, and I think even that could be changed in the way children are raised. More importantly we need to fight for lower prices on fresh produce and healthy foods, especially when they are being raised for no reason. The farmers are still unable to survive and produce as much as they do on subsidies. I love the message Alkon is sending, and I agree and feel like I learned a lot. 

Food as Radical Empathy

Alison Alkon speaks on how food can build radical empathy, which she defines as an understanding of one another's circumstances and reality. She shares how food can bring together people and build communities. Her dive into the innate connections food brings to the world was enlightening. She brought up how food serves roles through symbolic, “secular” traditions and in religions that had never been emphasized to me before. I think it is a valuable way we can celebrate cultures and share them with communities and individuals to increase cultural awareness. I am participating in Fiddler on the Roof at Kutztown, and we had multiple rehearsals dedicated to the education of Judaism. One of the aspects of education was through food! A member of the company baked challah and brought it to everyone. Not only is it an engaging educational tool, but it also immerses individuals within the world of one another through the human senses of taste and smell.

There is also a point within the TED talk where Alkon claims that food can break people apart. Her initial example didn’t sit right with me because it didn’t seem like food was breaking people apart but was just an example of food failing to bring people together again. I view this as being very different from “breaking” people apart. I think her examples of food in some social movements were a better example of breaking people apart, for example, the Boston Tea Party. I also feel as if food breaks people apart in other ways, more similar to what she went on to talk about further in her presentation regarding food racism. 

I also was thinking about her examples of body-image issues and body-shaming in society. I think this topic could get its very own presentation. Dieting. Eating Disorders. Body-shaming of all body types. The complicated entanglement of food, women, objectification, societal pressures, body-image issues, and societal beauty standards. There is a whole vast world that could be explored deeply on how societal pressures determine how people look at food. Some view it as a source of calories to be carefully counted, some view it as fuel for high-intensity activity, some view it as enjoyment, some as relentless cravings, and others view it as a highly valuable thing that is always scarce in supply. Social media exposes young people to potentially harmful dieting behavior and beauty standards and can fracture the relationship between individuals and food, taking away its value and potentially its power to connect them with others (jeopardizing the potential to use food as a tool to facilitate radical empathy).

I loved when Alkon stated that we need to “engage with the totality of the food system.” It emphasized the reality of how interdisciplinary the food system really is. It is valuable and complicated and can be explored through many lenses and angles.

Food marketing is another part of the food system that is complicated. I tend to ruminate on the ethics of marketing something to populations when it is a food that is not “healthy” for consumption. I think about how sugar is marketed through sweets and candies and sodas and drinks. I think about the US’s problems with type 2 diabetes. I think about if we are causing our own downfall just to sell items in stores (AKA to make money). I think about how extremely processed foods have been generally normalized, especially because they tend to be cheaper and more accessible to a wider spread of people. I think about the lack of education and knowledge on health and nutrition (at least in my opinion).

I think about all of those things, and I have no idea how the system could be pushed to make significant changes. I know there are good changes happening out there, but it is hard to believe that businesses and industries will focus on the health of everyday people before the profits of their company. But that is why the movement towards supporting local farms/farmers markets is so great.

Native American, African American, Latino, and women farmers face discrimination within the food system, and Alkon focuses on this in her TED Talk. I think this is very important to giving listeners a well-rounded view of how racism and discrimination of different minority groups are still very, very present-day issues. It takes form as the credit of the sustainable agriculture movement being mainly directed towards young, white men and spans to other issues like immigration and the exploitation of labor.

Alkon’s call to action centered on advocacy and citizen involvement. She explained how education on food is more accessible due to the wide library of food literature available. She pushed listeners to engage with all food stories within different cultures and put the responsibility of diverse stories being told on those who work within the food system. She presents the importance of social and historical context in understanding other individuals, which emphasizes aspects of being an active member of society (specifically the responsibility of investigating and educating oneself from as unbiased of a standpoint as possible). She calls people to get involved to help improve aspects of the food system using free speech in the form of protests and advocacy. Another way is by voting (locally and federally) for leaders who reject all forms of racism and discrimination and will take action to improve wages and conditions of workers within the food system.

Overall, Alkon’s TED talk was very educational and emphasized the multifaceted nature of the food system. She emphasized the value of human lives and the access to basic human rights for immigrant workers and individuals. She focused on racism within the food system and proposed that creating radical empathy within people could help combat this issue. Education and the increase of awareness will hopefully increase the action taken by communities, groups, individuals, and populations so that actions of governments and world leaders will change. There were definitely many topics within this TED talk that could be explored in greater detail, but the presentation did a great job in expanding the horizons and perspectives to help engender change and action.

My Thought's on Alison Alkon's TED Talk

 Alison Alkon's perspective on food justice gave insight to many issues neither I, nor many other people across the country are aware of. systematic racism in the United States is a very common and easily observable issue that can easily be spotted if one knows what to look for. I personally have lived in a low income, poor neighborhood and saw the lack of access to healthy food options that people have. I also now currently live in what would be considered a middle class neighborhood and can directly compare the difference between the two. While I agree that this is mostly caused by policies that are ingrained into the american legal and marketing systems, i also am aware that there are a few potential avenues that can be approached before resorting to raising wages which I believe is only a shortsighted fix that would not sustain any poorer communities in the long term. Fresh produce is wasted on a massive scale due to the criteria of it needing to be "perfect" with no blemishes to become marketable to the general consumer. Simply utilizing that wasted produce would allow not only fresh produce to be potentially more accessible to poorer regions, it would also drive fresh produce prices down and change the question from: Do I choose healthy food or food that will feed my family? to: Why would I choose unhealthy food when healthy options are just as affordable? I also appreciate how she mentioned the corporatization of agriculture. I specifically know of companies like Bayer and Monsanto who have patented their genetically modified corn seed and will sue for unlawful use of their product. by that I mean it is growing on someone's land without the company's permission. On top if this they also have patented pesticide that they have created to be specifically used on their corn. Once a farm has decided to agree to contracting one of these companies it is unfortunately very unlikely to get out of that partnership.

Food as Radical Empathy Thoughts

 Food has always been one of the few essential things that humanity needs in order to survive. The sharing of food brings people together and can allow people to recognize different cultures. There are various positive aspects to food and food systems, however there are a mass amount of issues with it as well. For example, many are always extremely conscious about what they consume, considering how it could affect their health or appearance, which Alkon touches a bit on in the Ted Talk. I personally have been a victim of being hyperaware of what I eat, and feeling guilty when getting fast food. Alkon also mentions how unhealthy foods are more accessible and affordable to the middle class, so why should I feel guilty when I’m saving money while just trying to survive? I think with the rise of social media there has been more of a push towards a certain beauty standard, which coincides with the rise of people being more mindful of what they eat and how much they eat. Not only is it detrimental to one’s mental health, but it also promotes dangerous habits that can spiral into potential eating disorders. 

Another point that Alkon mentions is POC or immigrants who are farmers or work food service jobs. I’m glad that she brought up this topic because farm work or food service is extremely taxing on the mind and body. I don’t know much about the wages of farmers, however I do work in food service myself. The majority of my coworkers are POC, myself included, many work there as a full time job yet only make $12-14 an hour. My job isn’t a large corporation like McDonalds or Burger King, but it makes me wonder why my pay as a part time worker is the same as someone who is full time? This also leads me to wonder why bigger corporations don’t raise their wages for their full time workers, people who couldn’t afford to get a degree or are trying to save up to go to school. She also discusses POC or women farmers not being widely recognized or supported as much as white male farmers are, which is something I was not aware of. Alkon brings up that POC have been very important in the history of U.S. agriculture, and I completely agree with this mindset. Many minority groups have done the heavy lifting for many years and continue to do so, they deserve the same amount of support and recognition as white male farmers. 

Breaking Ground With Marginalized Groups

 The sociological perspective accounts for this distinct narrative story of hate crimes that have taken place across the United States of America. It encompasses the big issues that have arisen the past few decades and food was said to be the starting point for understanding one another. I've frequently thought about this, it's the one time feuding families can get together, just think of any holiday dinner, it's almost not complete without some sort of heated discussion or unfinished business being aired out. Psychologically one can say that most people feel safe and relaxed around the comforts of what they know and love. It provides a safe space, which most professionals who work in the mental health field will agree that communication can only first take place when a person perceives to be safe. It makes sense as to why Alison addresses food being the catalyst to having "radical empathy". As the rising, Joanne Molinaro a.k.a. The Korean Vegan has taken justice from the courtroom to the kitchen she opens up about the racial, sexual, and gender violence that has taken place in her life. When we make a choice, and eat a meal it says something about the bigger picture of who we are, and where we come from. 

In terms of the food production disparities either between racial groups or large industrial factories versus small-scale farms. One thing is clear, as Alkon mentions not only is there a tendency to allow racial prejudices to go overlooked when handing out loans and government subsidies but there also exists a promotion of GMO food production, directly causing the prices of products of small scale marginalized farmers to seem egregious. These government policies have even greater implications in food deserts in rural areas.  

 When we come together to raise our voices during concerning moments in life; it's important to listen and the effectively take communicate. While the convergence over a meal won't solve every problem, I can't think of better place to start. In regards to the social injustices that arise due to "repugnant" smells of foods in school cafeterias, to the stereotypical household such as refried beans, to even how the food is produced in first world countries, I believe that we can take a long pause and realize that we haven't always done a good job of showing hospitality towards the countless number of people we see in any given day.  Allowing Allison's talk to shine light not only on the past, but also our current ideologies, I think we can all agree that using food as a common ground to begin to solve our problems isn't a bad idea at all.