Abstract
This commentary explores strategies for coalition-building and reallocating resources across racial divides within alternative food systems. Following analysis of a set of public conversations held in Atlanta, Georgia, in spring 2015, I identify three strategies that may promote greater diversity: (1) the allocation of institutional and academic resources beyond historically privileged spaces; (2) the development of a shared historical context for framing and shaping collaborative, antiracist work; and (3) the commitment of policy-makers to execute the ideas of food producers. These strategies, pursued in conjunction, may aid in addressing regional and neighborhood discrepancies in representation in food system leadership and also foster a stronger, antiracist alternative food system. See the press release for this article.
Highlights
IntroductionIn Atlanta, Georgia, no shortage of racialized history shapes our existing food system
In Atlanta, Georgia, no shortage of racialized history shapes our existing food system. This same history shapes the alternative food systems through which practitioners and academics seek to address the inequity in food access, economic development, and sustainable food production that is disproportionately borne as a result of one’s racial identity (Alkon & Agyeman, 2011; Block, Scribner, & DeSalvo, 2004; Franco, Diez Roux, Glass, Caballero, & Brancati, 2008)
My analysis of a series of conversations and events held in Atlanta in spring 20151 led me to identify three major strategies to respond more comprehensively to the discrepancy highlighted by Tanaka et al They are: (1) the purposeful allocation of institutional and academic resources beyond historically privileged arenas; (2) the development of a shared historical context in framing and shaping collaborative, antiracist work; and (3) the commitment of those of us in policyrelated positions to act on and execute the ideas of food producers
Summary
In Atlanta, Georgia, no shortage of racialized history shapes our existing food system. In the spring 2015 issues of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, Tanaka, Indiano, Soley, and Mooney (2015) examine regional discrepancies in the funding of USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program (CFPCGP). They find that there is a large regional discrepancy in grant allocation, leaving the Southern region of the U.S underrepresented in terms of funded projects. Cities suffer from many of the same racial and cultural inequities that regions often do The pursuit of these three strategies, in conjunction, may further the development of a shared system from which to address disparities like those identified by Tanaka et al (2015)
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