Together at the table: sustainability and sustenance in the American agrifood system

Abstract

Together at the Table explores alternative food movements within the context of broader social movements. Patricia Allen, at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California–Santa Cruz, argues that alternative food movements have emerged because of an “increased knowledge of the agrifood system and an increased understanding that the system can be changed” (p.1). To make this argument, Allen focuses on agriculture in California and the United States because of their dominance in the world market. Allen begins with the assumption that our current agrifood system is not sustainable and that it cannot meet global food security needs. In order to “achieve ecological soundness and social justice” (p.16), the current agrifood system must be altered on three levels: environmental, social, and economic—echoing John Ikerd’s contention that sustainable agriculture must be “environmentally compatible, socially supportive, and commercially competitive.”1 Allen further contends that these changes take place inside the farm gate and beyond—paralleling Thomas Lyson’s suggestion that we shift from the current industrial agriculture paradigm and adopt a “civic agriculture” that better links farms and communities.2 Chapter two, “Perspectives on Alternative Food Movements,” effectively draws linkages between seemingly disparate social movements based on women’s suffrage, the environment, and alternative food. Allen also establishes that alternative food movements tend to be against capitalism and the disparities that result from the social stratification of wealth and power. Chapter three explores how those involved in these movements benefit by challenging the status quo. There are practical ramifications of improving the food security and welfare of consumers. By changing their consumption patterns, Allen argues that individuals make a political statement about the status of their food system. In doing so, consumers recognize their power to alter the food system and become more willing to participate in other social movements. Chapter four examines how alternative agrifood movements are embedded within the existing capitalist system and hence do not challenge that system. This, of course, belies a core pillar of this social movement—anticapitalism. Allen goes on to suggest that political ecology represents a viable framework for examining both the environmental and social aspects of the agrifood system. While this position may be true, Allen does not fully use this framework to explore complex issues like gender and ethnicity that affect every agrifood system, including those in California. Chapter five explores how alternative agrifood movements may reproduce the same systemic problems they are trying to demolish. Chapter six explains that this result can occur because participants in the alternative agrifood movement come from middle-class backgrounds. This chapter shows how closely aligned privilege and power are to empowerment and social change. As an anthropologist and geographer, respectively, the reviewers found this discussion lacking, as it did not fully explore the historical and geographical specifics of California and how the variables of gendered and ethnic landownership, migrant labor, and environmental assets have allowed the agrifood movements to flourish in this setting. In chapter seven, Allen addresses the concerns some have about localized food movements. She deftly explores asymmetries of power within and between communities based on differences in access to resources. In chapter eight, “The Politics of Sustainability and Sustenance,” Allen succinctly explains how current agricultural policy is formed and argues that the agrifood movement must work with the environmental movement to change agricultural policy. By joining forces, a stronger coalition can reach more people to “‘transcend particularities, and arrive at some conception of a universal alternative to that social system which is the source of their difficulties.’”3 The final chapter, “Working toward Sustainability and Sustenance,” addresses the failure of social movements like the agrifood movement to fully examine the differences between reform and transformation. If the alternative agrifood movement wants to avoid further institutionalization, it must speak to some of the core issues inherent to our agrifood system and devise ways in which to address them successfully. Scholars, consumers, and activists interested in the alternative food movement will find this book useful. Allen does a fine job of addressing her objective: “to offer information and insights that can contribute to the reflexive efforts of the alternative agrifood movement as it continues to develop” (p.19). Ultimately, Together at the Table enables one to think about the agrifood movement in a more holistic manner, question our individual roles in the food system, and analyze our consumer nature and place in the world.