Food democracy is a true grassroots movement toward sustainable, responsible, healthy and community-based food production and distribution.

The food democracy movement asserts that people have the power and the responsibility to actively participate in decisions concerning their food system.

The ultimate goal of food democracy is to guarantee that all people have access to affordable, healthy and culturally appropriate foods.

These ideals can positively affect all aspects of our lives beyond our overall health or the local economy, especially in a dirt poor and food insecure state such as New Mexico. Access to sustainable, safe alternative food sources – free from corporate control – is an issue that goes to the heart of our democratic institutions and affects our daily lives.

The notion of food democracy stresses social justice in all aspects of the food system, from farming and raising livestock to marketing and distribution. Proper nutrition and healthy eating options are viewed as the foundations of a healthy and free society.

The rise in incidents of diabetes, obesity and many other health problems in America can be directly traced to corporate control over the food supply and our high-fat and -fructose diets, along with the rise of fast food culture.

I’ve heard the argument from working parents that they don’t have the time or the energy to create healthy, nutritious meals for their families after long hours at work, and this is an issue that must be addressed as well. Wholesome, organic food can certainly be expensive. Who the hell can afford to shop at The COOP or Whole Foods? Hippies with lots of expendable income, I assume…

According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report, one in six Americans now live in poverty. Fast food is cheap and easily accessible, and many people eat it because they don’t have the energy, resources, or ability to cook a decent meal. Cooking at home is a lost art in this country.

Food democracy is a public safety issue, too. We can’t trust the regulatory agencies charged with protecting our food or water supply; certainly not the Food and Drug Administration or the EPA. The FDA’s lawyers have argued that people have no fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health – which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families. They further argued in federal court in 2009 that citizens “do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”

It might be helpful to insert a quote from Thomas Jefferson here:

“If the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”

Community gardens are a viable alternative to some of the problems faced by inner-city families where poverty is rampant and access to healthy produce is rare. Economically devastated areas like Mississippi, Michigan and Louisiana are leading the way in the organic revolution by creating publicly managed gardens from the ruins of crumbling neighborhoods and abandoned lots.

In Chicago a group of community activists got together and purchased an old city bus from the Chicago Transit Authority and created the ‘Fresh Moves Bus,’ a novel approach to bringing fresh fruit and vegetables to the unfortunate citizens living in what are referred to as ‘food deserts.’

A ‘food desert’ is a relatively new term coined to describe inner-city communities so impoverished and crime-ridden that major grocery store chains refuse to do business there; not even Walmart.

You know things are bad when you can‘t find a Walmart within 20 miles!

[Repost from 2016]