Evolve
Participating in a more just food system
Back in the day, we banded together to hunt and slaughter megafauna for dinner (and clothes and tools). Eventually, we stopped roaming and planted food that we then tailored to our preferences. Today, some of us can afford to fill carts of organic, non-GMO food while others struggle to find and/or afford healthy meals.
Our eating habits have changed, but not equally. So it's time to evolve. While it may feel like food is controlled by the government or big business, there are actions you can take to help make your neighborhood, your family and (eventually) the world move towards a more sustainable food system.
Here's 4 of them
Be informed
Teach the youth
Take part in community
Don't be a savior
Here's 4 of them
Be informed
Teach the youth
Take part in community
Don't be a savior
Trendy restaurants are building social capital by attributing ingredients on their menus to the local farms from where they came. But do you know where your food comes from? Step one in making any kind of change is to get informed. Find out how and where YOUR food was grown. (Like how many miles that tomato traveled to land in your basket.) Then consider if you really need it.
1. Get woke about where your food comes from
Trendy restaurants are building social capital by attributing ingredients on their menus to the local farms from where they came. But do you know where your food comes from? Step one in making any kind of change is to get informed. Find out how and where YOUR food was grown. (Like how many miles that tomato traveled to land in your basket.) Then consider if you really need it.
1. Get woke about where your food comes from
Bonus! Maybe they'll actually want to eat the vegetables that they grow!
2. Teach kids to care (and to garden)
The youth is our future. If we don't impart ancestral knowledge on them, it will die. This simply means passing down your grandma's favorite pierogi recipes or growing herbs important to your heritage in your windowsill. Explain to kids why these foods matter to you. (They can learn how to cook everything else from YouTube.) Then get outside and plant something. This brings you closer to nature and shows kids the work that goes into cultivating food.
The youth is our future. If we don't impart ancestral knowledge on them, it will die. This simply means passing down your grandma's favorite pierogi recipes or growing herbs important to your heritage in your windowsill. Explain to kids why these foods matter to you. (They can learn how to cook everything else from YouTube.) Then get outside and plant something. This brings you closer to nature and shows kids the work that goes into cultivating food.
2. Teach kids to care (and to garden)
The youth is our future. If we don't impart ancestral knowledge on them, it will die. This simply means passing down your grandma's favorite pierogi recipes or growing herbs important to your heritage in your windowsill. Explain to kids why these foods matter to you. (They can learn how to cook everything else from YouTube.) Then get outside and plant something. This brings you closer to nature and shows kids the work that goes into cultivating food. Bonus! Maybe they'll actually want to eat the veggies that they grow!
The youth is our future. If we don't impart ancestral knowledge on them, it will die. This simply means passing down your grandma's favorite pierogi recipes or growing herbs important to your heritage in your windowsill. Explain to kids why these foods matter to you. (They can learn how to cook everything else from YouTube.) Then get outside and plant something. This brings you closer to nature and shows kids the work that goes into cultivating food. Bonus! Maybe they'll actually want to eat the veggies that they grow!
3. Take part in a food community
Supporting local farmers contributes to the sustainability of small farms and allows trends like "organic" and "non-GMO" to become more prevalent. So get out there and shop! And don't stop at farmers markets--give the local mom and pop restaurants some love too. Purchasing from local farmers and chefs directly affects supply and demand and helps keep them on the map! Learn about your local indigenous community too. While they may not always be easy to find, their food legacy is as much a part of the community as yours.
4. Ask questions before you jump in to help
It's great to get involved, but first be curious. Don't come into a community and try to 'save' them. Your perspective of an issue might not even be an issue at all to them. So before becoming a social justice warrior, have a conversation or two first. Learn about the existing food system and ask locals what (if any) they consider the problems to be.
Supporting local farmers contributes to the sustainability of small farms and allows trends like "organic" and "non-GMO" to become more prevalent. So get out there and shop! And don't stop at farmers markets--give the local mom and pop restaurants some love too. Purchasing from local farmers and chefs directly affects supply and demand and helps keep them on the map! Learn about your local indigenous community too. While they may not always be easy to find, their food legacy is as much a part of the community as yours.
4. Ask questions before you jump in to help
It's great to get involved, but first be curious. Don't come into a community and try to 'save' them. Your perspective of an issue might not even be an issue at all to them. So before becoming a social justice warrior, have a conversation or two first. Learn about the existing food system and ask locals what (if any) they consider the problems to be.
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