Thinking about Resistance: The Food Movement

Mark Bittman, speaking about the election of Donald Trump (at the 18 minute mark), at a symposium at Harvard Law | Food Law and Policy Clinic | The Union of Concerned Scientists | A National Food Strategy

Kat Taylor - Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Beneficial State Bank  

Mark Bittman - fellow at UCS, food author

Emily Broad Leib - Director of the Harvard Law and Policy Clinic

Ricardo Salvador - Director, Food and Environment Program, UCS 

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A national Food Strategy

A topic everyone can agree on: We all need food.

How our food arrives from field to table is a conversation worth having. Understanding the current waste and inefficiencies in our system could help pinpoint the problems and create better models of delivery that reduce costs while improving soil conditions; field workers' livelihoods; and the nutrition of every American. 

In our current delivery system, we waste 63 million tons of food annually. That represents over  40% of our total food...wasted. Also wasted is the water to grow the food that gets tossed out; the hours of labor in planting and reaping; and there is impact on the soil used to grow the food that gets wasted.

Right now, the model we use is: Extract and Exploit. There are better ways that can save money, while preserving the soil and water supplies, and that will not exploit field workers. The model we should be aiming for is: Regenerate and Thrive.

The Regenerate and Thrive model relies on facts and moves toward ethical efficiencies that don't exploit the land or the people along the way.

Much is at stake with the coming administration. The SNAP program, which provides food subsidies for 40 million American families, is under threat. Some Republicans would like to move it from an entitlement package to a block grant, which would give each state a sum of money to disperse as they see fit. This doesn't guarantee that those in need of food will receive the food they need to live. The poorest among us will be hurt the most. 

News

Big Battles Over Farm And Food Policies May Be Brewing As Trump Era Begins | The Salt | NPR | by Allison Aubrey and Dan Charles

In the Rush to Repeal Obamacare, A Reminder: Food Policy is Health Policy - The Equation | Union of Concerned Scientists | Karen Perry Stillerman

Block grants are just budget cuts in disguise -- and the targets are antipoverty programs | by Michael Hiltzik | Los Angeles Times | 3.25.16

Block granting SNAP (food stamps) would break a crucial anti-poverty program | by Jared Bernstein | The Washington Post | 01.11.16

Organizations

HEAL Food Alliance | Health Environment Agriculture Labor

Plate of the Union| A call for action on Food & Farms

Our Challenge to President Elect Trump | by Plate of the Union | Medium

Food Policy Action | FPA

Center for Good Food Purchasing | Good Food Purchasing Program

Center for Science in the Public Interest | Advice and Advocacy for Healthier Food

Reading

Timothy Wise - Feeding Illusions: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Future of Food (coming soon)