A vision of food

Currently our food system is organized around the idea the food is a “commodity” to be “produced” by a few specialized individuals for the rest of society.  Much of our food is grown on large scale industrial farms and then funneled to a small number food companies which process the food and ship it to the consumer. Thus the food we consume is completely removed from the ecological and social context in which it grown and becomes a nothing but a “product-for-consumption.”  In spite of the fact that everyone must consume food, only a very small percentage of people actually participate in this process.

I hope that the next 50 year will see a dramatic shift in this food system. Part of this shift will be radical relocalization of the food system. In urban and suburban areas, rooftops and abandoned plots will be transformed into agricultural space for community gardens or urban agriculture operations. There will be hydroponic and aquaponic systems in large workplaces, schools, and homes to provide meals those who attend them. Rural areas, which used to focus on monocropping, will now focus on biodiversity and maintaining a local ecological balance. Farmers markets will replace supermarkets as the dominant place for the purchase and trade of food. This is not to say that national or international trade of food should not occur at all, it should just occur on a less massive scale then now. Local food will replace industrial food as the norm, while industrial food will replace local food as the exception.

The way in which people relate to the earth and food will undergo a radical change as well. Our current food system is linear. Food is produced, consumed and the excess is thrown away. This has led to the production of large amounts of waste and ecological harm. Our new vision will be circular, as waste is minimized and reuse emphasized. People will have a better intuitive understanding of how their agricultural actions affect the larger ecosystem. Inedible food waste will be composted, while excess food will be given to those who are hunger instead of thrown away. People will see food, not a as commodity, but instead a community resource and giver of life

Gardening and agriculture will become part of our common life, as more people than before will take part in growing and producing food. Agriculture will be integrated into the public school system, and school will run their own gardens and food operations. Community Colleges and University will offer more courses in practical gardening and agriculture. This is not to say that everyone will become a full time farmer, but working for a few hours in a community, workplace, or school garden will be considered a valuable use of time that is rewarded.

Our new food system will based on the idea of fresh, healthy food as a human right, to be grown by communities for communities. While in our current food system decisions about what crops are grown and how they are to be regulated are imposed from the top down, with corporations and regulators making most of the decisions. Our new food system will be community-centric, as communities will be able to make their own decisions about what type of foods will be grown.  Further food will be considered a human right, not something whose control can be ceded to market forces or corporations.