Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Spring 2019

Is there hope for America’s food system?  By John Brueggemann America’s food system is failing in various ways. Degradation of natural resources, unsound production prac- tices of Big Agriculture and Big Food corporations, misleading marketing, corruption of scientific research, exploi- tation of labor, mistreatment of animals, food insecurity and unhealthy con- sumption patterns are all a part of the problem. Against this ugly backdrop, though, a formidable counterforce is gaining momentum. The sustainable food movement includes people devoted to regenera- tive agriculture, sound production practices, food security and healthy consumption patterns. For five years, I have been interviewing and observing advocates for food justice, business owners, chefs, clergy, conservationists, consumers, educators, farmers, government officials, medical professionals, nonprofit managers and seed collectors. I have tried to learn as much as I could through conferences, government reports and secondary sources as well. And I have studied research from agricultural studies, economics, envi- ronmental studies, history, psychology and sociology. As I began exploring this movement, I started with these questions: How did it all begin? To what extent do people think they are part of a movement? If so, why did they join it? What has it achieved? What are its future pros- pects? What risks or tradeoffs are in play? During the process, along with some of the answers, I found vitality, inspiration and wonder. I came to understand the work of engaged sustainers as applied hope. They have an expansive commitment to neighborliness, a distinctive combination of respect for ancient traditions and pragmatic inno- vation, and a sense of reverence for the link between nature and humanity. Together, they help repair the health of soil, grow nutrient-dense crops, distribute vital food, foster food sovereignty and protect natural resources on a large scale. Amidst all the anxiety, frustration and polarization of our culture, this is a story of clear-headed wisdom, ambition and persistence. John Brueggemann is a sociology professor and chair of the Sociology Department. What does it mean to make responsible food choices? By Erinn Gilson As a philosopher, my orientation is to ques- tion what we think we know, interrogating our common assumptions and the implications they have for our everyday practices and habits. People tend to make many assumptions about food and agriculture, including that certain foods are “good” or “healthy” and that consumers have the ability to choose the foods they eat and are individually responsible for these choices and their consequences. But are these assumptions well-founded? What implications do they have? When we recognize that food and agriculture are complex ecological, social-cultural, economic and political systems, then our ways of thinking about concepts like choice and responsibility need to become more complex as well. When we recognize that food and agricultural systems are sites of many injustices — for farmers and workers, the environment, animals and eaters in general — and have a significant impact on pressing problems like global climate change, we have to move beyond notions of individual choice and responsibility. My research argues that focusing on individual choice and responsibil- ity actually inhibits efforts to effect change and prevents us from addressing these injustices. If we each simply make our own choices and bear the con- sequences of them alone, then no one is responsible for the circumstances, the complex systems that are the backdrop for those choices. The injustices that pervade those systems, constraining people’s choices, go unaddressed. As participants in the systems through which food is produced, distributed, prepared and consumed, however, we have a responsibility to work together to transform them. So, we need better ways to think about taking responsibility for the problems we face. One alternative is to think about taking responsibility not merely for individual choices but for the relationships with others that one has in virtue of being an eater: How can we live so as to improve the quality of these relationships with workers, farmers, animals and the natural world? Erinn Gilson is an associate professor of philosophy. F O O D F U T U R E S From the arts and the humanities to the natural and social sciences, Skidmore faculty are pursuing cutting-edge scholarship on the future of food. Four Skidmore faculty members — a philosopher, a sociologist, an environmental studies specialist and a physiological scientist — raise challenging questions and offer unique perspectives based on their own research. 22 SCOPE SPRING 2019 F O O D F O R C R E A T I V E T H O U G H T