It is projected that, over the next decade, California will undergo a massive demographic shift in which people of color will become the majority of the state’s population. The consequential growth of urban populations from this demographic shift will have significant impacts on the food system and will make communities of color critical players in the food system of the future. It would, therefore, be logical to assume that the participation and leadership of people of color is critically important to the success of building a sustainable and socially just food system for California.

Yet, urban communities of color, such as West Oakland, currently have little power and voice in the food system and the food insecurity, malnutrition and chronic disease that these communities face largely stems from that disenfranchisement. While there is a high level of need for structural and systemic changes to the “food landscape” within urban communities of color, most of these communities lack the capacity, knowledge, capital, infrastructure and political support required to impact such changes.

A future food system for California that is based on a vision of multiculturalism, inclusiveness and social justice must provide people of color the capacity, tools and power to affect change within that system in order for it to effectively resolve social and economic inequities and not perpetuate the same old dynamics of race and power that are embodied in the current food system. It is critical that those who lead an effort for a new state wide food system have an understanding of how to shape a truly inclusive vision that incorporates the ideas, values and cultures of all of California’s peoples. It is also critical that the participation of people of color is not simply reduced to an issue of “diversity”, but is rather framed as an issue of political, social and economic power in which people of color are not just included at the base of the system’s framework (ie laborers and consumers) but are also included at the highest levels of the system’s framework and power structure (ie owners, managers, leaders).

Really engaging people of color in the food system will entail tackling tough questions about race and power within the food system. It will also entail building the capacity of urban communities of color to participate equally in shaping the food system with all other communities. This is especially true if we intend to create a sustainable food system that bridges the gaps of social inequity historically present in the food system and enables people of color to both benefit from and contribute leadership to that vision for the future.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 4th, 2007 at 3:12 pm and is filed under People's Grocery, Food Systems, Food Justice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.