Working For Jobs

by Twilight Greenaway.

2011 was a big year for food politics. In case you
dozed off anywhere along the way, I’ve collected the year’s most stories important
below. (Want something lighter? See my Sustainable
Food Trends story from last week. Want something heavier? Stay tuned for the bad food news, coming soon.)

1. Urban farming is flourishing.

While the renewed interest
in growing food within city limits is nothing new, 2011 was the year urban
farming went legit.

Despite several low points
involving criminal charges for gardeners in Michigan and Tennessee (charges were dropped in both cases after word spread around the internet and people from across the
country petitioned lawmakers), the year was full of highlights. In San
Francisco, Oakland, Chicago, San
Diego, and Baltimore,
city officials changed local laws to make it easier to
farm. Meanwhile, New Yorkers celebrated the first
year of legal beekeeping. And creative, scrappy projects like the Boston
Tree Party and Detroit’s Growing Joy Community Garden flourished.

Meanwhile, corporate interests are also keying into the possibilities of
urban agriculture. We heard from a vertical
farming expert on the subject.

2. Young farmers make noise.

More and more young Americans are taking to the farm, a trend that’s continued to grow this year. They’re getting creative—returning
to using draft horses, for example. And they’re getting political—the National Young Farmers’ Coalition has put together an agenda for the upcoming 2012 farm bill, pushing for easier to access land and loans. LGBT farmers (young and otherwise) are also changing the face of farming.

3. Local food isn’t just delicious and eco-friendly.

2011 presented us with even
more evidence that local food systems don’t just taste good and feel good; they also build
local economies. More farmers markets mean more jobs,
overall.

4. Food Day makes a comeback.

Although the organizers called this year’s national event the first annual Food Day, there had apparenlty been another attempt in the 1970s. Let’s hope this versions sticks. Check out our slideshow.

5. We don’t need industrial ag to feed the world.

Yes, the world’s population is
growing rapidly (see Grist’s series “What
to expect when you’re expanding”), and the question of how to feed all 7 billion of us
is an important one. Far too often, however, “feeding the world” has become
code for farming with as many chemicals and GMO seeds as possible.

This year brought mounting evidence to the contrary, including a
study published in Nature and another
published in Science that say
otherwise. The results of a long-term study by the Rodale Institute
also proved that organic
farming is just as productive as conventional, and better at building soil (this is key, since “yield” is at the heart of the “feed the world” discussion).

6. Despite the influence of the ultra-consolidated meat industry, the “ag-gag”
bills went nowhere.

Early on in 2011, lawmakers
in Florida, New York, Iowa, and Minnesota tried to pass so-called “ag-gag”
bills that would have made it illegal
to produce—and in Minnesota to possess—undercover videos of livestock
factory farms. The bills were part of a coordinated
effort by Big Ag, but the sustainable food movement organized to defeat them, and, in a rare win, succeeded.

7. Eaters are (a little) more aware of the people
behind their food.

The situation for workers in the food system isn’t exactly good news, but
I’m putting it in this category because 2011 saw a number of small but
important strides.

Food service provider Bon
Appétit Management Company took two big steps: First, it released the
first comprehensive report on documented farmworker rights and abuses in years. Then
it hosted TEDx Fruitvale: Harvesting Change, an event
entirely dedicated to the plight of farmworkers and other food system workers.

Meanwhile, food worker
advocates produced a guide
to restaurants that treat their employees well. And the Department of Labor proposed new child
labor rules for farms, expected to be officially enacted next year.

8. Food access got more attention.

Too many people around the U.S. still lack easy access to good, healthy food. Fortunately, activists and farmers made a lot of creative progress this year in helping to raise awareness and tackle the root problems.

A group of advocates from
an Oakland-based organization called Live Real took
to the road for the Food and Freedom Rides.

Fifty young people began
working in schools, gardens, and advocacy organizations as part of the first
class of Food Corps participants. We
spoke with three of them.

Subsidizing
farmers markets was shown to be an effective strategy for getting more
healthy food into food deserts. And farmers themselves looked for creative ways
to address food access, such as this give-a-dozen-buy-a-dozen
program modeled after Toms Shoes.

Slow Food USA sought to show that supporting local farmers doesn’t require going broke with its $5 Challenge. And a group of grad students tried out a model for small,
portable grocery stores built out of shipping containers—a potential
solution for under-resourced areas without traditional grocery stores.

9. More information helps eaters make better choices.  

Although
food safety continued to be a huge concern (see our “bad news” list in part 2) some food
choices were made a little easier in 2011.

For
example, organic
chicken was proven to carry significantly lower salmonella risk, there’s
more evidence that organic
milk is better for you,

As it turns out that most
“use-by” dates are meaningless.

10. The Occupy
movement adds fuel to the fire.

Advocates and farmers jointed the Zuccotti Park gathering this fall, and we heard from a variety of folks
who were occupying various aspects of the food system—like one farmer who
occupied the pasture.

Just as important as any
march or rally, however, the activism taking place over last few months has gotten more eaters to think critically
about where their food dollars are going, and to consider investing
in local and sustainable food enterprises rather than Wall Street.

Stay tuned for more of the
best of Grist’s food coverage from 2011. Coming tomorrow: Part Two: The Bad
News.

Related Links:

Whole Foods is a little confused about Chanukah

Chef’s diary: Holiday traditions

Where to put the tangerine? A holiday tale

View full post on Grist.org – the latest from Grist