Food access and food insecurity have been a large focus of my organizing work over the last four years. Sometimes our geography makes food access a real problem, especially when we think about rural areas of our state, although food deserts pop up in our state‘s downtown districts quite often.
Even here in my city, a few wards don’t have access to a grocery store, especially without transportation, creating food insecurity for thousands. Sure, dollar stores and convenience stores fill a small bit of the gap, but they are usually lacking nutritious options and reasonable pricing.
There are counties here where people drive 45 minutes or longer to the nearest grocery store. I have a hard time imagining what that’s like because I have a big-box store within 10 minutes in every direction from my house. I also have a vehicle and grocery delivery, which makes me middle class, I think, here in West Virginia on its own. And even here, I posted about someone eating from the garbage cans in a shopping plaza right in front of a grocery store the other night. People’s first reaction was that the man was homeless, which puzzled me, because nothing I wrote had hinted at that. I suppose the reason people assumed he was homeless (he’s not, by the way) was because he was eating out of garbage cans. Hunger doesn’t equate with homelessness, and I was so struck by those assumptions that I decided to talk about food insecurity this week.
I am a part of a coalition that works to change food policy here in West Virginia. Policy work, to me, is hard and stressful. You never know when you’re going to win or when you’re going to be given the time of day. It’s hard to change people’s minds, especially when they don’t understand what the issue is and why you’re talking against it. Because of the systems in place and the way they all rely on the other, I’ve been thinking about what could be done from the outside: the communities, the people. COVID-19 has taught me that none of our systems are very stable, and I think that includes the food systems. I learned the other day that food is more expensive right now than any other point in our country’s history, and no one foresees it getting any cheaper. I also read not long ago that American farmers are the most likely to die by suicide than any other profession.
They’re forced to file bankruptcy and sell off farms, ending generations of family history. Farming is all they’ve known. So how can we, the people, push back against the systems that perpetuate this cycle and fight for food sovereignty?
I don’t know if there’s one answer to this, but, rather, a number of answers that, individually, are small scale while capable of operating as a part of the whole. We can’t redesign the systems based on policy alone because that’s slow and tedious work, but we can build a system to match the energy of that policy work. All of this goes along with growing our own food and relying on ourselves and our communities, in my opinion. Granted, I am not an economist, but it seems as if building together where we are is a great way to begin eroding the systems that cause so much pain and hardship.
My family recently added chickens to our life. I don’t know how it will go, but we’re hopeful. I figured that we eat so many eggs that we would save some money in the long run but can also help to take care of our friends and neighbors, too. We moved right in the middle of planting season but still managed to have tomatoes, peppers, and some herbs last year.
Hopefully this year we’ll be able to put more plants in the ground and eventually on our table. I would love to learn how to can like my grandma used to do so my family could eventually rely on homegrown food all year. It will happen. We don’t have a large family so it’s all doable. I suppose I’m on a personal quest for food sovereignty.
I have never tried a community garden but know some places that do them well. I love farmer’s markets and am happy to see them popping up in more places. Self-reliance is so important, especially when we’ve spent the last year watching our nation’s systems buckle under pressure.
Hunger is such a problem across our country, and I personally think every bit helps. Maybe my neighbor will eat out of my garden instead of the plaza’s garbage cans. And maybe we’ll be able to provide healthier options to people who don’t normally have access to them. Everybody has the right to food.
Onward,
Amy Jo
