You are what you eat: Choosing food activism

Published in the Catalyst, Vol. 32, No. 2 - Spring 2009

Edible Action: Food Activism and Alternative Economics
By Sally Miller
Halifax: Fernwood, 2008

Reviewed by Mike Bulthuis

What do farmers' markets, food co-operatives, Community Supported Agriculture, the fair trade movement, community gardens and natural food stores all have in common? We might think of each as 'alternative' food sources – alternatives to our 'local' mega-grocery store. In Sally Miller's Edible Action, we're also encouraged to think of these as food activism, catalysts of social change and demonstrations of alternative economic systems.

Food is a basic need, integrated into most aspects of everyday life. Considering it as more than a commodity for easy purchase or consumption enables us to recognize how our lives are closely tied to the food production system. We participate as producers, sellers, consumers, among other identities, in a system Miller critiques as more about profit and self-interest than democracy, community or equality of access. But as Miller makes clear, there are inspiring alternatives.

Miller's critique is partly about reclaiming good food. Lamenting the "monotony of our national pantry" –the uniformity of grocery stores and the tomatoes they stock – Miller fears the succulent tomato may become forgotten when shelf life is prioritized and a region's ecological niche is ignored in order to create space at the grocer’s for a bit of everything.

Beyond tasty food, though, Miller looks to usher in food production systems characterized by equal distribution -- of food, of profit, of healthy outcomes. Only with participatory (food) democracy, where individuals can influence decisions affecting their food system, and where the spatial and symbolic distance between producers and consumers is minimized, can hunger, falling farm incomes and other challenges be met.

It's difficult not to be excited by Miller's writing. In my own neighbourhood, enthusiasm for a newly expanded Farmer's Market may demonstrate the appeal. And yet, consumption of these alternatives should not only apply when time or money permit easy access. Perhaps my neighbourhood's quest to find a plot of land to develop a community garden is symbolic of the challenge. Participation requires commitment to community, and to a potentially lengthy community-wide decision-making process. While outcomes are uncertain, such processes are likely to strengthen community bonds.

Mike Bulthuis is a geography graduate student and CPJ board member, settling into a new neighbourhood in Ottawa, where he hopes to celebrate a new community garden in 2010.