Dreaming/Re-imagining: We are still dreaming (or re-imagining if dreaming sounds too lazy and unprofessional) of how productive, fair, and rewarding our food system could be as we emerge and learn lessons from the pandemic—and we hope you are too. As the Dust Settles, we see both concerning and promising signs and lessons.
On the concerning side, inequities remain and reports, for example, of the world’s 10 richest men getting obscenely richer during COVID just hint at what we may face after the pandemic if we don’t pay attention and get involved. As emergency food assistance runs out in some cases, it is unclear whether we have the resolve to continue the assistance that is still needed until income and food access disparities are resolved. Prospects for proactively addressing the climate crisis are unclear from the public response we have seen to the COVID crisis.
Promisingly, schools have risen to the task of helping more and more with emergency food distribution which may morph into a longer-term, more proactive food access role. Caregivers and emergency workers of all sorts have inspired us. Local producers in some areas have received greater attention and respect. More people are questioning the status quo. Fairness for all—in food as in other necessities of life—is a top priority for more and more people. All these opportunities for constructive and sustainable change call for more concerted action on our part.
Taking Responsibility: Most people would agree, if asked, that we do need to recognize the consequences of our actions. In the food arena, that means the consequences of our personal food choices—how we make the effort to become informed and then choose, grow, buy, eat, and share food sustainably; and our civic food choices—how we affect the food policies of our governments, our economic sector, and our society more broadly. In terms of policy, voting for fair and sustainable policies and policymakers is paramount. We also need to find ways in our own lives to advocate for policies we know are essential for a fair and sustainable future. Simply talking with others (as voters) can be a powerful form of advocacy. I am seeing a critical need for constructive talk, or discourse, not just about our concerns and fears, but also about our dreams and hopes for our future—including our food systems.
Civil Discourse: Talk lately has certainly had its share of incivility. It seems to be a potent tool of some people and groups to achieve their aims through turmoil and confusion. Even among those who want to be “civil” and fair and compassionate, there is a tendency to avoid talking about our differences—keep to the safe topics. I see the lack of “civil discourse” as a sign of our times that is making progress very difficult. I do believe that we all have a “civic” responsibility to share our concerns as well as our hopes and dreams for the future with others, even with those we assume will never agree with us—how nice it would be to be wrong in this assumption.
Food as Common Ground: So, as we see the pandemic (hopefully) easing, and as we reimagine our future including that of our food systems, I’d suggest that we 1) do all we can with our personal food choices within the constraints that policies of the current food system impose on us, 2) take responsibility to affect those public food policies by voting and advocating for needed changes, and 3) make a concerted effort to talk with others—those likeminded and otherwise—in constructive and respectful ways about those things that bother us, but more importantly about all those dreams that are very likely to connect us and that can inspire us to work together for a better food system and a better world now and into the future—a much needed Civil Discourse!
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