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September 2020
This month, we’re looking at sustainability as it relates to equity and food. What are some of the inequities we see, and how are people challenging these in order to build a more just and sustainable food system?
Read on to learn about the 2020 Shred Fest results and to provide feedback about planning for our fall campus tree tour and planting event. 🌲
Food Justice
You may have heard the term “food desert,” which refers to geographic areas with limited access to fresh, nutritious food options. There’s also the concept of “food insecurity,” which is “a lack of access to enough good, healthy, and culturally appropriate food.”
This lack of access plays out unequally across communities. Many activists have criticized the term “food desert,” pushing instead to use terms that shift the focus to a larger, systemic critique, such as “food apartheid.” That particular term has been attributed to and promoted by food justice activist Karen Washington, who says:
What I would rather say instead of “food desert” is “food apartheid,” because “food apartheid” looks at the whole food system, along with race, geography, faith, and economics. You say “food apartheid” and you get to the root cause of some of the problems around the food system. It brings in hunger and poverty. It brings us to the more important question: What are some of the social inequalities that you see, and what are you doing to erase some of the injustices?
Here in Monroe County, health research and planning organization Common Ground Health has mapped food insecurity throughout the region. The rates of food insecurity in the city of Rochester and across the Finger Lakes region and western New York reflect the trends across the US. That is, Black and brown communities and low-income communities are disproportionately affected by food insecurity, in comparison with whiter, wealthier areas, a manifestation of systemic racism at work.
While the scale of the problems may seem overwhelming, there are a number of groups in the US and globally that are working for change to create more equitable food systems. Together, these groups make up a growing and multifaceted food justice movement.
New Report: Monroe County’s History of Segregation
In early August, local organization City Roots Community Land Trust released a report with the Yale Environmental Protection Clinic titled Confronting Racial Covenants: How They Segregated Monroe County and What to Do About Them (please note the authors’ warning about harmful content).
As we talk about food apartheid, this report highlights the intentional construction and violent enforcement of policies that build and maintain inequities. These inequities also intersect with many other aspects of environmental justice, including the effects of climate change. Neighborhoods with a history of redlining are also experiencing higher temperatures today, bearing a disproportionate burden of extreme heat as global temperatures continue to increase.
Food Insecurity and COVID-19
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
The nonprofit organization Feeding America is using data to explore how the novel coronavirus will affect food insecurity rates and the people who face hunger. Key findings include the following:
- Many food-insecure individuals are also at higher risk for severe illness associated with COVID-19.
- Households with children are more likely to be food insecure.
- Workers who have service occupations or work in the leisure and hospitality industry are more likely to be food insecure. They are also at risk of further hardship, as many businesses have been forced to close and lay off staff.
- Demand for charitable food assistance has increased, a trend that is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Race, ethnicity, and immigration status also factor into persistent disparities in food insecurity experienced by individuals residing in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. A two-week survey conducted by the Urban Institute in May 2020 found that:
- Hispanic adults’ and Black adults’ household food insecurity rates were each approximately 27 percent, nearly double that of white adults’ households (13.5 percent).
- One in four adults in families with noncitizens (25.5 percent) reported experiencing food insecurity in the previous 30 days, compared with 16.8 percent of adults whose family members were all citizens.
In July, Science magazine outlined the main threats that COVID-19 poses to global food security. These include disruptions to:
- Food access due to losses of income and assets that prevent individuals from purchasing food
- Food availability and stability, including agricultural production and supply chain disruptions
- Diets and nutrition, with declines in income forcing poor households to cut back on unprocessed nonstaple foods such as fruits, vegetables, and animal-source products
We encourage you to read the article, which highlights how social safety-net policies and support from high-income countries and organizations could help address these vulnerabilities.
Local Resources
- Taproot Collective is an organization in Rochester “with the mission to design and build holistic systems for healthy local food, dignified housing, and educational opportunities with youth and families.”
- List of community gardens in Monroe County
- The Urban Agriculture Working Group is an association of community gardens, urban farms, and other organizations that work together to address barriers and promote urban agriculture and community gardens in Rochester.
- 211 Lifeline has a list of food pantries in Monroe County and throughout the Finger Lakes region.
- Foodlink is a local food bank that serves a 10-county region and has a number of programs to help address local food insecurity. Since March, it has distributed 35 percent more food than last year. During this time, they are offering drive-through food distribution of emergency food supply boxes.
- Did you know the University has a food pantry for students? The program runs year round and is need-blind, not requiring income information from any student or postdoc who needs to use it. The pantry accepts donations and can coordinate with employees who are interested in hosting a collection drive for their department.
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Events & Announcements
Quarterly Event: Fall Tree Tour and Planting
(but we need your input)
It’s been a while since we gathered our group, so we’d like to reconvene with a safe, physically distanced outdoor tour of the University’s own arboretum, which has been recognized as a Tree Campus USA for the 10th straight year. The tour will end with a tree planting to demonstrate that even though many of us are physically distanced from the University at this time, sustainability lives and grows on our campuses.
We would like to hold this tour in October but need your input.
➡️ Please provide your feedback to help us determine if there’s enough interest in the event and, if so, when to host it.
Shred Fest Results
Thanks to everyone who participated in the 10th annual Shred Fest. We collected, shredded, and recycled an impressive total of 19,580 pounds (nearly 9.8 tons) of paper! Read more about this recurring sustainability initiative.
Green Reads from around the Web
Environmental Justice Resources
Take Action: Community Resources
- Class: Intro to Intersectional Environmental Justice, hosted by the Rochester Brainery on September 15, 7–9 p.m.
- Petition: From the Food Empowerment Project, which is advocating for access to fresh food for all
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Your Green Reps Challenge for September
- Check out this list of organizations working for Black food and land justice. Pick one and then do a deep dive to learn more about its work.
- Review the action items for change in City Roots Community Land Trust’s report on racial covenants to see which items you can incorporate into your work.
- Consider donating to or organizing a collection drive in your department to help support the University’s Student Food Pantry.
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