The persistence of a racial caste in our food system is evident with regards to:
LAND
Afr
ican Americans once owned 16 million acres of farmland, but by 1997 after decades
of Jim Crow and obstructionist policies at the US Department of Agriculture
that privileged white landowners less than 20,000 Black Farmers owned just
2 million acres of Land. 98% of farmland in the United States is controlled
by white settlers.
LABOR
Though white farmers dominate as operators and owners, farm workers and food
workers in processing and food service industries are overwhelmingly people
of color. White workers still hold 75% of the managerial positions in the food
system despite their minority status in that sector. According to research
by Food First, the vast majority of food workers from field to fork are paid
poverty wages, experience wage theft at twice the rate of white workers and
face high levels of food insecurity.
FOOD INSECURITY
Racism in the food system is also apparent in the levels of household food insecurity
and hunger. According to the USDA, there were 35 million food insecure people
in the United States in 2019, yet only 8% of white households are food insecure
as opposed to the 19% of Black households and 16% of Hispanic households. The
COVID pandemic has exacerbated these statistics as people of color have been
disproportionately affected by the economic and health impacts of the disease.
HEALTH
Race, poverty an
d food insecurity correlate with the prevalence of diet related disease as well.
Nearly half of African Americans and over 42% of latinos suffer with obesity
due to the difficulty of accessing nutritious food. 8% of whites suffer from
diabetes while the statistics are much higher for Hispanics (12.8%), African
Americans (13.2%) and Indigenous people (15.9%).
The Food Justice movement seeks to address racial inequities in our food system by decentering the white supremacy that permeates food organizations, food policy making and cultural narratives around food production, distribution and consumption, including the erasure or appropriation of foodways built and maintained by historically marginalized communities. Organizations directed by Black, Indigenous and People of Color leaders are at the forefront of a movement demanding reparations for past wrongs and building a food future that ensures equity and dignity for all. To learn more about this movement and ways that you can effectively contribute to it, explore the work of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance , the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance and The U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance .
This section looks at the topic of race and food justice via art, creative writing, cook books and action, exemplifying the diverse, complex and deeply challenging situations while providing hope for the future.
https://flowingdata.com/2015/01/13/mapped-history-of-how-native-american-land-was-taken/
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