Vocabulary for understanding intersectionality in food systems:
Below we’ve included definitions of some of the key concepts relevant to intersectionality in food. We’ve tried to provide basic working definitions but also ones that are grounded in academic studies and/or governmental/nonprofit organizations. Please note that these definitions are not all-inclusive but instead focused on the issue at hand.
Underneath the definitions, we’ve included our course syllabus (the readings we have done thus far and will do throughout the duration of the semester), so that you may have a deeper understanding of the types of thinking we will be doing on this blog and the texts and frameworks (some publicly available online and others not as easily accessible) we attempt to put into practice in our research. Pay particular attention to the 5 readings in Week 12, where we will focus on Intersections of Identity and Injustice (the focus of this blog and our research). We encourage you to read along with us throughout the semester, if you can find the texts listed, to educate yourself on the global, national and local food systems!
Intersectionality - Kimberle Crenshaw’s definition (refer to our first post, found here)
Oppression - “Prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority.”
Privilege - “A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.” Here’s an article from The New Yorker about the historical origins of the notion of privilege as we know it today.
Race - “Each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics.” For more reading about race, here are some links: (An article from the Huffington Post on America’s lack of post-raciality.
Palmié, Stephan (May 2007). "Genomics, divination, 'racecraft'". American Ethnologist.
Mevorach, Katya Gibel (2007). "Race, racism, and academic complicity". American Ethnologist.
Imani Perry, More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2011), 23.
Mills CW (1988) "But What Are You Really? The Metaphysics of Race" in Blackness visible: essays on philosophy and race, pp. 41-66. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt (2014/2011). The Genetic Reification of Race? A Story of Two Mathematical Methods.
Andreasen, Robin O. (2000). "Race: Biological Reality or Social Construct?". Philosophy of Science. 67 (Suppl.): S653–666. doi:10.1086/392853.
Marks, Jonathan (2003). What it means to be 98% chimpanzee apes, people, and their genes. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520930766.
Templeton, A. R. (1998). "Human Races: A Genetic and Evolutionary Perspective". American Anthropologist. 100 (3): 632–650.
Williams, S. M.; Templeton, A. R. (2003). "Race and Genomics". New England Journal of Medicine. 348 (25): 2581–2582.
American; Anthropological, Physical. "Statement on Biological Aspects of Race". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 569: 1996.
Steve Olson, Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past Through Our Genes, Boston, 2002
Templeton, Alan R. (September 2013). "Biological races in humans". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 44 (3): 262–271.
Class - “A set or category of things having some property or attribute in common and differentiated from others by kind, type, or quality.”
Socioeconomic status - “Socioeconomic status is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation.Examinations of socioeconomic status often reveal inequities in access to resources, plus issues related to privilege, power and control.” (Taken from the APA website)
Feminism - “The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.”
Ecofeminism - “A philosophical and political theory and movement which combines ecological concerns with feminist ones, regarding both as resulting from male domination of society.”
Sexism - “Prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.”
Prejudice - “Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.”
Environmental Justice - “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”
Shrader-Frechette, Kristen, “Distributive Justice, Participative Justice, and the Principle of Prima Facie Political Equality,” in Environmental Justice: Creating Equality, Reclaiming Democracy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.: 23-34, 2002.
People of Color Environmental Justice Summit, “Environmental Justice Principles,” 1991, available here
"Bill Text - SB-1000 Land Use: General Plans: Safety and Environmental Justice." California Legislative Information. 2016. Accessed November 7, 2016. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1000.
Bullard, Robert. "Confronting Environmental Racism." In Ecology, edited by Carolyn Merchant, 265-76. Second ed. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2008.
Bobo, Lawrence, “Racial Attitudes and Relations at the Close of the Twentieth Century,” in N. Smelser, W.J. Wilson, and F. Mitchell (eds.) America Becoming – Racial Trends and their Consequences, Washington, D.C.: National Research Council, pp.: 264-301, 2001.
Cole, Luke. "Hazardous Waste Incinerator in Kettleman City." Environmental Justice. Planning and Conservation League, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
"CalEnviroScreen Version 2.0." OEHHA. 2016. Accessed November 26, 2016. http://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-version-20.
"CalEnviroScreen 3.0 Draft Indicator and Results Maps." OEHHA. October 11, 2016. Accessed November 25, 2016. http://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/general-info/calenviroscreen-30-draft-indicator-and-results-maps.
Dicum, Gregory. “Meet Robert Bullard, the father of environmental justice.” 15 Mar. 2006. http://grist.org/article/dicum/
"Environmental Justice and National Environmental Policy Act." EPA. Accessed November 6, 2016. https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-and-national-environmental-policy-act.
"Environmental Justice Considerations In The NEPA Process." National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 30 July 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Foroohar, Rana, “What Ever Happened To Upward Mobility?” Time Magazine, Nov. 14, 2011, Vol. 178, Issue 19.
"Frequently Asked Questions About CEQA." CEQA. California Natural Resources Agency, 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
Goyette, Braden and Alissa Sheller, “15 Charts That Prove We’re Far From Post-Racial,” Huffington Post, July 2, 2014.
Graham, Carolyn, and Jennifer B. Grills. "Environmental Justice: A Survey of Federal and State Responses." Villanova Environmental Law Journal 8.1 (1997): 237-58. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.Lecture O’Rourke
Harris, Kamala D. "CEQA and General Planning." CEQA and General Planning. State of California Department of Justice, 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
Harris, Kamala. Environmental Justice at the Local and Regional Level Legal Background. Report. July 10, 2012. Accessed October 28, 2016. https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/environment/ej_fact_sheet.pdf.
Maté, Gabor. When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-disease Connection. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley, 2003. Print.
Mohai, Paul, David Pellow, and J. Timmons Roberts, “Environmental Justice,” Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2009, 34:405-430.
Mohai, Paul, et.al. 2009. Racial and socioeconomic disparities in residential proximity to polluting industrial facilities: Evidence from the Americans’ Changing Lives study. American Journal of Public Health. 99 (supp 3):S649-S656.
Morello-Frosch, Rachel, Miriam Zuk, Michael Jerrett, Bhavna Shamasunder, and Amy D. Kyle, “Understanding the Cumulative Impacts of Inequality in Environmental Health: Implications for Policy,” Health Affairs 30, No. 5 (2011): 879-887.
"Summary of Executive Order 12898 - Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations." US Environmental Protection Agency. October 17, 2016. Accessed November 8, 2016. https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-executive-order-12898-federal-actions-address-environmental-justice.
Wenz, Peter. “The Importance of Environmental Justice.” In Ecology, edited by Carolyn Merchant, 259-64. Second ed. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2008.
Pastor, Manuel, et.al. 2005. “Environmental Inequity in Metropolitan Los Angeles,” in R. Bullard (ed.) The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution, San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. Pgs. 108-124.
Sapolsky, Robert, “Sick of Poverty,” Scientific American, Dec. 2005, pp: 93-99.
"Statutory Changes/Amendments to CEQA." California Natural Resources Agency. State of California Department of Justice, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
United States. California Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. OEHHA. By Sam Delson. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Slavery - “As slavery seems to take new forms, it is still, nevertheless, identified by an element of ownership or control over another's life, coercion and the restriction of movement and by the fact that someone is not free to leave or to change an employer.” (For more on modern American slavery in the produce and agriculture industry, read Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook)
Homophobia - “Dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people.”
Identity politics - “The laden phrase “identity politics” has come to signify a wide range of political activity and theorizing founded in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups. Rather than organizing solely around belief systems, programmatic manifestos, or party affiliation, identity political formations typically aim to secure the political freedom of a specific constituency marginalized within its larger context. Members of that constituency assert or reclaim ways of understanding their distinctiveness that challenge dominant oppressive characterizations, with the goal of greater self-determination.”
New York Times article about identity politics in the 2016 US Presidential Election.
Washington Post article about identity politics dividing America.
Epistemology - “The study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity.”
Ontology - “The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.”
Identity - “The fact of being who or what a person or thing is; the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is.”
Poverty - Domestic: “Following the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If the total income for a family or unrelated individual falls below the relevant poverty threshold, then the family (and every individual in it) or unrelated individual is considered in poverty. There is now a second measure of poverty called the Supplemental Poverty Measure or "SPM." Every year since 2010, the Census Bureau has released a report describing this measure. The SPM extends the official poverty measure by taking account of government benefits and necessary expenses like taxes that are not in the official measure. It does not replace the official poverty measure and will not be used to determine eligibility for government programs.”
National: More here from UNESCO on specific types of poverty
Food Waste - “Food loss is defined as “the decrease in quantity or quality of food”. Food waste is part of food loss and refers to discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to end household consumer level. Food waste is recognized as a distinct part of food loss because the drivers that generate it and the solutions to it are different from those of food losses. (FAO, 2014) Each year, an estimated one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted world-wide. FAO estimates indicate that the per capita food waste at consumer level in Europe and North-America is 95-115 kg/year while in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia is 6-11 kg/year. (FAO, 2011)”
Matrix of domination - “A broader focus stresses the interlocking nature of oppressions that are structured on multiple levels, from the individual to the social structural, and which are part of a larger matrix of domination. Adhering to this inclusive model provides the conceptual space needed for each individual to see that she or he is both a member of multiple dominant groups and a member of multiple subordinate groups. Shifting the analysis to investigating how the matrix of domination is structured along certain axes--race, gender, and class being the axes of investigation for African American women--reveals that different systems of oppression may rely in varying degrees on systemic versus interpersonal mechanisms of domination.”
Cis-gender - “Term for someone who exclusively identifies as their sex assigned at birth. The term cisgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life....Adjective that means “identifies as their sex assigned at birth” derived from the Latin word meaning “on the same side.” A cisgender/cis person is not transgender. “Cisgender” does not indicate biology, gender expression, or sexuality/sexual orientation. In discussions regarding trans issues, one would differentiate between women who are trans and women who aren’t by saying trans women and cis women. Cis is not a “fake” word and is not a slur. Note that cisgender does not have an “ed” at the end.”
Queer - “A term for people of marginalized gender identities and sexual orientations who are not cisgender and/or heterosexual. This term has a complicated history as a reclaimed slur.”
Sexual Orientation - “A person’s physical, romantic, emotional, aesthetic, and/or other form of attraction to others. In Western cultures, gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same. Trans people can be straight, bisexual, lesbian, gay, asexual, pansexual, queer, etc. just like anyone else. For example, a trans woman who is exclusively attracted to other women would often identify as lesbian.”
Transgender/Trans - “An umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. The term transgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life. Note that transgender does not have an “ed” at the end.”
“Gender Expression/Presentation - The physical manifestation of one’s gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc. (typically referred to as masculine or feminine). Many transgender people seek to make their gender expression (how they look) match their gender identity (who they are), rather than their sex assigned at birth. Someone with a gender nonconforming gender expression may or may not be transgender.
Gender Identity - One’s internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or other gender(s). Everyone has a gender identity, including you. For transgender people, their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity are not necessarily the same.
Sex Assigned At Birth - The assignment and classification of people as male, female, intersex, or another sex assigned at birth often based on physical anatomy at birth and/or karyotyping.
Transition - A person’s process of developing and assuming a gender expression to match their gender identity. Transition can include: coming out to one’s family, friends, and/or co-workers; changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) some form of surgery. It’s best not to assume how one transitions as it is different for everyone.
Transsexual - A depreciated term (often considered pejorative) similar to transgender in that it indicates a difference between one’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth, with implications of hormonal/surgical transition from one binary gender (male or female) to the other. Unlike transgender/trans, transsexual is not an umbrella term, as many transgender people do not identify as transsexual. When speaking/writing about trans people, please avoid the word transsexual unless asked to use it by a transsexual person.
Agender - An umbrella term encompassing many different genders of people who commonly do not have a gender and/or have a gender that they describe as neutral. Many agender people are trans. As a new and quickly-evolving term, it is best you ask how someone defines agender for themselves.
Ally - Someone who advocates and supports a community other than their own. Allies are not part of the communities they help. A person should not self-identify as an ally but show that they are one through action.
Aromantic - The lack of romantic attraction, and one identifying with this orientation. This may be used as an umbrella term for other emotional attractions such as demiromantic.
Asexual - The lack of a sexual attraction, and one identifying with this orientation. This may be used as an umbrella term for other emotional attractions such as demisexual.
Bigender - Refers to those who identify as two genders. Can also identify as multigender (identifying as two or more genders). Do not confuse this term with Two-Spirit, which is specifically associated with Native American and First Nations cultures.
Binary - Used as an adjective to describe the genders female/male or woman/man. Since the binary genders are the only ones recognized by general society as being legitimate, they enjoy an (unfairly) privileged status.
Bisexuality - An umbrella term for people who experience sexual and/or emotional attraction to more than one gender (pansexual, fluid, omnisexual, queer, etc).
Cissexism - Systemic prejudice in the favor of cisgender people.
Cissimilation - The expectation for and act of trans people, especially trans women, assimilating to cisgender (and often heteronormative) standards of appearance and performance.
Drag - Exaggerated, theatrical, and/or performative gender presentation. Although most commonly used to refer to cross-dressing performers (drag queens and drag kings), anyone of any gender can do any form of drag. Doing drag does not necessarily have anything to do with one’s sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
Equality - A state in which everyone is equal. This ignores difference in identity/community and history. Read why we changed our name from “equality” to “educational.”
Equity/Liberation/Justice - A state in which all marginalized communities are free. This differs greatly from equality. Read TSER director’s Eli Erlick’s article on why equality hurts the transgender movement
Gender Affirming Surgery; Genital Reassignment/Reconstruction Surgery; Vaginoplasty; Phalloplasty; Metoidioplasty - Refers to surgical alteration, and is only one part of some trans people’s transition (see “Transition” above). Only the minority of transgender people choose to and can afford to have genital surgery. The following terms are inaccurate, offensive, or outdated: sex change operation, gender reassignment/realignment surgery (gender is not changed due to surgery), gender confirmation/confirming surgery (genitalia do not confirm gender), and sex reassignment/realignment surgery (as it insinuates a single surgery is required to transition along with sex being an ambiguous term).
The Gender Binary - A system of viewing gender as consisting solely of two, opposite categories, termed “male and female”, in which no other possibilities for gender or anatomy are believed to exist. This system is oppressive to anyone who defies their sex assigned at birth, but particularly those who are gender-variant or do not fit neatly into one of the two standard categories.
Gender Fluid - A changing or “fluid” gender identity.
Genderqueer - An identity commonly used by people who do not identify or express their gender within the gender binary. Those who identify as genderqueer may identify as neither male nor female, may see themselves as outside of or in between the binary gender boxes, or may simply feel restricted by gender labels. Many genderqueer people are cisgender and identify with it as an aesthetic. Not everyone who identifies as genderqueer identifies as trans or nonbinary.
Heteronormative / Heteronormativity - These terms refer to the assumption that heterosexuality is the norm, which plays out in interpersonal interactions and society and furthers the marginalization of queer people.
LGBTQQIAPP+ - A collection of identities short for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, aromantic, pansexual, polysexual (sometimes abbreviated to LGBT or LGBTQ+). Sometimes this acronym is replaced with “queer.” Note that “ally” is not included in this acronym.
Monosexual / Multisexual / Non-monosexual - Umbrella terms for orientations directed towards one gender (monosexual) or multiple genders (multisexual/non-monosexual).
Nonbinary (Also Non-Binary) - Preferred umbrella term for all genders other than female/male or woman/man, used as an adjective (e.g. Jesse is a nonbinary person). Not all nonbinary people identify as trans and not all trans people identify as nonbinary. Sometimes (and increasingly), nonbinary can be used to describe the aesthetic/presentation/expression of a cisgender or transgender person.
Pansexual - Capable of being attracted to many/any gender(s). Sometimes the term omnisexual is used in the same manner. “Pansexual” is being used more and more frequently as more people acknowledge that gender is not binary. Sometimes, the identity fails to recognize that one cannot know individuals with every existing gender identity.
Passing/blending/assimilating - Being perceived by others as a particular identity/gender or cisgender regardless how the individual in question identifies, e.g. passing as straight, passing as a cis woman, passing as a youth. This term has become controversial as “passing” can imply that one is not genuinely what they are passing as.
Polysexual - Capable of being attracted to multiple gender(s).
Transmisogyny - Originally coined by the author Julia Serano, this term designates the intersectionality of transphobia and misogyny and how they are often experienced as a form of oppression by trans women.
Transphobia - Systemic violence against trans people, associated with attitudes such as fear, discomfort, distrust, or disdain. This word is used similarly to homophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, etc.
Trans Woman / Trans Man - Trans woman generally describes someone assigned male at birth who identifies as a woman. This individual may or may not actively identify as trans. It is grammatically and definitionally correct to include a space between trans and woman. The same concept applies to trans men. Often it is good just to use woman or man.
Sometimes trans women identify as male-to-female (also MTF, M2F, or trans feminine) and sometimes trans men identify as female-to-male (also FTM, F2M, or trans masculine). Please ask before identifying someone. Use the term and pronouns preferred by the individual.
Two Spirit - An umbrella term indexing various indigenous gender identities in North America.” (Visit source of these gender & sexuality-related definitions here.)
Social construct - “An idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society”
Heteroglossia - “The presence of two or more expressed viewpoints in a text or other artistic work.... An extension of the concept of dialogism conceived by Russian linguist and literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin. Literally it means a mixture of tongues. For Bakhtin literature should strive to be what he called double-voiced, by which he meant it should incorporate the voice of others. The best examples of this type of literature should, he thought, submerge the voice of the author altogether. But Bakhtin also realized that the presence of different voices by themselves was not sufficient to produce the utopian effect he prized, particularly not if those different voices were all of the same type or class of people. Tolstoy's work, according to Bakhtin, suffers especially acutely from this problem in that it is almost entirely populated by the aristocratic class and their various retainers, such that even the peasants whom Tolstoy is said to have held in such high esteem are only seen from the point of view of their masters. The better writers, from this perspective, are those like Dickens and Dosteoevsky whose works give voice to every class of people. For Bakhtin this can never be achieved simply by representing or depicting other classes (this is Tolstoy's fault); one must incorporate their voice into the very style of the text itself. By means of parody and comedy (the larger effects of which Bakhtin called carnivalesque) the socially subordinate can be not merely depicted or quoted but brought to life, for in this way their subversive attitude to the social system that imprisons them in their class position can also be felt and understood. It is Dickens's combination of social realism and satire that stands him above the other authors of his era (the other English writer he approves of is Thackeray, who obviously shares this trait with Dickens, albeit articulated differently).” (For more on Russian linguist Mikhail Bakhtin, who coined the phrase heteroglossia, read here. For the original text that mention heteroglossia, “The Dialogic Imagination,” by Bakhtin, visit here.)
Social heteroglossia - Applies Bakhtin’s literary theory of multiple voices representing multiple worldviews to the social sphere and society at large.
Vocabulary from the UC Berkeley Haas Institute report on the U.S. Farm Bill:
“AGRIBUSINESS: A term that refers to large-scale businesses that encompass farming and farming-related commercial activities, as well as operations that engage in the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products, and the manufacture of farm machinery, equipment, and supplies. The term also includes large business entities that produce and sell agrichemicals including pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides, and may include the produc- tion of synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and other chemical growth agents.
BIOFUELS: Energy sources made from living things or the waste that living things produce. Bio- fuels can come from a wider variety of sources and can roughly be divided into four categories or “generations.” First generation biofuels are made from sugars, starches, oil, and animal fats; second-generation biofuels are made from non-food crops or agricultural waste; third-generation biofuels are made from algae or quickly growing biomass sources; and fourth-generation biofuels are made from specially engineered plants or biomass.
CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION: Horizontal Consolidation: ownership and control within one part of the food system, such as production, processing, or distribution. Vertical Consolidation: consolidation of firms at more than one part of the food chain, such as upstream suppliers or downstream buyers.
CORPORATE CONTROL: Control of political and economic systems by corporations in order to influence trade regulations, tax rates, and wealth distribution, among other measures, and to produce favorable environments for further corporate growth.
FARM BILL: A multi-year omnibus bill that establishes and maintains federal support for agri- cultural production, nutrition programs, conservations programs, rural development programs, and more. These programs are operated in large part through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
FINANCIALIZATION: A term used to describe a broad set of changes in the relation between the “financial”—financial capital, financial services, and financial markets—and “real” sectors of an economy—manufacturing, agricultural, and service sectors. Financialization is the outcome of sophisticated and complex socio-technological interventions and networks such as informa- tion technologies, analytic techniques, and standardized representations of economic realities that facilitate the transmission and processing of information within the global economic system. Financialization is best understood as a force that enables the creation of new “non-real money” assets, and its ability to restructure these assets in ways to affect their monetary value to generate profits from such dynamic.
FOOD SECURITY: Having consistent access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food to main- tain a healthy and active life.
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: The right of people to determine their own food and agriculture systems, and their right to access affordable, nutritious, healthy, and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods.
FOOD SYSTEM: All of the practices, processes, and infrastructure required to feed a population, including agricultural production, harvesting, processing, packaging, distribution, consumption, and disposal, as well as the inputs required and outputs produces at each stage.
META-NARRATIVE: A meta-narrative is a set of mutually reinforcing elements that reflects a meta-analysis of how society operates and how it must change. A meta-narrative seeks to take command of how a debate or issue is framed in public discourse. More fundamental, durable, and broadly relevant than any set of messages, it must also resonate and make sense to popular audiences and have the potential to be widely adopted and applied. The power of
a meta-narrative is that it bolsters any debatable issue and can be drawn upon to shape the message(s) around it.
MIDPOINT ACREAGE: A measure of cropland consolidation in which half of all cropland acres are on farms with more cropland than the midpoint, and half are on farms with less. Midpoint acreage is more informative than either a simple median or the simple mean.
NEOLIBERALISM: A new period of capitalism, inaugurated in the late 1970s, and characterized by unparalleled global reach of financial institutions and extensive economic liberalization, such as massive privatization of public enterprises, fiscal austerity, international trade agreements, and deregulation. Contemporary stage of neoliberalism have been facilitated by a mix of high- tech globalized financial systems and labor markets, corporate control over the public sphere, increased commodification of human heritages (e.g. community lands, seeds, water, etc.), and increased consumerism.
SNAP: Short for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP is the largest federal food assistance program. At $756.43 billion in projected spending over the next decade, it is the largest program funded under the 2014 Farm Bill. Formerly known as food stamps, SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families, and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is administered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
STRUCTURAL RACIALIZATION: Refers to the set of practices, cultural norms, and institutional arrangements that are reflective of, and help to create and maintain, racialized outcomes in society—reinforcing group-based advantages and disadvantages.”
Glossary of other migration-related terms from the United Nations.
UC Berkeley ESPM 155AC Course Syllabus, prepared by Professor Kathryn DeMaster -
Week 1: Introduction: Agricultural Crises and Revolutions
Selections (pp. 8-45) from Civic Agriculture, 2004, by Tom Lyson
“Farmer in Chief,” by Michael Pollan. New York Times Magazine, October 9, 2008.
Week 2: Agrarian Foundations and the Foodshed
Chapters 3 & 4 in The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture by Wendell Berry
“Coming in to the Foodshed” by Jack R. Kloppenburg, John Hendrickson and G.W. Stevenson, 1996. Agriculture and Human Values 13:3 (Summer): 33-42.
Optional: Selections (pp. 5-25) from “The Long Green Revolution” by Raj Patel, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 2013, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1–63.
Week 3: Of Revolutions and Regimes
“Agriculture and the State System: The Rise and Decline of National Agricultures, 1879 to the Present” by Harriet Friedmann and Phil McMichael, 1989. Sociologia Ruralis Vol. XXIX- 2.
Selection from “Framing Resistance: International Food Regimes and the Roots of Food Sovereignty” by Madeleine Fairbairn, 2010, pp. 16-19 only in Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community, edited by Wittman, Desmarais, and Wiebe.
Week 4: Corporate Concentration and Control
Chapter 1, 2, and 4 in Concentration and Power in the Food System by Phil Howard
Ayazi, Hossein and Elsadig Elsheikh. "The U.S. Farm Bill: Corporate Power and Structural Racialization in the United States Food System." Berkeley, CA: Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, Fall 2015, pp. 8-81.
Week 6: Creating the Global Commodity
Introduction-p. 97 in Tomatoland: How Modern Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, 2011, Barry Estabrook.
Week 7: Agricultural Labor and the Commodity System
Pages 97-189 in Tomatoland: How Modern Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, 2011, Barry Estabrook.
Schlosser, Eric. 2001 “The chain never stops.” Mother Jones 26:4 (July-August)
Week 8: Toxic Land, Toxic Justice
Selections (Introduction, chapters 1-2) from Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States by Seth Holmes
“The Frog of War,” by Dashka Slater, Mother Jones, January/February 2012.
Jill Harrison, 2006. “’Accidents’ and Invisibilities: Scaled Discourse and the Naturalization of Regulatory Neglect in California’s Pesticide Drift Conflict.” Political Geography 25: 506-529.
Pala, Christopher. “Pesticides in paradise: Hawaii’s Spike in Birth Defects Puts Focus on GM Crops,” The Guardian, August 23, 2015.
Week 9: Global Hunger and Injustice
Mittal, Anuradha. 2002 “On the true cause of world hunger.” The Sun (February): 4-13.
Singer, Peter. 1999. “The Singer solution to world poverty.” The New York Times Magazine (September 5).
“Can Biotech Food Cure World Hunger?” New York Times special opinion pages, October 26, 2009: http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/can-biotech-food-cure-world- hunger/?th&emc=th&_r=0#jonathan
“Can Organic Food Feed the World?” Catherine Badgely vs. Steve Savage, Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2015.
Optional, recommended: Eric Holt-Gimenez and Annie Shattuck (2011) Food crises, food regimes and food movements: rumblings of reform or tides of transformation? JPS, 38(1)
Week 10: Brave New Worlds?
Nguyen, T. (2014) Is world’s largest indoor farm the way of the future? Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/07/28/is-worlds-largest-indoor-farm-the-way-of-the-future/ (Links to an external site.)
Qiu, L. (2014) “Milk Grown in a Lab Is Humane and Sustainable. But Can It Catch On?” National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141022-lab-grown-milk-biotechnology-gmo-food-climate/ (Links to an external site.)
Metcalf, J. (2013). “Meet shmeat: food system ethics, biotechnology and re-worlding technoscience.” Parallax, 19(1), 74-87.
Hasselstrom, Linda M. 1991 "Butchering the crippled heifer" and "The cow versus the animal rights activist," Pp. 319-330 in Land Circle: Writings Collected From the Land. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing Co.
Week 11: Cue the Alternatives! Is Change Coming to Dinner?
“The Food Movement, Rising,” by Michael Pollan, 2010, New York Review of Books (and letters in response).
“Place Matters,” Chapter 1 (pp. 18-53) in The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir, 2008, by Amy Trubek
“Local Food is Still a Niche: Can it Grow Beyond That?” The Salt, NPR/Ezra David Romero, June 22, 2015. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/06/22/415554585/local-food-is-still-a-niche-can-it-grow-beyond-that (Links to an external site.)
DeLind, Laura B. 2011. “Are Local Food and the Local Food Movement Taking Us Where We Want to Go? Or Are We Hitching our Wagons to the Wrong Stars?” Agriculture and Human Values, 28: 273-283.
Week 12: Intersections of Identity and Injustice
Yvonne, B., Liu, Y., & Apollon, D. 2011. “The Color of Food,” Applied Research Center: Racial Justice Through Media, Research and Activism: http://reimaginerpe.org/files/food_justiceARC.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Melanie DuPuis, “Angels and Vegetables: A Brief History of Food Advice in America” in Gastronomica, Summer 2007
Guthman, Julie. 2008. Bringing good food to others: investigating the subjects of alternative food practice. Cultural Geographies 15(4) 431-447.
Bowen, Sarah, Sinikka Elliott, and Joslyn Brenton. 2014. “The Joy of Cooking?” Contexts 13(3): 20-25
“The Femivore’s Dilemma” by Peggy Orenstein, New York Times Magazine, March 11, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/magazine/14fob-wwln-t.html?_r=1
Week 13: Agroecology, Open Source, and Sovereignty
Selections TBA in “Nourishing the World Sustainably: Scaling Up Agroecology,” 2012. Dr. Miguel Altieri, Andrew Kang Bartlett, Carolin Callenius, Christine Campeau, Kristen Elsasser, Paul Hagerman, Gary Kenny, Kato Lambrechts, Wilfred Miga, Jose Pablo Prado, Peter Prove, Nadia Saracini, and Karin Ulmer. Guidance provided by members of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance Food Strategy Group.
“Impeding Dispossession, Enabling Repossession: Biological Open Source and the Recovery of Seed Sovereignty,” by Jack Kloppenburg, Journal of Agrarian Change, Volume 10, No. 3 July 2010.
Week 14: Thanksgiving Week
"The Garden,” a documentary available on Netflix.
Week 15: Hopeful Futures? Food Justice & Food Sovereignty Movements
