Finding the Power | Keene ABCS
A Conscientious Engager, on the Community Collaborator Continuum, is defined by the examination of the root causes of social issues. In this stage, we quickly find out that:
the roots run deep—historically and systemically; and
many of them are connected
This can become a dark stage for people. While knowledge is power, it can also be a heavy burden. And in the work of social change, the feeling of powerlessness is an easy place to get trapped—but a dangerous one to remain.
[Dys]functional Food Systems
At the Keene 2017 ABCS, we acknowledged that food systems are influenced by larger economic and political forces and, in turn, the [dys]functions of food systems impact four broad categories: communities, the Earth, producers, and consumers. Corporate consolidation is a common thread which affects each of these. Large companies are generally trying to gain as much capital as possible, as quickly as possible, with as few expenditures as possible. This effects the aforementioned categories in negative ways (for example, unjust wages and working conditions for farm workers).
Corporations are informed by millions of consumers. So as a single individual trying to resist something so large, that familiar sense of powerlessness begins to creep back in and we find ourselves frozen into inaction in the face of such an immense problem.
Our Role
In the world of community engagement, we know stagnancy isn’t an option, and we believe, deeply, in the power of small groups. Like many social movements before our time, the food justice movement calls for individual, institutional, and societal changes in the way we produce, process, distribute, consume, and discard food. While expanding our own awareness of conscious consumption and "voting with our dollar" can be a start, individualistic approaches to fighting a broken food system will not create a lasting, structural difference.
In order to mobilize, we must find where we hold power in communities. On college campuses with dining facilities, the power we hold as consumers is much stronger, campus organizing is streamlined, and students’ voice and dollar directly influence the institution. The fraction of one-in-millions in the corporate world turns into an optimistic one-in-thousands (or less!) on a college campus.
Image via Real Food Challenge
To make the seemingly impossible task of resisting large forces that dominate our food systems and harm our communities, workers, and land less daunting, we looked to our friends at the Real Food Challenge (RFC) for realistic action steps to take on college campuses. If you're interested in creating a structural shift on your campus, we’d recommend you look to RFC to take meaningful action toward justice for the land and hands that caretake our food—from seed to plate and everything in between.
