Op-ed: How Urban Agriculture Can Fight Racism in the Food System
Growing food in cities offers a powerful way to reclaim communities and change the dynamics so that people of color have wealth and power.
By Karen Washington
Civil Eats
July 10, 2020
Excerpt:
But whenever communities of color try to move forward, politics come into play. In New York City, there is a growing problem between open-space community gardens and development. How do we make structural change when the local food economy is up against city politics? If we’re going to move forward in the urban agriculture movement, we have to understand the politics that make it difficult to grow and sell food in the city.
The city said it was illegal to raise chickens and bees. Bees were designated as ferocious animals. We had to correct that misconception and educate the city that bees are critical to pollinate many crops. We had to explain the social impact of those restrictions.
We are trying to change the system so that the power of financial literacy and economic development is in the hands of people who have been oppressed.
I view community gardens and urban agriculture as a way to change the dynamic of the power structure, because people within marginalized communities are not going to advance unless we take back power. For me and for a lot of people in my position—not only in New York, but in Detroit, Baltimore, and Oakland—we are trying to change the system so that the power of financial literacy and economic development is in the hands of people who have been oppressed.
