Cultivating just food: exploring inclusion and inequality in community food systems
Graduation Date
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Other
Program
Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, Social Science: Environment and Community Program, 2011
Committee Chair Name
Noah Zerbe
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Community food systems, Poughkeepsie, Food security, New York, Political ecology, Humboldt State University -- Theses -- Environment and Community, Food justice
Abstract
In the United States, an increasing number of community-based food projects are emerging as people attempt to reclaim food sovereignty by modeling just and sustainable alternatives to the dominant, industrialized food system. Despite good intentions, researchers have found that many alternative food networks reproduce existing power relations by privileging middle class and elite interests over those of structurally marginalized groups. Such networks struggle to recognize broader mechanisms of inequality that contribute to disparities in access to food and thus face challenges in building truly inclusive, equitable and transformative food systems. In Poughkeepsie, New York, a community-based food network is evolving comprised of a constellation of groups working to improve access to healthy food for area residents, and to revitalize the city's local food system. The purpose of this research project is to explore selected community food efforts on the ground in Poughkeepsie, and to examine how they engage with issues of justice and equity in the food system there. I use the concept of food justice as a frame to guide my inquiry into the successes and challenges these groups face in their work.
Recommended Citation
Hughes, Laura M., "Cultivating just food: exploring inclusion and inequality in community food systems" (2011). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2252.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2252
https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/hh63sx888