By Hailey Murphy
On Tuesday, at 1 p.m., a banner dropped from the fourth story of Miller Hall. It towered over Red Square, reading:
Our food system is built on racism.
Students for Sustainable Food (SSF) put on the demonstration. In doing so, they hoped to get students thinking about where their food comes from. They also hoped to spur direct action– beyond regulating diet– against this oppressive food system.
“We really want people to start thinking about moving beyond the ‘voting with your fork’ model,” said SSF officer Emmaline Bigongiari, “And [start] working towards creating more systemic change in our food system, which is connected to our entire culture. It’s not like our food system operates in a vacuum. It’s built on racism because our country is built on racism.”
October 24 is National Food Day. This holiday is observed to encourage natural, ethically sourced and sustainable food. On this National Food Day, an organization called the Real Food Challenge decided to make it a day of activism. Specifically, they wanted to focus on how systems of oppression intersect with the nation’s food systems.
When Real Food Challenge put out this call to action, SSF answered, along with students at nine other universities across the country: University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, University of Georgia, Towson University, San Francisco State University, Ohio State University, George Mason University, California State University at Monterrey Bay and New York University.
Every banner had that same message: Our food system is built on racism.
Racism within America’s food system goes back to the very beginning. The land on which settlers farmed was taken from indigenous people. Many of the first American farmworkers were enslaved black people forced to grow crops. Thus, the foundation of the current food system is built on white supremacist ideals.
Except the food system isn’t just historically racist. The majority of food labor jobs are still held by people of color. Farmworkers are typically black and brown immigrants making low wages.
Then there’s the matter of food distribution. Nutritious food is often not available to low income communities. People of color are more likely to be in a food desert.
Processing itself harms people of color as well. Factory farms and corporate food sites that release pollutants into the air are often placed near impoverished neighborhoods. People of color are more likely to be affected by food-related pollution.
SSF hopes that their banner will bring more attention to these issues.
In addition to racist food systems across the country, SSF wanted to bring attention to that very issue happening here at Western.
Aramark is the corporation that controls food services on campus. The dining halls, the markets, retail cafes and catering events are all managed by them. Besides servicing universities, Aramark also sells food to hospitals– and more importantly, prisons– across the country.
By selling food to prisons, Aramark is profiting off a system of human incarceration. This system is inherently racist, incarcerating people of color at high rates. Thus, Aramark profits off oppression in this country.
Besides just profiting off black prisoners, Aramark also mistreats them. Prisoners have rioted, demanding better portion sizes and more nutritious options. There have been reports of female prisoners being assaulted by Aramark staff. Inmates claim to have found rocks and maggots in food served by Aramark.
These grievances with Aramark (among others) have prompted SSF to start a divestment campaign. This campaign asks that Western divest from Aramark after the contract expires in 2021. SSF believes Aramark doesn’t uphold the values of Western students, nor are they transparent in their food sourcing.
Instead, SSF proposes that Western transition to a self-operated dining system, so that students may be informed on where their food is coming from.
“I was really excited to get out here, to talk to people and see if people are aware [of the issue],” said SSF Officer Kenzi Garner, who talked to students in Red Square after the banner dropped. “How Aramark benefits from the prison system, how this prison system impacts a greater number of people of color, and [how it] is basically America’s new form of enslavement. Hopefully we’ll meet some people who are excited about doing actionable items with SSF to work on our divestment campaign.”
SSF has created a petition for their divestment campaign at tinyurl.com/ShredTheContract. You may also get involved by attending a meeting. They meet every Wednesday in Humanities 102 at 6 p.m.
[Photos by Hailey Hoffman // AS Review]