So now that I've looked into it...

Food Justice is obviously a topic that is undeniably important . But can sustainable practices apply to the city? To where we live? How about Seattle? Can you see someone planting a sustainable community garden somewhere in the city? I can't. I looked into some examples of food justice in cities. I found a website ranking the most agriculturally sustainable cities in the country called "Sustain Lane". Seattle currently ranks number nine. Minneapolis is ranked number one on the sustainability list. I looked into what could make Seattle number one. The food "sustainablilty" of a city depends on "data from the US Department of Agriculture for farmers' markets and primary research on farmers' markets and community gardens.". Minneapolis took the top spot because of its "strong showings in both farmers markets and community gardens per capita ("Sustain Lane")" Minneapolis contains 18 markets, of which nearly half accept food stamps. This seems very impressive but thats not even it. 60-plus community gardens are also contained within the city limits. "All that and a bucket of locally grown, free-range chicken, for a city of only 373,943 residents." So I don't remember the last time I saw a community garden in Seattle. I think that being 9th isn't too bad, but we could be better. I think volunteering for a food justice program such as the "Community Coalition for Environmental Justice" located in Seattle would be a good service. It's important to realize the terrible toll of injustice that processed food is taking, especially on inner city families and kids. Overall, Mayor Greg Nichols needs to stop making promises about light rail and he needs to focus on food justice as an important city issue. It drives me crazy to think that people don't have access to foods that promote health and wellness. How can we let this go on?

-Seneca Luetke

Food Justice the Naked Way

So I was greatly inspired by Seneca's post about Odwalla Juice. I personally love Odwalla Juice, but it got me thinking about Naked Juice. They seem like the same thing. Naked Juice says that its juices are all natural 100% juices made from bare-naked fruits and vegetables. They also never add preservatives, sugar, artificial colors or flavors. I wanted to research the sustainability practices of Naked Juice, and see if they fared any better than Odwalla did. In my research I believe they do. Although Naked Juice is a company that exists to make profit, it also does a great job of trying to protect our environment. According to their website, where they specifically list these things as "Earth-Friendly Commitment," Naked Juice packages their juices in bottles that are 20-30% recycled content, the square shape reduces number of trucks it takes to deliver, their packaging is fully recyclabe and contains post-consumer recycled material, and their packaging is 100% PVC Free. In addition, Naked Juice purchases carbon credits to offset electricity usage, products are not genetically modified, by-products from their manufacturing process are used by local farmers for animal feed, and they are even starting to use hybrid vehicles for delivery of their juices. Who knew Naked could be such a good thing? Much props to Naked Juice for owning Odwalla in the "protecting environment" department.

-Joseph Park

Food Justice in Our Lives.

So I was eating my lunch the other day, enjoying my daily Odwalla brand orange juice when I noticed something new. The side of the Odwalla bottle said, "Our mission today is the same as it's been for more than 25 years: nourish people everywhere, respect our planet, protect the soil with sustainable practices, and create products good for the soul." The part that stood out for me was the "sustainable practices" part. I got really excited to find something that has to do with food justice in my life, right in front of my face! So in my excitement I researched the sustainable practices that Odwalla is a part of. I went on to the Odwalla website and did a little digging. The website says that the Odwalla company uses "local, organic" food. But then it later states "We buy organic when possible". So the company doesn't buy organic all the time, no big deal. The "local" produce that Odwalla claims is just "California grown". Some of the produce is bought from California but the rest is "purchased internationally due to availability". My definition of "local" produce would be supporting the local farmers and farms that are trying to compete with the huge corporate farms that DON'T practice sustainable farming. So how is buying "California" grown produce, buying local produce? Isn't there big corporate farms in California? So maybe Odwalla doesn't buy as "local and organic" as they lead us to think. Not all the Odwalla news is bad news. " The only items that leave our plant for the landfill is trash that cannot be recycled- typically less than 1%" So that is pretty commendable, especially for a company as big as Odwalla. It also says that Odwalla purchases "Green-energy" that comes from wind, solar and geothermal systems. This energy is more expensive but Odwalla wants to "encourage further development of green energy sources". This is admirable in a big company. I just wonder sometimes if we should be holding our companies to higher standards as far as sustainability. It might be just me, but I think the earth is more important that profit. What a silly notion.

-Seneca Luetke

Food Justice Definition

Just like everyone else, I was wondering what the definition of food justice. So I went to google and typed in: what is food justice?. The first site that came up was the Canadian Foodgrains Bank website. Here it says that "Food justice would exist if everyone had sufficient food." Food justice itself is defined as "society should arrange its relationships so everyone can have sufficient food." As we all know, that is not the case. It all depends on where you live, your background, demographics, etc. It's obvious even in the news, that not everyone has the same access to the same resources and opportunities. Which is quite unfortunate, and therefore causes many unjustices in the world, and food injustice is one of them.

Now that I have a firm knowledge of what food justice actually is/means, I think I will be more aware of it so I will notice instances or cases of this in the news, or anywhere else I am.

-Joseph Park