Future of Food Conference

On May 9th, I braved the Boston subway system to attend the Future of Food Conference at Boston University. Speakers and attendees included policy analysts, food activists and thought leaders from around the world.

Some of the highlights (for me), included:

• a class on fermentation with Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation, which included a copy of the book. So far, I've already started kimchee and pineapple vinegar!
• Farmers commit suicide more often than any other profession. Yep, you heard that right.
• 30% of all food produced in the US is thrown away uneaten. 40% of cereal produced in India rots after harvest.
• Related: The problem of world hunger is not a lack of food. The problem is a distribution system that considers food a saleable commodity and offers food only to people who can afford to pay for it.

This last point brings me to a topic that's always fascinated and frustrated me: the lack of access to healthy food in low-income communities. With all of our talk about locavorism, the "high cost of cheap food" (which was also discussed at the conference), etc. we seem to neglect one simple fact: the vast number of communities, both urban and rural, which are considered "dead zones" for fresh, healthy food. These are the areas where the nearest supermarket is miles away - and the population is often without reliable means of transportation. Food banks are equally inaccessible, and often offer canned or processed food that isn't healthy at all (to give you an idea, many years before starting the zen kitchen I actually had to get much of my food from a food bank, and most of it was canned vegetables, cereal, instant mashed potatoes and gum. Yes, they once gave me 6 packs of gum at a food bank. No, I'm not kidding).

Here's my issue: I appreciate the power of the local/sustainable food movements and the urban homesteader/community gardening movements for their ability to create change within the community that has the access to these things. After all, I've been part of the movements for years. But how can we involve those who *don't* have as much access? How do we create a system where people from all walks of life are able to get involved with where they get their food and what they put into their bodies?

Programs like Operation Frontline are one part of the equation. Community gardens and farmer's market vouchers can be another part of the solution - especially when efforts are made to get low-income communities involved. The point is to create access, and stop thinking of the problem as a lack of education, but as a lack of access. Then, and only then, can we create massive world-wide change.