Decolonizing Food,
Consciousness, Culture and
Community
A new food system emerging through healthy
relationships and establishment of local living economies
Decolonize?
 Yes! Colonialism destroys the autonomy of communities
for self determination around food, health, economy,
public policy, livelihood. Decolonizing is a necessary
aspect of the food sovereignty approach, which is not so
well established in the U.S. or “global north” context.
 Afro Eco suggests this framework is increasingly relevant
here and now.
Decolonizing
What to Decolonize?
How to Decolonize
Food
We believe it is possible to significantly increase
consumption of 5 or more servings of fresh fruit and
vegetables per day from local sources.
Consciousness
We believe we can shift consciousness from an
individualist survival orientation toward coherence around
sharing livelihood locally.
Culture
Consciousness shift happens in the context of a culture
shift through which people transform the industrial
paradigm based on domination of nature and destruction
of community toward local self determination, partnership
and regenerative relationship
Community
From our current apartheid, we push for a relational turn,
in which people in the community recognize that our
fates are woven, so our processes of livelihood must be
interwoven. Together, we create wealth where there is
poverty, health where there is disease.
Land
In order to succeed we need to assert community
ownership of a significant portion of the land base. If the
way we use land separates us, the way we live our lives
will separate us further. Land Trusts and Agricultural
Trusts are an important component of decolonizing
Industrial Food System as
Colonial Food System
Ruptures and Disruptions
Ruptures
Disruptions
Displacement from land
Destruction of local food
ways
It takes us longer in poor
communities to purchase
more expensive and worse
food
The food disrupts the
healthy functioning of our
bodies
The combination of bad food,
unemployment, mass
incarceration, poverty,
environmental contaminants,
failing equalizing institutions,
neoliberal economic policy
keep us in a constant state
of disruption (root shock)
Privatization
Ecological Imperialism
invades indigenous
ecosystems
The economy is designed for
others at our expense. We
have little to no voice in the
political economy of the
industrial food system
Local Resilience Organizing as
(potentially) de-colonizing
Local food
production
Local living
economy
organizing
Community and
Environmental
Health
Partnerships
What’s living
New
local/cultural
foods restuarant
Increasing
connections and
consciousness
about local food
and community
health through
the food system
New food coop
Sustainable Food
labs bring
community
together to
nourish radical
imagination
Growth of
farmers markets
and CSAs
Community
Coalition
organizing to coproduce
community
health and
wealth
Growing food on
more than 35
market gardens
16 local black
farmers now
certified urban
farmers
What’s next?
Deeper organizing
Facilitation of
prototype of local
living economy
Policy framework to
defend/promote
community food
system/s
Land
trust/agricultural
trust
Citizen Ecological
Science, developing
and deepening a
local ecological
knowledge system
thanks
 Lets De-Colonize!!!!!!!!