Day 21 - Sustainable Food as Liberation

The revolution will neither be televised nor sent through a Twitter alert or text message.

All right . . . stay with me.  I'm about to use some revoluntionary words here: Sustainable food.  It is an idea that meaning and pleasure can be found among people, land, and food.

Ok, I know this sounds kind of super radical, political, left-wing, anti-corporate, anti-establishment kind of blog entry.  Not today.  That is for another blog on another day.

As I eat my Gala apple imported from Chile, water bottled in Atlanta, and meat shipped from somewhere likely out of state, I noticed how I've become more concerned about where my food comes from.

Doing my history research about the freedman and their descendants from the Wheatsville, Clarksville, and East Austin communities, I learned that their families oftentimes without fail farmed their land for food. The food was eaten by them and any extra might be sold or bartered for something else.  Raising animals and growing your own food was a necessity.

When African Americans eventually were forcibly enticed to move to East Austin, they were able to achieve this in part due to city ordinances prohibiting growing food or raising animals on their land.  People found it increasingly more difficult to find ways to grow their own food. The power to be more self-sustaining melted away for each of us over the next several decades.

When I was building my 4' x 4' raised garden bed frames, I experienced a sense of empowerment.  Literally and metaphorically, I was grabbing back some of my power.  I also did not know what I was getting myself into.

No cause for concern. I'm a professional.  And, I did get a good nights sleep at the Holiday Express.

All joking aside, I have no idea about what I am doing.  I took a class, made some notes, built a frame to grow food, and what the hell happens next.  Not sure. Magic glitter with butterflies will start coming out from  my belly button.

I expect that I will be taking a step to empower myself to make a better connection between the land, food grown in my yard, and the time I'll need to take to manage a small garden.

I feel like this is taking the power back once stolen so I can grow my food back and tell Big Brother off.  I am continuing the legacy of my ancestors who slaved as farmers, sharecroppers, and field workers. Generations followed and eventually ran away from their agrarian roots for the skilled labor force, higher education, and other fields.  My ancestors knew better than anyone else the back breaking work involved with farming.

The difference is that I do this by free choice.  I also need to because I believe in the end it will make my family healthier.

I submit that sustainable food as liberation is another act African Americans can embrace to ensure the prosperity of the community, families, and the coming generation.  However, for this to be a success, the sustainable food movement must find a new face to champion the cause.

Sustainable food can no longer be the movement of the already over-privileged, underground, anti-establishment and anti-corporation, and fashionable impoverished mostly white, middle-class who seem to shape the direction and intellectual dialogue.

It's time to diversify and invite those who've not come to the table and collaborate.  From the left leaning philosophy that supports sustainable food, it will be important to find ways to engage communities that requires an open heart and flexibility to share ideas while learning from new stakeholders: more working class people from different cultural backgrounds.

Examples exist in East Austin already found in the Blackshear Community Garden and another dozen across the area.

Let me percolate on this sustainable food as liberation idea a bit more to see what I can come up with.

Another project to keep me moving to my goal.  No need for a countdown.  I'm liking where I am today.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow.