Description

What is food justice? How can it be defined? What does it have to do with our collective future and the health of the planet? Well, as the above picture portends, food justice involves producing food in local, sustainable ways for the locals. Organic food grown by the community, for the community. We think of food justice as using what we eat to do justice for our bodies and our community. Food justice—especially in an industrial agriculture state like Iowa—is decolonial, sustainability-focused, and works towards food sovereignty for vulnerable populations. Food justice needs to include decolonialization in the sense that Iowa’s massive, pesticide-using monoculture crop systems are the product of colonizer mindsets that view soil as a commodity only good for maximizing plant yield.

Food justice is an unlearning of settler ideals. Instead of a robotic, capitalistic perspective of the land below our feet, food justice embraces the sacred aliveness of this land. Food justice centers indigenous understandings of how we should feed ourselves. Food justice must generate sustainability—wherein soil contains ample nutrients for plant production without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides—and the plants produced reach human mouths, not livestock ones. That is doing justice to food and letting food do justice for future generations. A perfectly food-just world would have local farms and community gardens providing organic wheat, vegetables, and meats to everyone. We need a revolution in how we spend our time, money, and land so that our great-grandkids might yet be able to feed themselves with real, nutrient-rich food.

If you’re interested in this sustainable, decolonial revolution—especially here in Iowa—then peruse our informational resources to find courses, organizations, and job-search websites. Go become an agent of the food justice movement.

The Systemic & Racial Side of Food Equity & Justice

The movement aims to address disparities in food access, particularly for communities of color and low-income communities, by examining the structural roots of our food system. It addresses larger practices of agriculture, land ownership, workers’ rights, and historical injustices communities of color face. Racialized access to healthy, affordable food has become contentious as food insecurity rates skyrocketed following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food deserts are just one of the few consequences of inequity within the food system. It’s estimated that only about 8% of Black-identifying communities live within a census tract of a supermarket, as compared to 31% of white communities. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2021, nearly 20% of Black individuals lived in food-insecure households. Additionally, Latinos were 2.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity than white individuals, with one in six Hispanic individuals experiencing food insecurity. (Long Island Cares).

Coined in the ‘70s and ‘80s, ‘food desert’ became a common term within the public health and social justice fields. Produce and essential retail foods are lacking for areas impacted by this term, and they most often are Black and Latino communities.

It's important to note that ‘food deserts’ are not naturally occurring – they are the direct result of systemic oppression and racism through legal practices such as lending practices, zoning codes, and discriminatory policies rooted in white supremacy. Systemic disinvestment in communities of color, a direct result of red-lining, is to blame for much of the creation of ‘food deserts’ in America.

Map of food insecure households in the U.S. by state

Linked here is a virtual map, created in 2020 and 2021, documenting rural food deserts by census tract. Initially, it was created as a tool to map obesity in relation to distance from grocery stores.

It’s important for our group to name food insecurity as a policy issue and to explain how food insecurity is affecting our audience and fellow residents. As taken from the USDA, about 8.9% of Iowa’s residents experienced food insecurity between 2020-2022. While this is a positive percentage as compared to the average experiencing food insecurity nationwide, there is still a critical number of residents struggling to put food on the table and get access to healthy, sustainable food in our state.

Concrete Steps that Communities Can Take, Rooted in Food Justice

  1. Promote and advocate for policies that address root causes in food justice (housing, poverty, discrimination, etc.)
  2. Support local farmers (small-scale, sustainable, minority-owned) and blend agricultural knowledge with local community to create sustainable food systems.
  3. Support nutritional and healthy eating education and resources, particularly within schools.
  4. Invest in sustainable and community-led food systems (local co-ops, community gardens).

Collection

Majors & Certificates

Sustainability Certification

This is a program at the University of Iowa that draws on a number of different disciplines to create a 24-semester hour certificate that will give you the knowledge and skills to contribute to developing sustainable systems. Students who earn the certificate will enhance their preparation for a variety of vocations such as researcher, corporate officer, technology specialist, farmer, government official, and grassroots advocate.

Sustainability Major

The sustainability science major offers an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum focusing on the environment, analytical skills, and communication, along with relevant real-world experiences such as study abroad, undergraduate research, and community outreach.

Courses

HIST: 1290 Native American Foods and Foodways

This course covers how Native American foods and foodways have affected modern agriculture, as well as how modern agriculture has changed in this new era. This course will also discuss the effects of modern agriculture and what damage it has caused to the industry as a whole.

CSED: 4110 Psychology of Food and Mood

In this course, students will learn about how people associate food with their behavior and mood management. This course also goes into an in-depth discussion of dieting, food health, disordered eating and how we as humans use food.

HHP: 2310 Nutrition and Health

This course details the physiology and biochemistry of human nutrition, and the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of diets about appropriate food choices. The course requires simple arithmetic operations.

RHET: 3700 Advocacy and Sustainability

In this class, students will learn about how people interact with environments and animals, as well as each other. How can different ways of thinking or experiencing our planet help our fight for sustainability in the long run?

OEH: 6120 Topics in Agriculture and Rural Health

This course will focus on best practices for communication with agricultural audiences and about agricultural issues.  Although the emphasis will be on traditional written rhetorical strategies such as those found in Op-Eds and public essays, students will also consider tweets, blog posts, videos, and music to think about how messages are conveyed to audiences. Students will also read and analyze the messages of other authors, consider the scientific literature, and make connections with communication and public health theories.

GHS:2674 Food, Body, and Belief: A Global Perspective

The course pays particular attention to the impact of the global flow of ideas, images, people and materials on food consumption, food inequality, bodily practices (eating disorders, yoga), and spiritual pursuits (fasting, rituals). Students will gain a better understanding of the relationship between food, body and belief through course readings, documentary and feature films, participation in field trips (farmers’ market; local food festival), and a “Taste of Korea” for both vegans and omnivores.

Getting Involved Locally

IC Compassion Global Food Project
https://www.iccompassion.org/globalfoodproject
The Global Food Project connects newly arrived and established Iowa City and Johnson County residents through garden plots located at the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm. We use sustainable practices, provide gardening assistance and resources, and help to build and expand communities. We create a safe, nurturing, and inclusive environment at our gardens for sharing life experiences, building trust between cultures, and embracing the diversity of our fellow Iowans.

  • For Johnson County newcomers
  • Gardening assistance and resources with the intent to build and expand communities
  • Held at Johnson County Historic Poor Farm

Grow Johnson County
https://www.growjohnsoncounty.org/
Grow Johnson County’s mission is to improve healthy food access through sustainable food production and hands on education. At Grow Johnson County they grow food, train growers, while acknowledging systems of oppression against people of color. They are committed to centering racial justice and social equity with their ongoing efforts through collaborative, intentional, and actionable efforts by working alongside Black, Indigenous, People of Color in exploring our relationships with food, land, and agriculture. They lend their skills, resources, and voices to work toward a future of equity, justice, redistributed power, and shared leadership.

  • Healthy food access through sustainability and education
  • They grow food, train and teach future growers, and aim to be conscious of systems of oppression
  • Learn and give all at once at Grow Johnson County

The Food Bank of Iowa
https://foodbankiowa.org/
Food Bank of Iowa [NJ1] is committed to creating a hunger-free Iowa. We provide food that helps
children, families, seniors, and veterans lead full and active lives, strengthening the communities where they live. We value compassion, commitment, collaboration, creativity, and courage.

  • Providing food to those who need it
    • Children, families, seniors, veterans and so on.
  • As well as providing food, they try to make the quality of life better for these individuals as well.

Justice League of Food
https://www.justiceleagueoffood.org/
 Our focus is to reduce homelessness in Central Iowa through skills training and job placement in the food and beverage industry. The Justice League of Food (JLF) works to break the cycle of poverty in Central Iowa by “Teaching a Man to Fish”. We invest in individuals by providing the homeless and hungry with job training and placement in the food and beverage industry. 

  • Emphasis on reducing homelessness in Central Iowa
    • Through skills training and job placement in the food and beverage industry.
  • Invest in individuals and break the cycle of poverty.

Feed Iowa First
https://www.feediowa1st.com/
Founded in 2011, Feed Iowa First has been responding to increasing food insecurity in Linn County by growing culturally relevant vegetables for underserved communities for more than a decade. We believe health equity begins with food access; we work to meet the food needs of our community, simultaneously reducing waste, by growing what is needed and wanted. We distribute more than 45,000 lbs. of fresh produce to economically disadvantaged households, immigrant and refugee families, and anyone in need through partnerships with local food pantries, health clinics, community fridges, and low-income apartments. Our model ensures households have consistent access to fresh and culturally appropriate produce to support nutrition security.

  • Founded in 2011
  • Aims to increase food insecurity in Linn County
    • By growing relevant and seasonal vegetables
  • Works to meet the food needs and wants of their community
  • Emphasis on waste reduction
  • Provides for economically disadvantaged households, immigrant and refugee families.
  • Partners with food pantries, health clinics, community fridges, and low-income apartments.

CommUnity
https://builtbycommunity.org/
CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank is a volunteer-driven organization that provides immediate and non-judgmental support for individuals facing emotional, food, or financial crisis. CommUnity was founded with the philosophy that a client should determine how they can best be helped using a process that ensures dignity to all who are served. This philosophy has facilitated CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank’s growth as the community it serves continues to grow. In 1978, a small food pantry was added in response to client needs. Clothing and household items became available through vouchers from Goodwill and Crowded Closet in 1983. Throughout the 1980’s, staff and volunteers worked to expand suicide prevention services and began offering support for survivors of a suicide loss. Services were developed to respond to the needs of those experiencing homelessness. In the following decade, a collaboration with the local religious community led to distribution of emergency financial support. The Food Bank grew into a weekly operation and began working with Table-to-Table to distribute locally gleaned food. In recent years, suicide prevention training and crisis incident stress management services have been added.

  • Volunteer driven organization
  • Provides support for individuals facing emotional, food, or financial crisis
  • Provides clothes, food, self-harm prevention, housing needs.
  • Work alongside other organizations like table-to-table and the food bank.

Table to Table
https://table2table.org/#testimonials/
The mission of Table to Table is to keep wholesome, edible food from going to waste by collecting it from donors and distributing it to those in need through agencies that serve the hungry, homeless and at-risk populations. Since we began in April of 1996, Table to Table volunteers have rescued and distributed over 30 million pounds of food to area agencies. Volunteers are essential to our mission. Each day, they are keeping great food from going to waste through their efforts. We have many volunteer opportunities available. Table to Table charges no fee for our service. We rely on support from the community to carry out our mission. Your support of Table to Table is crucial. Every dollar we receive for our operation yields nearly seventeen dollars of impact as we distribute the food we rescue. It is an incredible return on your donation dollar.

  • Founded in April 1996
  • Waste reduction and food security.
  • There is no fee or charge for the services.
  • Volunteer opportunities available.
  • Accepting support, funding and donations.

Field To Family
https://fieldtofamily.org/
We believe in access to local foods for more people in our community. Field to Family is proud to manage the aggregation, storage, distribution and marketing of local, source-identified, food for households and institutional partners. We work with care centers, k-12, schools, retirement communities, colleges, universities and institutions, and operate a weekly online farmers market to help make local food part of meals where people. Our mission is to expand access to local food for more people in the community through the purchase, aggregation, storage, marketing, and delivery of fresh, safe, local food.

  • Access to local food.
  • Manages aggregation, storage, distribution and marketing of locally sources food.
  • Works with care centers, schools k-12, retirement homes, colleges, universities, and institutions.

Government and Legislature

Things you can do to get involved in your local government and make room at the table for a conversation about food justice!

  • Attend city/board meetings.
  • Educate yourself on government candidates.
  • Connect with your representatives to express concern or solution.
  • Volunteer in the voting process.

Johnson County Board Event Calendar: https://johnson-county.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=1

  • There is a specific sector for the food policy council.
  • You can research past meetings and attend upcoming ones.
  • Apply to join the Food Policy Council.
  • Contact existing members.

Local Food System Organizations/Jobs: https://www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/local-foods/local-food-system-organizations-and-jobs

Visit this thorough guide on food-related aid and financial assistance. The Hunger Task Force, a local coalition designed to examine food insecurity in Johnson County, created this guide to provide knowledge about hot meals, food pantries, SNAP, and WIC programs.

Career Opportunities

Food Justice can be done in many ways, whether you would like to work directly by farming and growing food sustainably, educating growers on sustainable practices, working with the government to create programs and legislation that bring justice and equity to all people, community outreach through nonprofit organizations, working with marginalized communities to grow and distribute culturally appropriate food, educating others about healthy nutritious food, and more. Career opportunities in food justice can be boundless as long as you have your goal in mind. The opportunities you find can have a wide range and some initiatives may even be ones you make yourself. The best way is to understand the community you live in or the world around you is to find out what their needs are and use action to help.

Websites for Careers in Food Justice can be found below, but you can check with your local organizations, local government, and even local farmers to find opportunities near you that align with your values.

Food Initiatives at the University of Iowa

  • Iowa City Free Lunch Program
    Salvation Army
    1116 Gilbert Ct.
    1-319-337-3725
    Lunch served Sunday at noon
     
  • Free Lunch Program of Iowa City
    1105 S. Gilbert Ct.
    Providing good food and hospitality since 1983
    Served Monday thru Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
     
  • Iowa City Free Dinner Program
    Salvation Army
    1116 Gilbert Ct.
    1-319-337-3725
    Dinner served Monday thru Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
     
  • Meal Delivery Services
    Mom's Meals
    Nevada, Iowa
    1-866-204-6111
    Offers meals delivered to your home.
    https://www.momsmeals.com