s you know, we've been gone for a rial skills and strategic thinking were while. We offer our sincere central to developing each issue. To A apologies to our subscribers for honor her, we renew our commitment to not writing sooner to explain the lapse in WE's vision, and work to make the jour- publication. We now have two issues in nal even more effective in the struggle route to you, this one on Food Security for environmental justice. To do this, we and another at the printers on Brown- ask for your support, and hope that you fields, Urban Land and Justice. With this, consider subscribing at any rate - we make a commitment to fulfill every- $5/year for low incornelfixed income; one's subscription and RPE's mission to $15/regular subscription; and $40 insti- serve the movement for environmental tutions and organizations. We send WE justice. free of charge to any grassroots group We hope that soon we will be able to that requests it. Subscriptions and con- reinstate our quarterly publishing sched- tributions will ensure that we continue ule. Several things have had an impact sending WE to everyone who requests a on RPE's publication - shortages of staff, COPY. funding, and resources. These shortages Our journal will continue bringing have also meant an almost snail's pace in the voices and dreams of our communi- delivering each WE to your mailbox. In ties who struggle for environmental jus- spite of these limitations, we have put tice for all. together some breakthrough issues, and contributed to the growing perspectives Sincerely, on environmental justice. We hope that you will not lose faith in RPE. Additionally, in 1998 we suffered a deep loss - the death of Hannah Creighton, Managing Editor. Her edito-

Girl selects tomatoes at the Carrboro Farmers market in North Carolina.

Food 6 Environmental Justice 1 IS LSSUE by Michael Ableman

ood is something many of us take food security, self sufficiency, and an issue with current information. As for granted. Supermarkets are open agrarian society the basis of a sound expressed earlier, the publishers of this F24 hours a day, 365 days a year, democracy. As we scurry about in a mad magazine were delayed due to staff and stocked with foods shipped in from all race for more, we forget that the most funding limitations. We hope you will over the world, providing us with the basic components of a good life, pure recognize, as we have, that the concerns illusion of health and abundance. We do food and water, are the birthright of relating to food and social justice are as not often stop to consider where that every individual. critical today as they were when we first food came from, whose hands harvested In this issue of Race, Poverty, & the began this project. it, how it was grown, and whether it is Environment we learn how black farmers safe, equally available to all, and pro- in the South are being squeezed from Michael Ableman has farmed 12 acres of land duced in a manner that does not degrade their land, how farm workers are poi- near Santa Barbara, California for the last 20 years. He is the founderldirector of the Center and destroy resources and communities. soned and underpaid for their work, and for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, a As an organic farmer for twenty years, how low income people are distanced non-profit community1education center and I have been painfully aware that the from safe, nutritious, and culturally national model for urban agriculture. Able- majority of the high quality food that I appropriate food. Mk find out the results man is the author of From the Good Earth produce is only available to a narrow of corporate control of our food system, (Abrarns 1993) and On Good Land: The Auto- biography of an Urban Farm (Chronicle Books segment of the society: those who can about the threat to the future of the 1998). afford it. Our survival as a small farm is world's food supply through the loss of staked on being paid enough to grow our genetic diversity, and about the "green food responsibly. In contrast, most revolution" with its high tech, Franken- Americans have been under the spell of stein approach to food production. an unwritten "cheap" food policy. We pay There is a pervasive paralysis associ- less for food than any country in the ated with social and environmental world. But the costs of that system are reportage - the result of too much focus enormous. When we buy "cheap" food on the problem and too little attention to we pay for it many times after we leave the solutions -so we have offered you a the checkout counter; in our taxes to the section called "Grassroots Models for tune of 46 million dollars per day in sub- Change," examples that can give us all sidies to large scale industrial farms, in some sense that, even under the most our personal health, through the degra- challenging odds, low income communi- dation of soil and water, and by harm to ties can gather together and create posi- those whose hands are producing that tive change. food. It is my hope that through these We pay for it as a society in other diverse perspectives we will discover that ways as well. For many poor people a healthy society cannot be separated "cheap" food is not cheap enough. The from a healthy food system, and that a economic system that has artificially held healthy food system must not only sus- down the price of food has also held tain human, natural, and biological sys- down low income communities. While a tems, but must also be equally available renaissance of interest in high quality to all. fresh food, free of poisons, is taking place I extend my special thanks to Andy in America, not everyone is able to take Fisher, Dona Haber and Enrique Gal- part. Low income urban neighborhoods lardo for their work and support in mak- have fewer places to shop and the quality ing this issue happen. of food available to them is poor. Most of the articles for this issue of This country was founded in part on Race, Poverty and the Environment were the principle that every family should compiled in 1997 and 1998. We have have their own agricultural holding, with done our best to update the original

2 Race Povertv and the Environment Winter 2000 Land ownership and the control of water resources is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. Many low income people and peo- ple of color have been eco- nomically forced off the land. The industrialization of agriculture and the narrow- ing of its control not only challenge our ecological and social well-being but put into question one of the founding principles of this country: that a healthy democracy is dependent on a healthy agriculture. The following articles by E.G. Vallianatos, Jerry Pennick, and Santos Gomez offer insight into these core Issues. RECONNECTING

The Need for Agrarian Reform by E.G. Vallianatos

I uring my travels in Colombia, I power for the control of the world by the I learned that the peasant and the white corporate elite of North America Dland are inseparable. In fact the and Europe. Dispossessing the peasant is I peasant is the most efficient and produc- a policy of that system. tive farmer on Earth. It is the greed and In the United States and other indus- I outright violence of the land-owning oli- trial countries, the peasants have been garchy that undermines the ability of the replaced by farmers and agribusiness peasants to end hunger throughout the managers who use synthetic fertilizers, world. To the degree, therefore, that pesticides, machines, and factory tech- North American and European develop- nologies for the production, processing, ment assistance strengthens the ruling and marketing of food. In other words, landed class of the Third World at the industrial societies destroyed their peas- expense of the peasant majority and ants and in their place they put farmers, nature, violence and hunger will con- ranchers, and agribusiness men. These tinue to dominate the political economy new agriculturalists are, above all, the of huge swaths of planet Earth: it is antithesis of traditional peasants: their agribusiness for the white, affluent class consciousness and allegiance are North, but "green revolution" for the with predatory capitalism. They strive non-white,poor South. Yet whatever the continuously to expand their land and name, industrial agriculture is the most other resources. They focus their techni- aggressive and colonizing impulse of cal expertise in the production of one Western culture. It is a global system of crop at a time. They clearly reject the I I I Food b Environmental Justice I Land 6 Water 3 I notion that farming is or could be any- agribusiness giants. My reaction to this larger than 160 acres. And tax the very thing more than business. Their model massive American self-inflicted wound rich - the 0.5 percent of the wealthiest of work is the factory. has always been the same: industrial American families - to pay for at least a In the United States these industrial- agriculture is a child of the Cold War in 20-year effort of recreating a vibrant ized farmers have made rural America the United States. It is the food system of rural America for both sustainable agri- into an immense agro-factory ghetto - an empire, the strategic asset of a state culture and human development that is with all the ecological and social charac- with global hegemonic policies, the sci- pro-family farmer, pro-indigenous peo- teristics of a culture falling apart: land ence linchpin of a vast corporate devel- ple, pro-black, pro-woman, pro-environ- and water are contaminated with the opment bureaucracy out to convert the ment, pro-poor. farmers' toxins. Wetlands, wildlife and "underdeveloped" regions of the globe A rural America, for instance, of 10.5 biodiversity are threatened with mortal into plantations of profitable cash crops million 40-acre farms (from dividing the danger. Plato said that wildlife is the soul and docile people. The United States nation's 420 million crop acres by 40) or of the world, anima mundi. Yet our agri- needs a good dose of agrarian reform as 2.6 million 160 acre-farms is clearly a cultural system poisons the very soul of an antidote to both imperial state society on the road to reconstruction the world. and sustainable human development. Of course, capitalist America is not about to become a utopia with or without agrar- A very small number of mega-farmers and ian reform. No one expects to see an Arcadia cultivated by 10.5 million agribusiness companies produce most of the organic farmers each having a mule and country's food. The remaining farmers are slowly raising food on 40 acres. But a national agrarian reform policy of redistributing becoming extinct. land and power in rural America has to, in fact, resettle rural America with rnil- lions of people willing, determined, and A very small number of mega-farmers dreams and violence, and the ceaseless able to make farming a way of life. and agribusiness companies produce aggrandizement of agribusiness. The New Deal administration of most of the country's food. The remain- In 1986, about 317,000 farmerstagri- Franklin Roosevelt successfully settled ing farmers are slowly becoming extinct business firms earned 85.7 percent of net 10,000 landless families with enough - disappearing at a rate of some 32,000 farm income. Each of these large farmers land and other support for sustainable year. The violence of that process of produced food on farms averaging 1,873 agriculture. The 2,267 Black landless extinction is the polarizing, dividing line acres, which took up 49.5 percent of all farmers who benefited from this small between rural and urban America, the agricultural land. In the 1990s, four but daring agrarian reform experiment irresponsible transfer of political and agribusiness companies (Kellogg's, Gen- of the 1930s were critical in opening the economic power to a landed corporate eral Mills, Post and Quaker Oats) control racist doors of the American South to oligarchy with grave consequences for 84 percent of the ready-to-eat cereal. In the civll and human rights struggles of both agriculture and democracy in the California's southern and western San the '60s. United States. Joaquin Valley, eight corporate farmers A sustainable agrarian reform in the It has taken me almost 20 years to sift own 60 percent of the land. Southern United States in the 1990s promises to through the ruins of American agricul- California agribusiness has so much remake the image and substance of this ture. I worked for non-governmental political power, it starves the wildlife in country for itself and for the rest of the organizations, Congress, the federal gov- the northern part of the state of water. world. With the Cold War out of the ernment and universities. Slowly, I could Even during California's worst drought way, such a massive social and eco- sense the violence of land concentration of 1986 to 1991, the mega-farmers nomic development in the restructuring and agribusiness monopoly in incom- drained the state of its public water for of political power and ecological rela- prehensible government regulations, bil- their private gain. They also are trying to tionships in the countryside might just lions of dollars of public subsidies for sell that public water back to the public. be what America must have to rebuild mega-farmers, throwing of migrant farm Agrarian reform provides the policy its democracy and economy for sustain- workers into poisoned crop fields to har- instrument to correct this gross inequity able human development in the 21st vest contaminated food, the corruption and distortion of human and ecological century. of American science and land grant uni- values: break up large agribusiness firms . versities which legitimize such an atro- and huge farms and in their place let E.G. Vallianatos, author of Fear in the Country- cious social policy, an astonishing thousands of family farms bloom. Create side and Harvest of Devastation, is an associate research professor of sociology and interna- ecological illiteracy pervading American a federal department of agrarian reform tional affairs at George Washington University politics and agricultural policymaking - and sustainable rural development. in Washington, D.C. This article was originally an endless tragedy for the family farmers Decide that as a matter of national policy printed in Why Magazine and is reprinted who cannot possibly compete with no farm or other private property will be with permission.

4 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 There are those, however, who refuse to see the importance of Black land own- ership. Their view is that because Black farmers and landowners own relatively small acreages, they cannot effectively compete. Research indicates that this is simply not a reality. The fact is that the net return on investment by Black farm- ers is equal to or exceeds that for all farmers.

Why Blacks Lose Land Blacks, therefore, are good farmers, but continue to lose land due to a lack of technical and management assistance, as well as reliable and fair markets. Other contributing factors include legal, finan- cial and discrimination problems involv- ing public and private lending institutions, courts, unscrupulous attor- neys and land speculators. In addition, A Disappearing Community and National Resource certainprovisions in the 1995-1996 Farm Bill will have an adverse impact on by Jerry Pennick Black farmers and accelerate the decline in Black land ownership. he statistics on Black land loss in who own an additional two to three mil- Blacks who are still farming today can the United States are alarming yet lion acres of land. This "unaccounted for thank the 1987 Credit Act. With the Tvirtually ignored by those who are land" does not meet the criteria, which Credit Act it appeared that, for once, the in a position to reverse the trend. It is includes a minimum gross farm income, government would be fair. In 1987, farm- rarely considered that there is a finite set forth by the U.S. Department of Agri- ers who had struggled since the 1970s amount of land and that the ownership culture to be considered a farm. Often due to drought conditions, along with of it lends itself to economic empower- idle, this land is more llkely to be occu- rising interest rates and embargoes, ment and the control of resources. The constant decline in Black farm and land ownership is a tragedy that, if left unsolved, will spell the end to any real From 1977 to 1992, Blacks lost 55% of their rural land hope of economic independence for base, and dropped from 57,000 to 18,816 farms. Black America.

Blacks Losing Land at a Tragic ate Blacks are losing this vital resource at a pied by elderly individuals, is often heir finally had the opportunity to develop a rate two and one half times that of other property or subject to absentee owner- plan to save their farms and operate prof- Americans. Over the fifteen year period ship, and, as prey to land speculators, is itably. Many Black farmers took advan- ending in 1992, Blacks lost 55 percent of more often lost through tax and parti- tage of the opportunity and were, once their rural land base - down from 57,000 tion sales. again, farming and paying their debts. farms and 4.2 million acres of land in 1978 to 18,816 farms and 2.3 million Land Lost Means Lost 1996 Farm Bill Will Result acres in 1992. The two million acres lost Economic Development Assets in More Black Land Loss have a conservative value of one billion This hidden asset owned by Blacks repre- Tragically, the 1995-96 Farm Bill has rad- dollars and tens of billions in economic sents tremendous economic develop- ically altered the opportunities for farm- development activity. ment potential including forestry, ers. With the Bill, any farmer who has These figures, moreover, represent recreation and mineral extraction. either a debt write-off or has filed bank- only those farms and land counted by What's needed is proper attention and ruptcy to save his/her farm can no longer the U.S. Census of Agriculture. The Fed- assistance. Unfortunately, these borrow money from the Farm Service eration of Southern CooperativesILand landowners receive little or no assistance Agency. It did not matter that many of AssistanceFund (LAF) estimates that from farm-related government agencies these farmers had been borrowing and there could be as many as 250,000 Blacks and agricultural institutions. paying loans in recent years. It did not

I Food 6 Environmental Justice I Land 6 Water 5 business development programs and others. Blacks in rural America, with assistance from organizations like the FederationILAF, want to be and should be an integral part of these initiatives. However, their participation and benefits will be severely limited if they are not land owners.

A Collaboration Is Called For The following reasons point to why it is necessary to help save Black-owned land. The current effort spearheaded by the FederationILAF should continue. How- ever, there needs to be a collaboration between government, non-governmental organizations and educational institu- tions that will effectively address all aspects of the Black land loss problem. Such a collaboration could create a Hog farmer George Henry Lee of Magnolia, Duplin county, North Carolina. network of economically independent Other African American farmers are losing their land at an alarming rate. landowners which, in turn, would mean less welfare, more jobs and a future for matter that Black farmers have tradition- As Blacks Are Forced Off Land young Blacks. Thomas Jefferson equated ally not had the same access to credit as an Urban Migration Occurs land ownership to citizenship. The more other farmers and that for them the There is also a direct relationship land Black people own, the more they Farm Service Agency is truly the lender between Black land loss and the migra- will feel part of the "American Dream," of last resort. tion of Blacks to the cities. It is painfully and become even more active partici- Another mandate in the Bill which obvious that most cities are not able to pants in the social, political and eco- will adversely effect Black farmers is the absorb the massive number of unskilled, nomic development of this country. seven year transitional payments provi- resourceless people who continue to Saving and developing Black Amer- sion. The government will provide subsi- migrate from rural areas. Our policies in ica's greatest natural resource - land - dies for the next seven years, and after rural areas have a demonstrable impact require a national commitment because that, farmers are on their own. Any on urban areas, too. Black land based economic development farmer growing crops will have to be able Urban America might be radically not only contributes to the well being of to sell his product on the world market. different today had resources been Blacks, but to the well being of the Without the subsidies, helshe will be at devoted to land-based rural economic nation. the mercy of a market controlled by large development projects encouraging and corporate farms and the consequences assisting Blacks to stay on the land. This Jerry Pennick is the Director of the Land Assis- will be staggering. economic development, planning and tance Fund (LAF) of the Federation of South- ern Cooperatives. The Federation of Southern If credit is not available, the question implementation would have cost a frac- CooperativesILand Assistance Fund is a remains: How can Black farmers com- tion of the money that has and continues regional community based organization serv- pete with large corporate farms? Does to be spent on welfare, crime prevention ing African American farmers throughout the the government plan to take Black farm- and other social services. southeast United States. The organization pro- ers back to sharecropping? What will With the new Welfare Reform Bill, the vides assistance in farm management, debt restructuring, land retention, marketing and happen to thousands of other Black issue of Black land loss becomes even advice on alternative crops while encouraging farmland owners, such as Black women more critical. Where will rural welfare the sustainability of communities through the who own land and rent to Black farmers? recipients find the jobs required under development of cooperatives. By making farm land available to Blacks, this legislation?With a rural-urban these women and others are receiving migration no longer a viable option, the much needed income. If Blacks are not jobs -whatever they might be - have to able to farm that land, it too will fall prey be created where the people reside. to land speculators because it is likely to There are now Enterprise Communi- become a burden to the owner. ties and other government-sponsored rural development initiatives that encourage economic growth, including cooperatives, credit unions, non-farm

6 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 by Santos Gomez or most Californians, water is an development, along with agricultural resource rather than as a public good. So invisible issue too often taken for expansion, is placing additional strains called "reforms" try to secure private Fgranted. Yet, anything that threatens on the quantity and quality of Califor- property rights in water, develop water water quality, supply or reliability threat- nia's waters. Competition, already acute markets, and facilitate the movement of ens our livelihood. To maintain water during periods of drought, is increasing water from what are regarded as lower to supply, reliability and quality, California due to the inability of limited water sup- higher value uses in urban and suburban has invested billions of public dollars to plies to satisfy all legal obligations and areas. build, operate and maintain the world's user demands. In response to the chang- Before we continue our statewide most sophisticated water infrastructure ing waterscape, water planners are turn- drive to facilitate long-term, inter- and to reallocate water from north to ing to private water sales. In less than regional water sales some cautionary south and east to west with little regard two decades, water sales have evolved words are in order. There has been rela- for communities and the environment. from a solution to critical short-term tively little democratic discussion of the Notwithstanding these investments, environmental and human water needs, public and community interests and val- we continue to struggle to meet growing, to a central component of statewide ues in water. While proponents of water and frequently competing, demands. water policy. sales argue that their policies are in the Outdated laws and regulations, along public interest, they fail to acknowledge with increasing construction costs, the Water Sales Do Not Correct that changing the guiding ethic of water damming of the most cost-effective Historical Community Participation allocation fundamentally changes the water storage sites, declining water subsi- and Protection Problems way water resources are managed - a dies, and growing environmental con- Supported by a large coalition of special change that further undermines commu- cerns have virtually halted the interests, California has enacted legisla- nity participation and has broad public construction of new water supply proj- tion to encourage the voluntary sale of implications. The drive to create a mar- ects. Continued urban and industrial water and to treat water as an economic ket for water has so far done little to cor-

Food b Environmental Justice 1 Land b Water 7 . rect the system that has proven itself particular farm workers and poor peo- Examples abound of such impacts in insufficient, undemocratic, inequitable, ple, will bear the adverse impact of these and outside of California. One purchase and unresponsive to public and commu- sales. When water is sold, the land where of irrigated farmland by a municipality nity concerns. Water policy remains it was previously used can go fallow and in need of water to support its growth highly insulated from public debate result in job loss and reduction in resulted in a 10 percent loss in taxes in despite being essential to everyone's income, diminution of local taxes and La Paz County, Arizona. In Yolo County, social, economic, and environmental social services, and greater disarray in California, the creation of a state-con- well-being. The concerns of the general social and cultural institutions. Unem- trolled "water bank" during the 1987-92 public, farm workers, inner-city resi- ployment and poverty, already chronic drought, which shipped over half of its dents, rural communities, subsistence problems in many agricultural commu- water south to the Los Angeles region, fishers, and Native Americans have yet to nities, can be exacerbated, contributing meant the loss of at least 450 farm pierce the complex and fragmented web further to the blight of the community. worker jobs, a decrease in tax revenue of federal, state, and local agencies. A Water sales amount to the redistribution and a sharp increase in demand on policy that allows current users of this of wealth that is "especially adverse to county-funded social service programs. precious resource to benefit by selling it poorer people," to "people with salaried Yolo County estimated its net cost at for private gain will further concentrate jobs that depend on the presence of $129,000. The August 1992 to July 1994 economic and political power in the water [and thus] who are likely to be the transfer of water from Palo Verde Irriga- hands of urban and agricultural water first to lose work if economic activity is tion District to Metropolitan Water Dis- agencies, and potentially undermine the reduced," and generally to those who "are trict of Southern California resulted in state's long-term well-being. unlikely to move and find equivalent 20,215 acres of farmland being fallowed. work or amenities elsewhere." (Joseph L. An analysis of the transfer conducted by Rural Communities Have Been Sax, Understanding Transfers: Commu- Loh and Steding found that farm work- Adversely Impacted by Water Sales nity Rights and the Privatization of Water, ers and the selling community were Evidence on the impacts of water sales 1 West-Northwest 13 (1994)). adversely affected through the loss of on- indicates that rural communities, and in farm jobs and employment (Penn Loh

After the Harvest, cotton field. Central Valley, Califor~nia.

I 8 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 and Anna Steding, The Palo Verde Test to sell water. Many people depend on the people who were directly affected by Land Fallowing Program: A Model for farming economy's demand for second- water sales. Rural elected officials are Future California Water Transfers?, Pacific ary activities: suppliers, truckers, labor- beginning to raise concerns regarding Institute for Studies in Development, ers, contract harvesters, and others. the potential impacts of water sales. Environment, and Security, 1996). While Nearly all Arizona rural community Farm worker and rural community the impacts of water sales on food secu- leaders surveyed by Oggins and Ingram advocates - including the California rity have not been explicitly studied, agree that rural areas face significant Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, the water sales that lead to permanent agri- losses from water transfers (Cy R. Oggins Mexican American Political Association, cultural land fallowing or the urbaniza- and Helen M. Ingram, Does Anybody and the Center on Race, Poverty and the tion of agricultural land will adversely Win? The Community Consequences of Environment - are starting to view water impact food security. Rural-to- Urban Water Transfers: An Ari- policy and water sales as issues that they zona Perspective, Udall Center for Studies need to be working on. These efforts are Water Sales Will Have a in Public Policy, 1990). As water is sold, beginning to focus attention on the Disproportionate Impact on wealth leaves the community. water concerns of people of color and Poor People and People of Color low-income communities. While we have As is the case with air emission trading Relevance of Title VI and the a long way to go before their concerns initiatives, water sales are likely to cause Environmental Justice Executive are meaningfully integrated into the substantial and unjustified disparate Order to Water Policy complex legal and institutional frame- adverse environmental, social, and eco- Two legal tools specifically speak to this work of water policy and law, we are nomic hardships predominantly on failure to address concerns of these working to lay the foundation for an communities of color, in violation of ignored communities - Title VI of the ongoing dialogue. In 1997, the Pacific federal law. An economic analysis of a 25 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and Institute supplemented our water trans- percent reduction in surface irrigation President Clinton's Environmental Jus- fers work with a report on water and water in the Sacramento Valley, for tice Executive Order (Executive Order). environmental justice. In Our Water, Our example, suggests that revenue losses Water agencies have yet to comply with Future: The Need for New Voices in Cali- would be about $46 million and employ- these legal requirements. Title VI pro- fornia Water Policy, we examined the ment losses would exceed 300 jobs hibits federal agencies and departments roles and values of water, the evolution (Hyunok Lee, Daniel A. Sumner, and from funding programs that discrimi- of water development and policy, how Richard E. Howitt, Economic Impacts of nate or have a disparate impact on the water policy affects poor communities Irrigation Water Cuts in the Sacramento basis of race or national origin. It directs and communities of color, and the uphill Valley, University of California Agricul- each federal agency to promulgate regu- challenge these communities face in tural Issues Center, June 1997). The lations to ensure that the recipients of making water policy more democratic, study further concluded that water federal funding do not use that assis- inclusive and responsive. We are working reductions (e.g., water sales) have greater tance in a racially discriminatory man- with Imperial Valley community leaders economic impacts in counties more ner. Recipients determined to be in to better understand the potential dependent on agriculture. violation of Title VI can lose their federal impacts of the proposed transfer to San Despite the potential for unlawful funding. While the Executive Order is Diego County Water Authority. impacts, regulators are frantically work- more symbolic, it requires all federal As concerned activists, we need to ing to facilitate water sales, including the agencies and federal projects to consider connect water policy to the well-being of sale of up to 500,000 acre-feet of Imper- the impacts on communities of color our communities and to work with envi- ial Irrigation District Colorado River and low-income communities. ronmental and community allies in sup- water (nearly 20 percent of its annual Since most water projects are heavily port of community struggles. That is average supply) to the San Diego County underwritten by federal funds, require why we are launching a series of regional Water Authority. If prior experience is federal approval, or involve federal community meetings to discuss water any indication, such a sale would have action, including the Central Valley Pro- and environmental justice issues with significant employment, economic, envi- ject and the Colorado River Project, local community leaders and activists ronmental, and social impacts on already communities of color and low-income from throughout California..

distressed Imperial Valley communities. communities should explore the applica- -- - - Our ongoing work in this area reveals bility of Title VI and the Executive Order Santos Gomez is the Directing Attorney of the that many of California's most agricul- in the water policy context. Oxnard Office of the California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA). CRLA has 15 field turally-dependent and poorest rural offices throughout rural California and pro- counties are likely to be the targets for Community Response to Water Sales vides free legal representation to farmworker, large, long-term, inter-basin water sales. Rural communities are slowly beginning minority and other low-income populations. These cash-strapped, agriculturally- to organize in opposition to water sales. Prior to joining CRLA, Mr. Gomez was a Senior dependent counties are the least able to In the fall of 1991, the California Action Research Associate with the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and cope with increased unemployment and Network and the Community Alliance Security where he wrote extensively on rural loss of tax revenues from land fallowing with Family Farmers brought together water and environmental justice issues.

Food b Environmental Justice I Land b Water 9 The future of this world's food supply is rapidly being challenged by the loss and reduction of genetic diversity in our seeds, and in the plants and animals available to us. While industrial agri- culture requires genetic uniformity, traditional cul- tures have, for thousands of years, preserved the biodiversity on their land and in their food crops. With the advent of genetic engineering, transnational companies are staking far-reaching Native maize, Pizac, Peru. claims of ownership over a growing variety of living organisms and biological IOLOGICAL MELTDOWN processes, while the tradi- tional farmers who have The Loss of Agricultural Biodiversity protected and maintained the seeds and germplasm lose economic rights to them. The following arti- oon after peasant farmers first led traditional practice of grazing their ani- cles examine the impor- plant explorers to wild stands of mals on dry fodder during the dormant tance of biological sZea diploperennis (perennial season. Local farmers controlled the diversity and how it is maize) in Mexico's Sierra de Manantlan growth of the surrounding forest with- maintained. in the late 1970s, plant breeders hailed out harming the rare perennial maize the discovery as one of the botanical plants. Retired vice-president for finds of the century. The rare perennial research at Pioneer Hi-Bred (the world's maize proved to be resistant to seven largest seed company), Donald Duvick, viral diseases that plague domesticated respectfully observes, "It seems that the maize, and scientists predicted that Zea farmers knew exactly what they were diploperennis could be worth as much as doing, and had more wisdom than the $4.4 billion to the commercial maize well-meaning environmental scientists." (corn) industry. Conservationists called This story illustrates not only the for the establishment of a nature pre- tremendous value of rapidly disappear- serve to protect the rare maize in its nat- ing crop genetic diversity, but also the ural habitat because they feared that fact that it is impossible to talk about the poor farmers living nearby, in constant conservation of species and ecosystems need of grazing land for their cattle, separate from farm communities and would soon wipe out the few remaining indigenous peoples. The world's main patches of wild maize by grazing cattle food and livestock species have their in the area. A nature preserve was even- centers of genetic diversity in the South. tually established, and peasant farmers Generations of farmers in the tropics no longer threatened the rare diploperen- and sub-tropics have consciously nis. But within a few years, the forest selected and improved plants and ani- began to invade the fields of wild maize. mals that are uniquely adapted to thou- The plants were crowded out and began sands of micro-environments. Today, to disappear. Scientists soon realized that farming communities in Afiica, Asia and the local farmers had been intentionally Latin America are the primary custodi- conserving the wild maize by using a ans of most of the earth's remaining

10 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 agricultural biodiversity. They arealso food crops, for instance, or to develop "modern" breeds that are selected solely carriers of unique knowledge about other needed traits like drought toler- for maximizing industrial production genetic resources and entire ecosystems. ance or improved flavor, plant breeders has displaced or diluted indigenous live- Agricultural biodiversity refers to that constantly require fresh infusions of stock breeds worldwide. part of biodiversity that feeds and nur- genes from the farms, fields and forests The commercial white turkey that is tures people--whether it is derived from of the South. But agricultural biodiver- mass-produced on factory farms in the genetic resources of plants, animals, sity is not just a raw material for indus- Europe and North America has been bred fish or forests. We are losing genetic trial agriculture; it is also the key to food for such a meaty breast that it is no . resources for food and agriculture at an security and sustainable agriculture longer able to breed on its own! This unprecedented rate. It can best be because it enables poor farmers to adapt broad-breasted breed - which accounts described as a biological meltdown. The crops and animals to their own ecologi- for 99% of all turkeys in the United States statistics are numbing: cal needs and cultural traditions. With- today - would become extinct in one out this diversity, options for long-term generation without human assistance in Crop genetic resources are being sustainability and agricultural self- the form of artificial insemination. wiped out at the rate of 1-2% every reliance are lost. The spread of industrial agriculture in year. Since the beginning of this cen- the South places thousands of native tury, about 75% of the genetic diver- Why Are We Losing breeds at risk. In India, just 3 decades sity of agricultural crops has been lost. Agricultural Biodiversity? after the introduction of so-called "mod- - Livestock breeds are disappearing at The greatest factor contributing to the ern" livestock breeds, an estimated 50% an annual rate of 5%, or 6 breeds per loss of crop and livestock genetic diver- of indigenous goat breeds, 20% of month. In Europe, half of all breeds of sity is the spread of industrial agricul- indigenous cattle breeds, and 30% of domestic animals that existed at the ture and the displacement of more indigenous sheep breeds are in danger of turn of the century have become diverse, traditional agricultural systems. disappearing. extinct, and 43% of the remaining Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, the Though frequently characterized as breeds are endangered. Green Revolution introduced high- "resource poor:' many of the South's yielding varieties of rice and wheat to farming communities are extraordinarily Tropical forests are falling at a rate of the developing world, replacing thou- rich in plant and animal genetic diversity just under 1% per annum, or 29 sands of farmers' traditional crop vari- and in traditional knowledge. But these hectares per minute. From 1980-1990, eties and their wild relatives on a are endangered resources. With the drive this is equivalent to an area the size of massive scale. The same process contin- for export monoculture and the spread Ecuador and Peru combined. ues today. New, uniform plant varieties of Green Revolution technology in the Marine fisheries are collapsing. About are replacing farmer's traditional vari- South, the dominant model for agricul- 70% of the world's conventional eties - and the traditional ones are tural production has been based on marine species are fully exploited, becoming extinct. external inputs--imported genetic stock, overexploited, depleted or in the In the United States, more than 7000 technology and the ideas of outside process of recovering from overfish- apple varieties were grown in the last "experts." Ironically, the Green Revolu- ing. One-fifth of all freshwater fish are century. Today, over 85 percent of those tion approach (high-input, high-tech, already extinct or endangered. varieties - more than 6000 - are extinct. and high-yielding crop and livestock Just two apple varieties account for more breeds) has proved so "successful" that it Whether in farmers' fields, forests, or than 50% of the entire US crop. In the has very nearly extinguished the farming fisheries, the genetic variation needed to Philippines, where small farmers once communities' most vital "internal" meet human food needs is slipping into cultivated thousands of traditional rice resources - farmers' traditional knowl- oblivion. Equally alarming, genetic varieties, just two Green Revolution vari- edge and the rich reservoirs of plant and resources are being privatized and their eties occupied 98% of the entire rice animal genetic diversity that they have natural habitats plundered. We are losing growing area in the mid-1980s. selected and improved for generations. the biological options we need to Industrial agriculture requires genetic The erosion of traditional knowledge strengthen food security and to survive uniformity. Vast areas are typically and agricultural diversity not only mar- global climate change. The consequences, planted to a single, high-yielding variety ginalizes the South's food producers and warns the United Nations, are "serious, or a handful of genetically similar culti- farming communities, it jeopardizes irreversible and global." vars using capital intensive inputs like world food security for all. Erosion of crop and animal diversity irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides to threatens the existence and stability of maximize production. A uniform crop is The "Gene" Revolution our global food supply because genetic a breeding ground for disaster because it At the United Nations' World Food Sum- diversity (found primarily in the South) is more vulnerable to epidemics of pests mit in November 1996, governments of is vital for the maintenance and and diseases. the world underscored the importance of improvement of agriculture. To maintain The same is true with livestock trade liberalization to food security and pest and disease resistance in our major genetic resources. The introduction of implicitly endorsed a growing reliance

Food b Environmental Justice I Biological Diversity 11 on capital-intensive, high-technology There is little doubt that the 21st cen- boost productivity of livestock in the agricultural production. Export agricul- tury's "gene revolution" can and will be South is now being rethought, in recog- ture was held up as the answer to food used to promote industrial monocul- nition of the fact that native breeds are security, while food self-reliance was tures and genetic uniformity on a mas- far more likely to be productive under ignored. Side-stepping the more impor- sive scale. A new tree cloning venture in low-input conditions. "In 80% of the tant issues of structural reforms (such as Indonesia (owned by a US and Aus- world's rural areas the locally adapted access to food and redistribution of land tralian firm) illustrates how biodiversity genetic resources are superior to com- and resources), the familiar response of could be diminished and job opportuni- mon modern breeds," concludes Keith international agricultural research insti- ties restricted by a high-tech forestry ini- Hammond, the U.N. Food and Agricul- tutions is to recycle the Green Revolu- tiative. The company claims that it has ture's expert on animal genetics. For tion and boost it with a heavy dose of the capacity to produce 10 million genet- poor farmers, an animal's most essential biotechnology. ically uniform teak and eucalyptus quality is not its rate of growth or yield Not surprisingly, commercial biotech- seedlings per year using a robotic assem- of milk, but its basic ability to survive nology does not address the needs of bly line that operates around the dock and reproduce, which in turn ensures the family's self-reliance and survival. In the long run, the conservation of Since the beginning of this centl-lry, about 75% of the plant and animal genetic diversity genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost. depends not so much on the small num- ber of institutional breeders in the for- mal sector (governments, university and peasant farmers in marginal farming with a single human attendant. Histori- industry), but on the vast number of tra- areas of the South, and has little to do cally, when industrial tree plantations are ditional farmers who select, improve and with feeding hungry people. Globally, based on uniform, introduced species, use plant and livestock diversity, espe-

agricultural biotechnology is controlled the native biodiversity is inevitably lost. cially in marginal farming environments. , by a handful of seed, agrochemical and Similarly, new breakthroughs in the The challenge for the world community pharmaceutical corporations whose pro- cloning of mammals will someday allow is to link conservation and development prietary products are designed primarily researchers to manipulate a test tube full by enabling farm communities to to meet the needs of Northern industry. of embryonic cells to produce scores of assume a major role in managing and It's a high-stakes game, and few enter- genetically identical livestock. benefiting from the genetic resources on prises can afford to compete. Consider, which their livelihoods depend. for example, that Monsanto spent no less Farmer-Led Food Security Ultimately, we cannot save the world's than $100 million developing its herbi- Ultimately, farming communities hold biological diversity unless we also nur- cide tolerant soybean (a soybean that can the key to conservation and use of agri- ture the human diversity that protects withstand spraying of Monsanto's best- cultural biodiversity, and to food security and develops it. If we undervalue or selling weed killer). DNA Plant Technol- for millions of the world's poor. They are ignore the traditional knowledge of ogy spent over $6.3 million defending its the innovators best suited to develop farmers and rural people who use and biotech patents on longer shelf-life new technologies and management to manage biodiversity as the basis for their tomatoes. Pioneer Hi-Bred daims that their diverse ecosystems. If international livelihoods, we lose our last, best hope one of its new, genetically-engineered aid and development institutions dismiss for salvaging and developing the living maize varieties requires access t6 38 dif- peasant farmers, exclude structural resources upon which we all depend. ferent patent claims involving 16 sepa- reforms, and ignore the indigenous crops . rate patent holders. and livestock breeds that poor farmers Hope Shand is Research Director of the Rural Proprietary technologies are seldom depend upon for survival, then they fail Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). ' RAFI is an international non-governmental accessible or affordable to customers in to address actual hunger. At the Science organization dedicated to the conservation the South. In India, for example, where Academies Summit held in India in July and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, 70% of pesticides are used on cotton and 1996, several African scientists expressed and concerned about.the impact of intellec- rice, researchers were anxious to develop their frustration with foreign ideas for tual property rights on agriculture, food secu- genetically engineered crop varieties introducing high-tech agriculture in the rity and rural communities. RAFI is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with affili- containing genetic resistance to the South, noting that traditional African ate offices in North Carolina, USA. For more insects that harm them. US-based Mon- crops are ignored or undervalued in information: RAFI, P.O. Box 640, Pittsboro, NC santo corporation reportedly offered to international agricultural research. "I 2731 2 USA, http://www.raf i.ca sell its patented, insect-resistant gene to don't want a Green Revolution," said Iba This article is based on a RAFI publication writ- the Indian government for $7.74 million. Kone of the African Academy of Sci- ten by Hope Shand, Human Nature: Agricul- The cost was too high, and the Indian ences, "I want a Black Revolution. I want tural Biodiversity and Farm-Based Food government was forced to reject the deal. to return to our indigenous crops." Security. Copies are available for $10.00 from Have we learned from the mistakes of Similarly, the common approach of RAFI. the Green Revolution?It appears not. importing industrial animal breeds to

12 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 IOPIRACY, BIODIVERSITY AND PEOPLE The Right to Say "No" to Monopoly Patents Exploiting the South's Resources and Knowledge by Hope Shand

here is growing recognition world- Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi) is a selves a 20-year monopoly on the Asian wide that the innovation of farmers medicinal plant cultivated since pre- chickpeas. Both chickpea varieties origi- Tand indigenous peoples is of Columbian times across the Amazon nated in farmers' fields (in India and utmost importance in utilizing and con- basin. A small US company, the Interna- Iran). serving biological diversity for agricul- tional Plant Medicine Corporation These examples illustrate the funda- ture, human health and the (IPMC) took out a US plant patent on a mental inequity of intellectual property environment. Farming communities in variety of ayahuasca collected from systems that benefit people wearing Africa, Asia and Latin America are the indigenous people in Ecuador. IPMC has white lab coats, but neither recognize primary custodians of most of the earth's ignored requests from indigenous people nor reward the innovation, labor and remaining biological diversity - espe- to give up the patent and is working to knowledge of farmers and indigenous cially for agriculture. develop psychiatric drugs from the plant. people. It is popularly known as Unfortunately, international efforts to Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a "biopiracy." For farmers and consumers conserve biodiversity and to use it equi- staple food crop for millions in the in the South, biopiracy means having to tably and sustainably are jeopardized by Andes, especially Quechua and Ayrnara pay royalties on products that are based conflicting trends in intellectual prop- erty. "Intellectual property rights" refers to a group of laws (patents, plant breed- ers' rights, copyright, trademarks and With the advent of genetic engineering, transnational trade secrets) which grant legal protec- tion to individuals who create ideas or enterprises in the industrialized world are staking knowledge. With the advent of genetic far-reaching claims of ownership over a vast array engineering, transnational enterprises in the industrialized world are staking far- of living orgar~ismsand biological processes that are reaching claims of ownership over a vast used to make commercial products. array of living organisms and biological processes that are used to make commer- cial products. Consider the following . examples. people who have bred a multitude of on their own biological resources and Pharmaceutical companies have quinoa varieties. One traditional quinoa knowledge. It means losing control of recently turned their attention to kava variety, Apelawa, is the subject of US seeds and germplasm that were devel- (Piper mythesticum). Kava is an impor- patent 5,304,718, held by two professors oped and sustainably maintained by tant cash crop in the Pacific, where it is from Colorado State University who farmers and indigenous communities for highly valued as the source of the cere- claim the variety's male sterile cytoplasm generations. monial beverage of the same name. Over is key to developing hybrid quinoa. The 100 varieties of kava are grown in the patent claims any quinoa crossed with Globalizing The Ownership of Life -The Pacific, especially in Fiji and Vanuatu, male sterile Apelawa plants. Biodiversity Convention and the WTO where it was first domesticated thou- An Australian seed company has The once-unthinkable idea that a gene - sands of years ago. In North America recently applied for plant breeders' rights plant, animal, microorganism, and even and Europe, kava is now promoted for a on two varieties of chickpeas released by human genetic material - could become variety of uses. The French company the International Crops Research Insti- subject to exclusive monopoly control is L'Oreal - a global giant with $10 billion a tute for the Semi-Arid Tropics now standard practice in many industri- year in sales - has patented the use of (ICRISAT), an internationally-funded alized nations, and is gaining ground in kava to reduce hair loss and stimulate public research center based in India. If the rest of the world under the weight of hair growth. granted, the Australians will give them-

Food b Environmental Justice I Biological Diversity 13 legally-binding international agree- Ayurvedic medicine since antiquity. of the Indigenous Peoples Biodiversity ments. Upon re-examination, the US Patent and Project, called it "the most offensive The Convention on Biological Diver- Trademark Office rejected the turmeric patent ever issued." sity recognizes the importance of indige- patent on the basis of prior art. Many governments and NGOs are nous and local communities in In September, 1997 the European developing alternatives to Western-style conserving and making available howl- Patent Office announced a preliminary intellectual property regimes. In the Philippines and Thailand, for example, NGOs and policymakers are exploring For farmers and consumers in the South, biopiracy the development of sui generis (unique, means having to pay royalties on products that are or specially designed) systems that not based on their own biological resources and only recognize and reward community . . innovation, but also safeguard genetic knowledge. resources. Most national patent laws provide for edge and genetic resources, but it also verdict against W.R. Grace's patent on what is commonly known as "ordre pub- provides that intellectual property rights neem oil, citing the existence of indige- lic''- a feature that ensures the govern- will be "adequately and effectively" pro- nous knowledge as prior art. The neem ment's right to reject "immoral" patents. tected. The Uruguay Round of the Gen- tree (Azadirachta indica) is widely This well-established national right is eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade known for both its medicinal and insec- also embedded in the GATT TRIPS (GATT) incorporates an element called ticidal uses in many parts of Asia, espe- agreement. In order to protect the sover- Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual cially India. The W.R. Grace patent on eign right of nations to reject patent Property (TRIPS)which obligates all sig- natory states, including over 80 develop- ...intellectual property regimes constitute one of ing nations, to implement intellectual property provisions for plant varieties the greatest threats to the future conservation and and microorganisms. enhancement of biodiversity. Intellectual property laws give transnational corporations extraordinary neem was formally challenged by non- claims that offend national morality or economic control in new markets, allow- governmental organizations (NGO) in security, the Rural Advancement Foun- ing them to set conditions for the access 1993 on the grounds of biopiracy - that dation International and other commu- and sale of a patented technology for up the patent usurped the South's genetic nity supported organizations are actively to 25 years. These laws are inadequate to resources and knowledge. campaigning to ensure that "ordre protect the rights of farmers and indige- Indigenous peoples' organizations pubic" is both preserved and strength- nous peoples, and thus intellectual prop- have vocally denounced patents which ened within the GATT TRIPs agreement. erty regimes constitute one of the they believe threaten food security and In 1999, the World Trade Organization greatest threats to the future conserva- human dignity, and are predatory on will review its trade-related intellectual tion and enhancement of biodiversity. their resources and knowledge. In June property provisions, thus providing an 1997 representatives from Bolivia's important target for educating and influ- Just Say No: Civil Society National Association of Quinoa Produc- encing global policymakers about the Organizations Challenge Biopiracy ers (ANAPQUI) traveled to New York to impacts of intellectual property on bio- Worldwide, there is increasing public protest a US patent on quinoa at the spe- logical diversity and society. consciousness about the inequities and cial session of the UN General Assembly. . controversies surrounding biopiracy and ANAPQUI representatives presented Hope Shand is Research Director of RAFI. This growing consensus that intellectual their case against the patent to govern- article also appeared in the January, 1998 issue of EcoForum, the newsletter of the Environ- property regimes require urgent societal ment delegates, making clear that the mental Liaison Center in Nairobi, Kenya. review. livelihoods of thousands of small quinoa Individual patents are being chal- farmers were threatened by the RAFl is an international non-governmental organization based in Ottawa, Canada with' an lenged and revoked. In August 1997 the encroachment of the patent system. affiliate office in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Indian Government's Council of Scien- It was the controversy generated by RAFl works for the conservation and sustain- tific and Industrial Research announced scores of indigenous peoples organiza- able use of biodiversity, and the socially a successful challenge to a University of tions, together with NGOs and govern- responsible development of technologies use- Mississippi (USA) patent for the use of ments, which eventually forced the US ful to rural societies. RAFl is concerned about the loss of agricultural genetic diversity, and turmeric to promote wound healing. The government to abandon its notorious the impact of intellectual property on agricul- Indian government requested a re-exam- patent (US Patent No. 5,397,696) on the ture and world food security. For more infor- ination of the US patent, based on eviT human cell line of a Hagahai tribesman mation, write: RAFI-USA, P. 0. Box 640, dence that turmeric has been used for from Papua New Guinea in December, PittsbOro, NC 27312. tel: 919 542-1396, Or the same purposes in traditional 1996. Alejandro Argumedo, Coordinator check RAFl's website: (http://www.rafi.ca).

14 Race Povertv and the Environment Winter 2000 Most Americans do not think about those who plant and harvest their food. Food arrives on our tables completely discon- nected from its source, via supermarket shelves, processed and packaged. The majority of those who work in agriculture travel to this country illegally, often at great personal risk. In the techno-indus- trial fields where they labor they are exposed to pesticides, and work long hours in a country far from their homes and families, in order to work in a food Strawberry workers sympathetic to the union get tips on how to help organize while they are on lunch production system which break, the only legal time for organizers to visit the fields. has become wholly dependent on their labor. REPRESENTING

by Arturo Rodriguez

gribusiness has a 30-year history Housing conditions are often of opposing the United Farm deplorable. I have visited cramped apart- A Workers (UFW) through mes- ments and small units in farm labor sengers who pretend to speak for farm camps where 11 people from two fami- workers. Such is the case with major lies live. strawberry growers who present the We have helped workers bring their industry's views in local newspapers own lawsuits against strawberry growers through their Latino foremen and super- over widespread violations of state and visors. federal laws, including minimum wage The strawberry workers teU a very dif- and hour, sexual discrimination and fail- ferent story. Americans are buying more ing to notify farm workers when cancer- strawberries than ever, but few know or birth defect-causing pesticides are about the miserable conditions workers used in the fields. must endure. They labor stooped over, It doesn't have to be this way. picking berries for eight to 10 hours a Since a UFW organizing campaign day. The work is so hard that many began in 1994, our union has won 14 workers must quit by age 30. The average straight secret ballot elections, signed strawberry worker on California's Cen- new contracts with 15 growers and rene- tral Coast earns $8,500 for a season that gotiated many other agreements. lasts from about April to October. Where farm workers have won UFW Workers are exposed to a host of dan- contracts at mushroom, rose, wine grape gerous pesticides, including methyl bro- and vegetable companies, they earn mide, one of the most toxic chem.icals decent pay and enjoy complete family used in agriculture today. medical care, job security, paid holidays

Food b Environmental Justice I Labor 15 and vacations, pensions and a host of obey the law and allow workers to organ- With this announcement, 27 retail other protections. ize without fear of retaliation. food companies - including four of the Strawberry workers have been asking Momentum is building for change in nation's top seven supermarket firms - the public's support as they seek the the strawberry fields. Two years ago on covering 4,630 stores in 41 states and same basic rights through a national April 13,30,000 farm workers and sup- four Canadian provinces have signed campaign led by the UFW and the AFL- porters marched through Watsonville in pledges baclung strawberry workers' CIO. The industry claims workers don't what observers describe as the largest rights. Among them are Lucky's, Ralphs, need such support because they can vote demonstration for a union organizing Vons, A & P, Waldbaums, Sloans, Grist- in union elections under California law. drive in recent history. edes, Key Foods, Jewles, Dominick's, and Thousands of farm workers have A major breakthrough came when the many more. voted for the UFW in state-supervised largest direct employer of strawberry In the years since Cesar Chavez's elections. While that balloting has pro- workers pledged to remain neutral as death, he has been honored in dozens of duced many union contracts that workers organize for an election. (Agents communities across America. Streets, improve working and living conditions, for other growers are trying to sabotage parks, schools and libraries have been elections in the strawberry industry this progress by entering the neutral named for him. Yet the greatest monu- haven't mattered. grower's fields and threatening workers ment to Cesar Chavez is not to be found After workers voted for the UFW at and UFW organizers.) on a street sign or a building. It is seen in three large strawberry companies in Last year, the United Farm Workers the continuing work of the union he recent years, the strawberry industry and Safeway Inc. - the nation's second founded and the courage to work for fired pickers, plowed under crops and largest food retailer - announced a joint change he instilled in his own people.. temporarily shut down operations rather pledge supporting basic organizing than bargain for union contracts. rights for berry pickers. It marks the first Arturo S. Rodriguez succeeded Cesar Chavez as The public can help by urging straw- time in more than 30 years that Safeway president of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO. berry corporations such as Driscoll to and the UFW are working together for farm workers.

Workers on break in Wirnaurna, FL. Pesticide labels stipulate washing hands after contact, particularly before eating. In the field, there is no running water.

16 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 Mexican American Farmworker dusts vegetable crop with pesticides in the Salinas FOR THE SAKE Valley of California. 1JR FOOD A Farmworker's Story

hen I first thought about com- Now, the ride to Los Angeles was ing north, I had no idea where something else. The driver squeezed five wI'd end up. But I wanted to get of us in the trunk of the car. That's how to Selma, California, where one of my we rode, two and a half hours to L.A. sons lives and works. Talking it over with When we finally stopped, the driver hur- my family, they told me: "Five or six ried us out of the trunk and into a house months away is O.K. - but no more than - at least that's what I thought it was. It near Santa Barbara; one of my sons had that." So that was our arrangement. was really just a garage. There were 20, worked there a few years ago. And that's After I arrived in Tijuana, I called my maybe 30 people inside. During the time how I ended up here. son in Selma. "Look for a coyote who can I was there, other cars arrived. The car I began my journey from southern get you to Los Angeles, and I'll meet you would pdup close, open its doors, and Mexico with the intention of working there," he said. I found a coyote and paid immediately they'd open the side door of just a few months. Now look at me - I've him $500, and so we began our attempts the garage, and hustle more people in. been here for almost a year and a half! to cross. After 15 days and repeated tries, There were several men who stood watch From a financial standpoint, it's been I was still in Tijuana - that's how difficult over us, and answered the phone. We had worth staying longer. But you must it was for us. At dusk we'd start out, but one bathroom for all of us. understand that it is very, very difficult to the immigration patrols chased us back. Everybody would give the man in cross the border now. Once you are here, That's how it went, over and over, for 15 charge the telephone number of a friend you think hard and long about going days. And then the coyote wanted more or family member. Then you wait. None home again. And of course, I want to go money. He told me "Your $500 are all of us had any money left. Was I scared? home - the rest of my family is there. used up, I need more money." Well, I Sure! See, each person in that garage is Stitl, when you consider what it cost you, didn't have enough to pay him what he worth several hundred dollars to the coy- the pain and all the effort, to get here, wanted. So I told him that he'd get more otes. I said to myself, "Nobody knows then you say to yourself, "Maybe I'll stay once I got to my son. where I am. What if nobody calls; what if through the winter after all." We tried to cross again on the six- they can't find my son; when am I going If I could stay at home and earn teenth day. This time, the immigration to get out of here?" enough from farming to support my patrols caught us. They rounded up nine I was two days in that place - two family, then why would I come here? The or so of us, and they hit us. I got hit on days without anything to eat -when a place I come from is really beautiful, and one of my legs pretty hard. By the time friend of my son called. The coyote told we grow some of the same things there they brought us to the jail, I couldn't put him to meet us at a certain gas station as here - squash, corn, and beans. But weight on that leg. It felt like maybe it nearby. That's all I knew. But the meeting you can't grow anything during the rainy was broken. The next day we were went fine, and at last I was on my to season, and we have only crude irriga- turned loose, and two others I'd been in Selma and my son. tion for crops during the dry months. So jail with helped me get to the coyote's It was mid-August, and grape picking what can you do? You have to leave your house. This is now almost three weeks was in full swing. My son got me on with land to find work. There is very little since I've had any contact with my fam- a crew harvesting grapes for raisins. Our work to be found, and what you do find ily in southern Mexico or with my son, work day went like this: rise at 4:00 a.m., pays almost nothing. waiting for me in California. fix lunch, then catch an hour's ride to the No, it's necessity that brought me up , Finally, after twenty days, we managed ranch. By six, you're already at it. You get here. I hope more people in the north to cross. But I got separated from the rest ten minute's rest around 9:30 a.m. and can begin to understand this. It's easy for of the group, and by sheer good luck, I 3:00 p.m., seven days a week. me - I just have to picture my family, made it to San Ysidro alone. My money I liked the work. A good picker could and I remember why I came. H was mostly gone and I still had to get to make close to $100 a day, but you've got Los Angeles. I started over again, looking to move fast to do that well. You aren't The author is a 59 year old undocumented for another coyote, offering the little bit paid by the hour, but by how much you farmworker. He recently returned home to visit his family in southern Mexico, and hopes of money I had left, and promising more can pick. I worked for three weeks there, to be back in California next spring. when my son would meet me. and then decided to check out a farm

Food b Environmental Justice I Labor 17 Food Security

Food is a basic human right, yet millions go hungry. Access to fresh food is diffi- cult in many inner city areas. Across the nation, farmland is being plowed under for expanding suburbs. Thou- sands of small farmers have been forced out of business. Americans have increasingly lost touch with seasonal and regional foods, eating Chilean cherries in January. The emerging food security movement has made con- nections among these issues, promoting solutions that help build local food systems as the basis for hunger-free and healthy communities. In this section, the reader will find out about the overlap Standing in line at the check-out counter. between the food security and environmental justice movements. COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY

Converging Paths Towards Social Justice and Sustainable Communii:ies by Robert Gottlieb and Andy Fisher

ff the 280 freeway, next to a hous- dening. According to Elizabeth Tan, (for- ing project in San Francisco's Ale- mer SLUG staff member) SLUG, with its 0 many neighborhood, at-risk roots in community gardening, has teenagers operate a small farm, learning . sought to incorporate an environmental about organic agriculture while gaining justice perspective into all of its work. To job skills. More than twenty graduates of her, environmental justice is a natural the program have helped launch the extension of the community food secu- Urban Herbals label, managing a jam rity concept in its ability to identify "a and salsa processing business that holistic approach that enables you to includes both production and marketing. envision and work toward building For the San Francisco League of Urban healthy communities." Gardeners (SLUG), the Alemany Youth Conversely, some organizations that Farm is part of an integrated environ- have been initially associated with an mental justice/social justice strategy. This environmental justice approach have strategy includes initiatives ranging from identified community food security as a programs that address lead hazard natural extension of their activities. One reduction to a youth leadership training example is the Los Angeles-based Con- approach that seeks to build healthier cerned Citizens of South Central. In the and more empowered communities mid-1980s, this organization was formed through an emphasis on food and gar- to fight a proposed municipal solid waste

18 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 incinerator to be located in a predomi- munity supported agriculture, and food- food needs rather than to be fully nantly African-American and Latino based micro-enterprises, share similar dependent on outside sources, such as neighborhood. Successful in that strug- characteristics, such as a Multi-Class, food banks or public assistance pro- gle, Concerned Citizens subsequently Multi-Community Approach with a grams. CFS approaches do recognize the became increasingly rooted in the core strong focus on the needs of low income crucial contribution of food assistance issues of the community: jobs, housing, communities. and charitable programs in a period of education, hunger. The group also Like the anti-hunger movement, CFS enormous, intractable food insecurity. embraced food security as a key arena is strongly focused on meeting the food But by emphasizing community devel- for action, and has worked on the devel- needs of low-income communities. opment and empowerment strategies for opment of two community gardens and These communities are the most food individuals as community participants, it been involved in plans for a neighbor- insecure in terms of community seeks more systemic, structural change in hood supermarket organized as a joint resources. CFS goals tend to go beyond the food system and at the community venture between a major grocery chain this focus on food insecurity and hunger, level to more effectively create the condi- and Concerned Citizens along with other and include such objectives as job train- tions of self-reliance. community partners. Concerned Citi- ing, business skill development, urban zen's Executive Director Juanita Tate was greening, farmland preservation, and Local Agriculture also recently appointed to the 18 mem- community revitalization. Many of those Promoting local agriculture is key to ber board of the Los Angeles Food Secu- issues are also crossover issues in terms building better links between farmers rity and Hunger Partnership, a food of building a multi-class, multi-commu- and consumers and gaining greater con- policy council that advises the Mayor, the nity approach. sumer knowledge and concern about City Council, and city departments. For their food source. Food system CFS Tate, community food security, like envi- Community Needs projects typically are "inter-discipli- ronmental justice, is part of our agenda A CFS approach seeks to identify com- nary," that is, they cross many subject because it deals with the social fabric of munity needs in order to build up a boundaries and involve issues associated our community. Like the air we breathe community's food resources to meet with multiple agencies and a wide range and the jobs we need, "food is what it's those needs. These resources may of constituencies. Fundamental to this all about." include supermarkets, farmers' markets, approach is an analysis of food systems What these groups have in common is gardens, transportation, community- and how they operate at both the global the significant overlap between the envi- based food processing ventures, and and community scale. By developing a ronmental justice and community food urban farms, to name some key arenas food systems framework, one can more security strategies. Community food for CFS action and project development. effectively design and plan for both a security (CFS), a relatively recent community-based, sustainable, and food approach within the U.S., is derived from Self-reliancelempowerment security-focused approach. international development circles. It Community food security projects Overall, CFS offers a vision based on refers to a comprehensive, community- emphasize the need to strengthen the the development of viable alternatives to based approach to the nation's food and ability of individuals, as potential com- the dominant global food system. That farming problems. CFS projects, such as munity actors, to more effectively pro- system currently marginalizes both urban market gardens, farmers' markets, com- vide for their and their community's consumers and low-income communities

Bilingual signs and Latin decor in produce section of Viva supermarket, a Immigrant Shoppers at a discount supermarket in the Los Angeles area. version of the chain Quality Food, Inc. a grocery company catering to Latinos.

Food ti Environmental Justice I Food Security 19 I in terms of poor access and a lack of tity. Community building becomes both Sustainability and Livable affordable, nutritious food, as well as a process and a goal. Communities small family farmers, who lack the ability Both of these approaches identify a to have any control over access to mar- Health-related vision of sustainable institutions and liv- kets for their products. Direct farmer- Both are concerned about the health of able communities. This vision is linked consumer relations, grow-your-own, and communities and community members. to a search for alternative practices and other community based production and Environmental justice advocates identify modes of development. With environ- distribution arrangements create new and struggle around issues of commu- mental justice, it may mean implement-

Community food security, like environmental Doiia Valentina Rios shows off justice, is part of our agenda because it deals peppers from her garden in with the social fabric of our comml-~nity. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

kinds of economic spaces for farmers nity health that are associated with mul- ing pollution prevention practices that and urban communities, while establish- tiple environmental burdens. CFS identify the design of new types of prod- ing alternative models to a food system activists focus on food and nutrition to ucts and processes, as well as institu- that has become increasingly transna- address community health concerns. tional and community arrangements tional and corporatist in how it func- Many community health concerns, that address the root of an environmen- tions. Not only do CFS projects identify including such problems as anemia, obe- tal justice problem or a set of linked these food system alternatives as a vehi- sity, cancer, and hypertension, are related problems. For community food security, cle for community economic develop- to high rates of hunger and poor access it may mean such practices as Commu- ment, but they also strive to build to healthy foods. nity Supported Agriculture (which community identities by encouraging attempts to create a non-market frame- neighborhood activities, such as co-ops, Focus on Corporate work for economic activity), farmers' community gardens, and farmers' mar- DominancelSystem-RelatedIssues markets, co-ops, and gardens which can kets. The ultimate goals of these projects Both environmental justice and CFS form the nucleus of a sustainable food are to foster communities with healthier, activists act in opposition to, or at least system, an alternative economic space more empowered members and a health- make claims on, corporate interests and for small producers and distributors to ier, more sustainable and community- practices in the environmental and food thrive. based food system. system arenas. By shifting from justice The above similarities point to the The similarities between environmen- and inequity concerns to a focus on the need to further explore the common tal justice and community food security problems of a community and on eco- ground between environmental justice are numerous. They include: nomic development, both movements and community food security, both in necessarily address and/or come in con- terms of creating new coalitions, broad- Place-Based Focus flict with powerful system-related indus- ening agendas, and learning from each Both tend to focus on specific geo- trial forces. Both movements also other's experiences and analysis of sys- graphic communities or places, includ- encounter issues associated with the flow tem-based problems. For the CFS move- ing a crucial, though not exclusive, focus of capital as well as the role of govern- ment, environmental justice offers on the needs of low-income communi- ment (for example, investment decisions, important lessons about the tactics of ties. While both environmental justice control and uses of technology, land place-based organizing, the need to con- and community food security activists uses, and so forth). front powerful urban and industrial struggle against negative land uses or forces in bringing about community system-related inequities, both are Empowerment changes, and the importance of political increasingly oriented towards new place- The bottom line for both these move- empowerment. For environmental jus- based relationships; that is, how to over- ments' struggles is the desire for tice advocates, community food security come the lack of positive land uses in a increased control over one's daily life: offers the kind of transformative politics community ( e.g. supermarket redlining where one lives, works, and plays and that seeks to create healthier and more resulting in poor food access or siting of what we eat. These involve controlling livable communities, the goal, as Juanita facilities that increase the environmental decisions both about places and eco- Tate, points out, which ought to be a nat- burdens within an area). This geographic nomic institutions in relation to disem- ural extension of all environmental jus- or place based focus gives both sets of powered communities and tice activity. struggles cohesion and a sense of iden- constituencies. .

20 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 ACHIEVING THE HUMAN IGHT TO FOOD SECURITY by Peter Rosset

ood is the most basic necessity of ingly, individualism at the expense of food available per person than we did in life. If we are to fulfill our potential concern for community. But none of this the mid-1970s, yet there are 100 to 200 Fas thinking, feeling beings, then we is truly inevitable. million more hungry people. Simply must feel secure about where our next The current swing of the pendulum producing more food does not end meal and that of our family will come toward free trade and capitalism red in hunger - people go hungry in a world of from. Yet sometimes when we hear the tooth and claw is the product of many plenty. phrase "food security" used as policy- decisions, large and small, made by poli- Clearly it is the distribution of food speak, we lose sight of the fact that food cymakers in national and international and wealth that is important for achiev- is a human right that is increasingly bodies. Yes, they have made those deci- ing food security and eliminating being violated in this world of free trade sions because of pressure from the cor- poverty. Exceptions that prove this rule and in our America of budget cutbacks. porate sector. But that is always how are many. Kerala is one of the poorest Today there are some 800 million policy is made. Decisionmakers weigh states in India as measured by per capita people in the world who are hungry, who pressure from one side with pressure income, yet because of its distributive are unsure about their next meal. Thirty from the other, and ask, who am I more policies it has the lowest infant mortality, million of them live in the United States, afraid of! Thus our task is to build longest life expectancy and highest liter- 12 million of them children under six. Is national and international social move- acy rate. Between 1994 and 1996, Cuba that the kind of world, and is this the ments that scare policymakers more than overcame the worst food crisis in its his- kind of society that we want to live in? At does corporate power. tory, not by boosting fertilizer use, but by Food First - The Institute for Food and That's how the war in Vietnam was giving farmers better prices, by redistrib- Development Policy, we believe that the ended, and that's how major social uting farm land, and through organic time has come to return values to the change always takes place. We also need farming techniques. center of our political debates, and to to keep in mind that the pendulum has Closer to home we see grassroots address the root causes of our problems, swung toward economic globalization in alternatives flowering across America. throwing off the blinders of pernicious earlier periods of world history, only to Struggling small farmers are finding new myths that we often hold dearly and that swing back toward national economic ways to reach urban consumers with serve to block real change. sovereignty some time later. Each time healthy, locally grown produce, via farm- According to the International continued movement in one direction ers' markets and community-supported Covenant on Economic, Social and Cul- may have seemed inevitable, but in the agriculture (CSA) agreements. Inner-city tural Rights, the right to food or food light of history it certainly wasn't. Nor is residents are responding to supermarket producing resources is a basic human it this time. closure in poor neighborhoods by turn- right. Unfortunately, the United States A second myth that we need to ing vacant lots into viable urban farms, has failed to ratify the Covenant, perhaps address is that we always need "more" of creating jobs for unemployed teenagers, because of the cold reality that the something in order to alleviate poverty the homeless, and others, and providing human rights of 30 million hungry or feed the hungry. This takes the form poor residents and seniors with organic Americans are being routinely violated. of an "economic growth at any cost" or a food. Yet we need to take the lens of human "we need a new Green Revolution" men- We can make a difference. The key rights, which we so often focus on t ty, thus justifying further unfettering elements in achieving food security - Bosnia, Central America or Indonesia, of transnational corporations and guaranteeing the right to food - are put- and bring it to bear on America as well. agribusiness. But the facts do not bear ting values first, strong local participa- We need to denounce widespread this out. tion, and building from the bottom up humans rights violations at home; we The U.S. experienced substantial eco- into powerful social movements. W must make hunger a simply unaccept- nomic growth in the 1980s and early able condition in our wealthy society. '90s, when average incomes rose by 11 Peter Rosset is Executive Director of Food First We can change America, and we can percent. Yet during the same period the -The Institute for Food and Development Pol- icy, based in Oakland, California. He is change the world, but only if we place number of hungry Americans doubled. presently writing a revised edition-for-the90s what is right first, and take on the myths In fact 70 percent of the increase in of the classic Food First book, World Hunger: of hunger head on. The most pernicious income went to the wealthiest one per- 12 Myths. This article originally appeared in myth is that economic globalization with cent, and 40 percent actually saw their Why Magazine and is reprinted with perrnis- its attendant polarization between rich incomes drop. Economic growth does sion. and poor is somehow inevitable, as are not provide food security. In the world declining public budgets and, increas- as a whole, we now have 15 percent more

Food b Environmental Justice I Food Security 21

ali :Consumer' Issues:

Unlike more affluent Americans, people in low-income communities throughout the United States often do not have access to grocery stores. They have fewer places to shop, pay higher prices for lower quality food and may have to depend on inadequate public transit systems for their access to groceries.

Discount supermarket in Los Angeles area. NO PLACE

Food Access Lacking in the Inner City by Zy Weinberg

nlike other more affluent Ameri- ucts and services than those in suburban cans, poor people in low-income and middle-and upper-income areas. uurban communities throughout Health, economic security, and the qual- the United States have inadequate access ity of life are compromised by the lack of to grocery stores. Not only do inner-city access to the wider variety of affordable residents have fewer places to shop, the foods available in supermarkets outside food stores that remain in their neigh- the inner city. borhoods often have higher prices, lim- ited quantities, and the food for sale is Supermarket Access generally of lower quality as well. Within the past few years, researchers While there may be numerous places have confirmed what consumer advo- in the inner city to buy food - such as cates and urban residents have long small groceries and convenience stores - known: In the poorest parts of town a serious shortage of supermarkets per- there are fewer supermarkets - 30 per- sists. Where supermarkets do exist in cent less than in the highest income low-income, urban neighborhoods, they areas, according to a 1995 study by the tend to be smaller and offer fewer prod- University of Connecticut (UConn)

22 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 Food Marketing Policy Center1 and a 1997 U.S. Department of Agriculture Lack of Ancillary Services companion analysis by Public Voice for (USDA) study3 of some 2,400 food Other food and non-food services are Food and Health P01icy.~ stamp retailers. "The results confirm the significantly less likely to be available in The UConn study examined industry common belief that supermarkets sup- supermarkets in low-income neighbor- information and census zip code data for ply, on average, nearly all food items in a hoods than elsewhere. USDA 21 major metropolitan areas and found market basket and have the lowest cost of researchers, in checking for meat, there were fewer supermarkets in low- any store type:' the federal investigators seafood, and produce departments, income zip codes in 16 of the 21 urban determined. In other studies done dur- noted that, "Supermarkets in high- areas. Differences ranged from 254.7 per- ing the early 1990s, grocery store prices poverty urban areas have half the num- cent to 12.2 percent fewer stores. in low-income urban areas were gener- ber of full-service departments as Poor households on government aid ally found to average seven to eight per- supermarkets in other urban areas." Sim- and with limited resources, who most cent higher than in suburban stores, ilarly, the UConn study found a much need supermarket access, were similarly though some larger differences were also lower percentage of delis, bakeries, and disadvantaged by store location. Zip noted. restaurants in supermarkets in the codes with the greatest percentage of poorer zip codes. families on public assistance also had Food Quality and Product Selection The UConn analysis also looked at fewer supermarkets in 16 of the 21 met- USDA confirmed that smaller stores the prevalence of scanners and auto- ropolitan areas. Public Voice estimated were much less likely to carry the variety mated teller machines (ATMs) in poor that as much as $1 billion in Food Stamp of products that composed the market areas and found them generally absent. Program purchasing power is lost annu- basket. Supermarkets carried an average Because many low-income communities ally because participants lack access to of 95 percent of the items and large gro- lack bank branches, they are often the competitively-pricedstores where they ceries had 81 percent, but small gro- . last to receive the advantages of advances can shop. ceries and convenience stores carried in financial technology. Government's Even where supermarkets are avail- just half of the market basket foods. push to deliver benefits electronically is able, the advantage for the poor may be "Supermarkets in high-poverty urban making inroads, but stores in low- reduced by lack of transportation. Poor areas offer 5 to 10 percent less variety in income communities are still less likely households are less likely to own a vehi- brands and package types than those in to have ATMs and other electronic cle to transport food or travel to other parts of a city where more stores are located to seek lower prices. In all 21 metropolitan areas, households with the lowest per capita income were the least Within the past few years, researchers have likely to have a vehicle. In Philadelphia, Boston, and Hartford, only about half of confirmed what consumer advocates and urban the families in the poorest zip codes residents have long known: In the poorest parts of owned a vehicle; in New York City, it was just 30 percent. Walking to the store or town there are fewer supermarkets. using public transportation makes gro- cery shopping much more difficult.

Food Prices other areas:' USDA reported. "Moreover, equipment to connect with government Food prices are particularly important supermarkets in high-poverty urban computers where a participant's benefit for those whose income is limited. areas offer about a fourth fewer non- information is stored. Supermarkets, regardless of location, can food product lines than supermarkets in offer lower prices to consumers because other areas." Limited product selection Consumer Spending of greater sales volume and space to also means that ethnic shoppers often One reason retailers are reluctant to do stock generic or store brand items. Even will not encounter the types of "spe- business in low-income neighborhoods in inner cities, where the costs of doing cialty"foods that are dietary staples for is a perceived lack of buying power. But business are generally higher, food prices them. poor households also have to eat, and in supermarkets are usually lower than Anecdotal complaints over the years they spend a higher proportion of their in other food markets. about wilted lettuce and withered apples income on food. Often, untapped local Store size and product selection sig- in inner-city stores were also confirmed buying power exists for two reasons. nificantly affect food prices. The price of in the USDA study. "The lowest average First, consumers shop elsewhere when a market basket of 42 core items was as proportion of foods in the market basket there are no low-price stores in the vicin- much as 48 percent higher in small gro- of acceptable quality... is found in the ity. In New York City's East Harlem com- ceries and convenience stores than in 'other store' category located in high- munity, where there are no supermarkets, supermarkets, according to a February poverty urban areas:' the report noted. the neighborhood loses an estimated $65

Food b Environmental Justice I Food Access 23 million a year in food purchases to New Additional research by Public Voice Enterprise Communities, must be aug- Jersey, Long Island, and nearby middle- showed that, for a supermarket operator mented. Local governments can take class suburbs. to successfully serve a low-income neigh- steps to improve supermarket access Second, extensive "off-the-books" borhood, several attitudinal changes though actions such as offering tax income exists in inner city communities. must take place.4Although some owners incentives and sirnplifylng zoning laws. Census Bureau and Internal Revenue can do it alone, development of today's Government agencies at all levels must collaborate to investigate inner city needs and fashion appropriate responses on housing, transportation, economic Those who consider doing business in low-income development, and food assistance needs. More aggressive action by the food urban neighborhoods face challenges, but there are industry is also required. Innovative also profits to be made. industry leaders have already proven there are profits to be made in inner-city supermarkets. In almost all cities, there are suitable buildings available for reha- bilitation or vacant land appropriate for Service data, and other official counts fail average 40,000-square foot supermarket the construction of supermarket- to measure underground economies, will likely take a combined effort of pub- anchored shopping centers. But there is a which inyolve billions of dollars annually lic, non-profit, and for-profit resources. need for more chain and independent and are estimated to run as high as 25 To be successful, store development may operators - in partnership with develop- percent of the rated economy. Unre- require teaming a non-profit community ers, community organizations, and local ported income - from self-employment, development corporation and a for- governments - to refurbish existing income from rental properties, crafts profit supermarket operator, with local buildings or construct new stores. production, consultant work, and illegal government stepping in to provide tax Together, government, private industry, activities - contributes, sometimes sig- breaks or financial incentives. and the non-profit sector can make a dif- nificantly, to personal spending power in Operators also must be wiUing to ference and insure that, for the poor, a neighborhood, but cannot be accu- forego the "cookie-cutter" approach to there will be someplace - the right place rately measured. supermarket development that is com- - to shop. H mon in the suburbs. Store layout, prod- Supermarket Development Trends uct mix, ancillary services (such as Notes As suburban markets become increas- pharmaceuticals, banking, and dry clean- 1 Cotterill, Ronald W. and Franklin, Andrew ingly saturated, supermarket operators ing), security procedures, and other fac- W., "The Urban Grocery Store Gop," Food are again looking to the inner-city for tors must be sensitive to ethnic and Marketing Policy Center, University of Con- new business opportunities. Those who neighborhood concerns. necticut, Storrs, CT (April 1995). consider doing business in low-income To gain community confidence and to 2 Weinberg, Zy, "No Place to Shop: The Lack urban neighborhoods face challenges, build customer loyalty, a supermarket of Supermarkets in Low-income Neighbor- hoods," Public Voice for Food and Health but there are also profits to be made. should also make a concerted effort to Policy, Washington, D.C. (May 1995). Unfortunately, though considerable lip hire its employees from the neighbor- service has been given to inner-city hood. Major chains throughout the 3 Montevani, Richard El, Daft, Lynn, Macaluso, Theodore F., and Hoffman, supermarket development, little has country that serve the inner-city indicate Katherine, "Food Retailers in the Food actually been accomplished to reverse that local hires constitute 50 to 80 per- Stamp Program: Characteristics and Service the 1970's flight of supermarkets to the cent of their employees. Though addi- to Program Participants," Macro Interna- suburbs. tional training may be required, tional, Inc. Submitted to Office of Analysis There are some rare exceptions. employing local residents can offer a and Evaluation, USDA Food and Consumer Service, Alexandria, VA (February 1997). Cleveland was the only one of 21 cities in marketing advantage and help reduce the UConn study where a greater num- security costs, especially if employee 4 Weinberg, Zy, "No Place to Shop: Chal- lenges and Opportunities Facing the Devel- ber of stores was found in the lowest- demographics reflect the neighborhood's opment of Supermarkets in Urban income zip codes than in the highest. ethnic mix. America," Public Voice for Food and Health Cleveland was an exception because one Policy, Washington, D.C. (February 1996). chain - Finast - made a concerted effort The Next Steps in the late 1980s and early 1990s to Clearly, more needs to be done to accel- upgrade and build supermarkets in the erate supermarket development in low- city's urban core. Though Finast has now income, inner city communities and to been purchased by a Dutch-based, multi- improve access to food for the poor. Fed- national conglomerate, its service to eral initiatives for commercial revitaliza- inner-city Cleveland remains intact. tion, such as Empowerment Zones and

24 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 Consumer Issues: 1

The struggle to maintain healthy, nutritious, uncontaminated sources NUCLEAR of food has been a chal- lenge since World War II LUNCH and the advent of the Green Revolution when The Dangers and Ur~knowns the use of chemicals in food production became of Food 1rradiaml:ion the norm. More recently we have been faced with a new Green Revolution as a new wave of high tech solutions to mass food production prob- lems has emerged.

by Jennifer Ferrara and Susan Meeker-Lowry I I eginning in 1986, the Food and the safety studies are flawed, the risks Drug Administration(FDA) has involved with food irradiation still far Bgiven the green light to expose outweigh the presumed "benefits." nearly our entire food supply to nuclear irradiation. Since then, staunch citizen Irradiation Basics opposition has kept the technology out Food is irradiated using radioactive of use. But the recent hamburger recall gamma sources, usually cobalt 60 or has led both the food and nuclear indus- cesium 137, or high energy electron tries to push hard for beef irradiation's beams. The gamma rays break up the approval. Its use in the beef industry molecular structure of the food, forming would open the door to irradiation as positively and negatively charged parti- the "solution" to contamination crises in cles called free radicals. The free radicals all food groups, from poultry to fruits .react with the food to create new chemi- and vegetables. cal substances called "radiolytic prod- With beef irradiation on the fast- ucts.'' Those unique to the irradiation track through the FDA process, citizen process are known as "unique radiolytic opposition, not government regulation, products" (URPs). remains the critical component in keep- Some radiolytic products, such as ing irradiated food off store shelves. And formaldehyde, benzene, formic acid, and from the hazards inherent in the tech- quinones are harmful to human health. nology to the FDA's own admission that Benzene, for example, is a known car- Food & Environmental Justice I Food Safety 25 I, cinogen. In one experiment, seven times deficiency. The remaining two studies Accidents Happen more benzene was found in cooked, irra- investigated the effects of diets of foods Workers in irradiation plants risk expo- diated beef than in cooked, non-irradi- irradiated at doses below the FDA- sure to large doses of radiation due to ated beef. Some URPs are completely approved general level of 100,000 rads. equipment failure, leaks, and the pro- new chemicals that have not even been Thus, they cannot be used to justify food duction, transportation, storage, installa- identified, let alone tested for toxicity. irradiation at the levels approved by the tion, and replacement of radiation In addition, irradiation destroys FDA. sources. The Nuclear Regulatory Com- essential vitamins and minerals, includ- Yet other studies indicate serious mission (NRC) has recorded 54 acci- ing vitamin A, thiamine, B2, B3, B6, B12, health problems associated with eating dents at 132 irradiation facilities folic acid, C, E, and K; amino acid and irradiated food. A compilation of 12 worldwide since 1974. But this number is essential polyunsaturated fatty acid con- studies carried out by Raltech Scientific probably low since the NRC has no tent may also be affected. A 20 to 80 per- Services, Inc., under contract with the information about irradiation facilities cent loss of any of these is not U.S. government, examined the effect of in approximately 30 "agreement states" uncommon. feeding irradiated chicken to several dif- which have the authority to monitor facilities on their own. New Jersey is home to the highest concentration of irradiation facilities, With the shaky assurance of just five studies, the and virtually every New Jersey plant has a record of environmental contamina- FDA approved irradiation for the public food supply. tion, worker overexposure, or regulatory failures. Accidents can be nearly fatal to workers and extremely dangerous to the Safety Studies Flawed ferent animal species. The studies indi- surrounding companies. For instance: The FDA reviewed 441 toxicity studies cated the possibility of chromosome In 1991, a worker at a Maryland facil- to determine the safety of irradiated damage, immunotoxicity, greater inci- ity suffered critical injuries when exposed foods. Dr. Marcia van Gemert, the team dence of kidney disease, cardiac throm- to ionizing radiation from an electron- leader in charge of new food additives at bus, and fibroplasia. In reviewing beam accelerator. The victim developed the FDA and the chairperson of the Raltech's findings in 1984, USDA sores and blisters on his feet, face, and committee in charge of investigating the researcher Donald Thayer asserted, "A scalp, and lost fingers on both hands. studies, testified that all 441 studies were collective assessment of study results In 1988, Radiation Sterilizers, Inc. flawed. argues against a definitive conclusion (RSI) in Decatur, GA, reported a leak of The government considers food irra- that the gamma-irradiated test material cesium 137 capsules into the water stor- diation a food additive. In testing food was free of toxic properties." age pool, endangering workers and con- additives for toxicity, laboratory animals Studies of rats fed irradiated food also taminating the facility. Workers then are fed high levels (in comparison to a indicate possible kidney and testicular carried the radioactivity into their homes human diet) of potential toxins. The damage and a statistically significant and cars. Cleanup costs exceeded $30 results must then be applied to humans increase in testicular tumors. One land- million, and taxpayers footed the bill. with theoretical models. It is question- mark study in India found four out of In 1986, the NRC revoked the license able whether the studies the FDA used to five children fed irradiated wheat devel- of a Radiation Technology, Inc. (RTI) approve food irradiation followed this oped polyploidy, a chromosomal abnor- facility in New Jersey for 32 worker- process. In fact, the FDA claimed only mality that is a good indication of future safety violations, including throwing five of the 441 were "properly conducted, cancer development. radioactive garbage out with the trash fully adequate by 1980 toxicological Irradiation proponents often claim and bypassing a key safety device. As a standards, and able to stand alone in that decades of research demonstrate the result of this negligence, one worker support of safety." With the shaky assur- safety of food irradiation, but the studies received a near lethal dose of radiation. ance of just five studies, the FDA they use to prove it are questionable. For In 1982, an accident at International approved irradiation for the public food instance, their "proof" includes studies Nutronics in Dover, NJ, contaminated supply- completed by Industrial Bio-Test (IBT), a the plant and forced its closure. Radia- To make matters worse, the Depart- firm convicted in 1983 of conducting tion baths were used to purify gems, ment of Preventative Medicine and fraudulent research for government and chemicals, food and medical supplies. Community Health of the New Jersey industry. As a result of IBT's violations, In 1974, an Isomedix facility in New Medical School found two of the studies the government lost about $4 million Jersey flushed radioactive water down were methodologically flawed. In a third and six years of animal feeding study toilets and contaminated pipes leading to study, animals eating a diet of irradiated data on food irradiation. Some of this sewers. In the same year, a worker food experienced weight loss and mis- discredited work is still used as part of received a dose of radiation considered carriage, almost certainly due to irradia- the "scientific" basis for assurances of the lethal for 70 percent of the population. tion-induced vitamin E dietary safety of food irradiation. Prompt hospital treatment saved his life.

26 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 Not a Silver Bullet diators is cobalt 60 supplied by the Cana- food irradiation promotion. But to be Irradiation poses serious risks, and it still dian company Nordion International, successful, irradiation proponents must does not ensure safe meat. Although it Inc. But the only isotope available in suf- convince retailers that consumers want kills most bacteria, it does not destroy ficient quantities for large scale irradia- the technology. The irradiation industry the toxins created in the early stages of tion is cesium 137, which is also one of sees education or "consumer training" as contamination. It also kills beneficial the deadliest. With a half-life of 30 years, the key to citizen acceptance. bacteria which produce odors indicating cesium 137 remains dangerous for nearly In response, scientists at major land- spoilage and naturally control the 600 years. grant universities, with the full support growth of harmful bacteria. The U.S. Department of Energy of the USDA, are developing "educa- Irradiation also stimulates aflatoxin (DOE) initially encouraged food irradia- tional" materials. Iowa State University production. Aflatoxin occurs naturally in tion as part of its Byproduct Utilization (ISU), home of one of two publicly held humid areas and tropical countries in Program (BUP) created in the 1970s to food irradiation facilities in the U.S., fungus spores and on grains and vegeta- promote the commercial use of nuclear developed a pro-irradiation educational bles. The World Health Organization byproducts. The DOE claimed nuclear video with a $39,000 grant from the

The U.S. Department of Energy initially encouraged food irradiation as part of its Byproduct Utilization Program created in ,the 1970s to promote .the commercial use of nuclear byproducts.

(WHO) considers aflatoxin to be a sig- byproducts "have a wide range of appli- USDA Extension Service. The USDA nificant public health risk and a major cations in food technology, agriculture, gave grants to projects designed to influ- contributor to liver cancer in the South. energy, public health, medicine, and ence public acceptance of food technolo- In addition, irradiation will likely industrial technology," and wanted to gies, specifically food irradiation. have a mutagenic effect on bacteria and "ensure full realization of the benefits of But citizens don't want irradiated viruses that survive exposure. Mutated the peaceful atom." foods. Surveys conducted in 1990 and survivors could be resistant to antibiotics At the same time, it would transfer 1994 by HealthFocus, a marketing con- and could evolve into more virulent the burden of nuclear waste from sulting firm specializing in consumer strains. Mutated bacteria could also weapons production to consumers - a health trends, found that over 80 percent become radiation-resistant, rendering fact the DOE admitted to the House of consumers were concerned about the radiation process ineffective for food Armed Services Committee in 1983: food irradiation. A study at ISU found exposed to radiation-resistant strains. "The utilizatipn of these radioactive when consumers are given solid argu- Radiation-resistant strains of salmo- materials simply reduces our waste han- ments both for and against irradiation, nella have already been developed under dling problem... we get some of these acceptance of the technology is substan- laboratory conditions, and scientists at very hot elements llke cesium and stron- tially lower than if they were only given Louisiana State University in Baton tium out of the waste." the pro-irradiation side of the story. An Rouge have found that one bacteria Not only would this take care of the August 1997 CBS News poll found occurring in spoiled meat and animal DOE'S waste problem, but it would nation-wide 73 percent of people oppose feces can survive a radiation dose five develop the technology to reprocess it, and 77 percent say they wouldn't eat times what the FDA will eventually spent nuclear reactor fuel in order to irradiated food. approve for beef. Scientists exposed the recover cesium 137. The reprocessing Citizen aversion to irradiation is so bacteria, called D. radiodurans, to would also enable the DOE to recover strong, no major supermarket chain will between 10 and 15 kilograys (kGy) of plutonium, the main ingredient for carry irradiated foods, and all the top radiation for several hours-enough nuclear weapons. poultry companies in the nation have radiation to kill a person several times After the 1988 irradiator accident in stated they will not adopt the technol- over. The bacteria, which scientists spec- Decatur, Georgia, the DOE stopped ogy. The U.S. government may approve ulate evolved to survive extreme condi- actively promoting food irradiation and its use, but that doesn't mean citizens tions of dehydration, survived the the use of cesium 137. But the store of will believe it's safe, or that they will buy radiation exposure. cesium 137 is ready and waiting. irradiated food. W

The Nuclear Connection Irradiation Today Excerpted from the Food & Water report Meat Hundreds of irradiation facilities would With the FDA's imminent approval of Monopolies: Dirty Meat and the False Promises ofIrradiation. For more information on the need to be built to irradiate beef and beef irradiation, the irradiation industry report or the Food & Water Journal, contact poultry in the U.S. on a mass scale. Cur- is poised to use it as a springboard for Food &Water, 389 Vermont Route 215, rently, the radiation source for most irra- flooding the market with a new wave of Walden, VT 05873. Food b Environmental Justice ( Food Safety 27 1 Creating a Vision for Change by Wendall Chin

n 1992, a multi-ethnic group of peo- the environment, CBE began active the problem, state agencies had issued a ple fishing at local San Francisco Bay organizing at the community level seven fish health warning for the San Francisco Ipiers came together in response to years ago in the San Francisco Bay by Bay over 20 years ago for only one fish poor and unsafe fishing conditions. conducting outreach at the fishing piers and one chemical - striped bass and SAFER!, or San Francisco Bay Advocates to those bearing the most direct impacts mercury. SAFER! Members catch king- For Environmental Rights, was formed of the Bay toxic pollution threat. fish, jacksmelt, and perch, among other fish. The striped bass warning was in English only, and further, was in what many community members call "techno- "The PUC tells us that they are in 'compliance.' babble," or heavily scientific language. These are moral fights, not necessarily legal ones." "Health effects associated with higher consumption of contaminated fish are often further exacerbated by poverty, by Communities for a Better Environ- Poisoned Food, People of Color which is correlated with poor nutrition, ment (CBE), and consists of over 100 and Environmental Racism stress, and less access to quality health dues-paying members, predominantly A community survey of 500 anglers at care," states Pamela Chiang, SAFER! from low-income communities of color, various Bay Area piers revealed that, of Board Member and staff person for the as well as those who fish, swim, surf, or those who regularly consume their catch, Asian Pacific Environmental Network are beach-goers. Believing that only the majority - 65 percent - are people of (APEN)." The consumption of fish con- when organizing at the grassroots level color and/or immigrants with limited taminated by toxics is a major environ- can there be positive social change, English language skills who often supple- mental justice issue." SAFER! is an active membership project ment their protein intake by catching of CBE, a 20 year-old, state-wide urban and eating local fish. A study found that, Winning the First Step - environmental health and justice organi- on average, people of color fishermen Accountability to the Community zation. Traditionally a powerhouse of and their families consume 2 1 percent To address the environmental injustice of lawyers and scientists establishing policy more fish per person per day than white toxic fish consumption, SAFER! began and winning cases for the betterment of fishermen and their families. To add to organizing. SAFER!'s organizing carn-

28 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 paign had two demands: (1) a multilin- move out of the exclusive domains of the munity organizer with CBE's SAFER! gual outreach and education program on legislature, the research lab, the regula- project. "We've registered the concerns of Bay contaminated fish, and (2) a toxic tory arena, and the courts, and be over 25,000 people in churches, high chemical testing program for Bay-caught accountable to a grassroots base, those schools, immigrant service groups, fish. When agencies initially refused to bearing the direct impact of pollution. unions, as well as environmental groups. hold a meeting with local anglers, the Without a broad base of membership People want change and we are ready!". community got over 3000 postcards that is willing to defend and preserve vic- signed in homes and at the piers, with tories, we will always be in a reactionary To find out more about CBEISAFER! and get the help of organizations with con- position. By raising individual awareness involved with a SAFER! campaign, contact SAFER! at (415)243-8373 ext. 213, 214, or 215. stituencies bearing a direct impact from pointed toward collective action, organ- Wendall Chin is the Lead Organizer for Com- contaminated fish. izing, and developing a new generation munities for a Better Environment's SAFER! "There was no accountability," states of community leaders, we set the condi- Project. Greg Karras, CBE's senior scientist. "The tions for future action. With a larger, authorities initially did not want to listen broader base of activism, groups can or take people at the piers seriously. develop power and move forward an Then the community organizing kicked active agenda. IC FISH in and members told agencies where to For example, in 1995, CBE's SAFER! A study performed at the Univer- test fish, which fish to test, which lan- Project won changes from the East Bay sity of Michigan by Patrick C. guages to post signs in, and where to Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) in West, J. Mark Fly, Frances Larkin, post." Oakland, a major contributor to the Bay and Robert W. Marans found Under pressure, officials finally agreed pollution emitting 75 million gallons of that the state regulations con- to a multilingual fish education program wastewater per day. Currently, SAFER!'s trolling the discharge of toxic and a $173,000 toxic fish testing pro- Healthy Bay and Beaches Campaign is chemicals into Michigan surface gram that would test all fish and all targeting the San Francisco Public Utili- waters do not account for the chemicals in the Bay. ties Commission (PUC), one of the Bay's higher average consumption of fish by people of color, especially Native Americans and African Americans. The regulation is The environmental movement has been criticized as based on the assumption that having lost touch with its grassroots constituency the statewide average of daily fish consumption is 6.5 grams per and becoming more concerned with its profession- day. alization, as battles are fought in the legal and However, a survey indicated that generally, African American regulatory arena without a grassroots base. and Native American sport fish- ers and their families consumed far more fish per day. For exam- Fighting for Accountability largest sewage facilities, which has been ple, the study showed that Black and Long Term Change leaking bacteria onto beaches and toxics anglers who had lived in Michi- The environmental movement has been into the Bay. The PUC dumps anywhere gan over 30 years consumed an criticized as having lost touch with its from 90 to 415 million gallons of waste- average of 30 gramslpersonlday. grassroots constituency and becoming water per day into the Bay and ocean. Likewise, Native Americans in more concerned with its professionaliza- CBE-SAFER! members are demanding lower income brackets were tion, as battles are fought in the legal and an inspection of the plant and upgraded found to consume 33.7 regulatory arena without a grassroots industrial and bacterial pollution source gramslpersonlday, the highest base. It has also been criticized for being reduction from its system. However, we amount of any group. These predominantly white, male, and senior. are finding out that the City PUC is findings imply that the state reg- This situation set the stage for what is attempting to hide behind regulations ulation should be revised to now known as the Environmental Justice and limits. cover these groups who consume Movement - with people of color and "The PUC tells us that they are in well above average amounts of women at the forefront, mixed genera- 'compliance.' These are moral fights, not fish. As well, fish consumption tions, and people from predominately necessarily legal ones. We've got predom- advisories should be re-targeted low-income areas. inantly poor communities of color eat- toward these groups of anglers. At CBE, staff and members are con- ing toxic fish from the Bay, pregnant vinced that in order to win, build power, women of color most at risk, and major and develop the capacity for long term governmental agencies disregarding our change, environmental groups must concerns," asserts Michael Thomas, com-

Food b Environmental Justice ( Food Safety 29 We are living in a time when individual, commu- nity and environmental rights are being subju- gated by national and transnational corpora- tions; corporations who have all of the legal rights of an individual without any of the associated responsibilities. Corpora- tions whose annual budg- ets are larger than some world nations and who operate outside the con- trol of many world gov- ernments. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the food production and Poultry catchers carrying chickens to crates which will be loaded onto trucks and carried to the slaughterhouse. distribution system with Masks must be worn to protect workers from dust which has been linked to respiratory problems. corporations like Con Agra, Monsanto, ADM Cargill, and Dupont con- trolling the entire flow of the world's food supply in an incestuous govern- ment-supported system. Corporate Meat and Poultry May be Hazardous Farm loans are now tied to Workers. Farmers. the Environment and Your.Health to chemical use, plants and genetic materials allowed to be patented, The people had come in hordes. (The meatpacker was) speeding seeds owned and where them up and grinding them to pieces, and sending for new ones. individual corporations -Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, 1906 dominate and vertically control every aspect of food production from ownership of land, to the by Marc Cooper, Peter Rosset, and Julia Bryson processing, distribution, ith many of the over 150,000 western Iowa call "Little Mexico." While and sales of the food. The workers in the poultry process- staring out at the piles of snow outside, following articles examine ing plants thwarted in their he laments where destiny has dropped the impacts of corporate w efforts to organize, their workplaces him. agriculture on individuals, remain ever so dangerous. Assembly Six days a week, eight hours a day, communities and the soci- lines that are constantly accelerated, Heriberto stands on his feet in the noisy, ety as a whole. abnormal temperatures and rapid, repet- refrigerated pork slaughterhouse run by itive hand motions all contribute greatly the IBP Corporation, the world's fourth to worker skin diseases, crippling hand largest food manufacturing firm with an and arm illnesses, called cumulative estimated $10 billion in sales per year.2 trauma disorders, ammonia exposure, For take home pay of less than $300 a infections from toxins in the air, stress week, he tediously slices meat off of hog and back problems.' backbones. The work is dangerous and Storm Lake, Iowa. On his one day off arduous, but he feels he has few other from work this week, 45-year-old Herib- opportunitie~.~ erto Solis sits in his uninsulated trailer in "The company loves to work with iUe- a dilapidated mobile home park that the gals," Heriberto says. "When you are ille- residents of this town of 10,000 in north- gal you can't talk back. You keep your

30 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 head down and follow orders. We say of the workforce at IBP's massive pork- Robert Patterson receiving a $5.2 million you can't do nothing." The workers in processing plant. bonus to go with his $1 million annual the plant are not alone in their concerns And not only here in Storm Lake. In a salary.8 It's that sort of attractive bottom- about the large corporate packers. Most sweeping regional arc that slashes line that has over the last 15 years fueled independent farmers who raise animals through America's heartland north from a revolution - nay, a counter-revolution are now close to ruin, in part because a the Dakotas, through Minnesota, - that has convulsed and redrawn the wave of mergers and take-overs in the Nebraska and Iowa, and then down face of American meat-packing. And if meat industry have driven livestock through Kansas into Northern Texas and one could boil that counter-revolution prices down.4 Missouri, and now south and east even down into one slogan it would be: Death The U.S. Department of Agriculture into the Carolinas and Virginia, scores of to Independent Farmers and Meatpack- recently held hearings and asked for tes- meatpacking communities have become ers! In 1973 there were 795 federally- timony from the farmers who produce the new homes to tens of thousands of inspected packing plants, and only two animals for slaughter. "The powerless- impoverished Third World workers. were classified as very large, and they ness of the producers in their dealings "The entire debate over whether or not only handled 7.5% percent of the mar- with concentrated buyers was heard immigrants are of economic benefit is ket. Twenty-two years later 18 mega- about again and again," the Minority disingenuous," says University of North- plants accounted for 80 percent of the Report by six commissioners ~tated.~'hs ern Iowa anthropologist Mark Grey, an market; the independents having largely the number of buyers steadily declines, expert on the restructured packing been driven with only one bidder for cattle in most industry. "No one wants to state the The immense corporate control of the circumstances, those who incur the dis- truth - that food processing in America industry forces farmers into a peonage like of a buyer face economic ruin," it today would collapse were it not for system over which they have little con- continued. "The fear of the overwhelm- immigrant labor." trol. The intensifying vertical integration ing power of the packers was raised by Beef, pork and poultry packers have of the poultry industry, for example, beef producers and echoed by in testi- been aggressively recruiting the most means that broiler and egg production mony from poultry producers. Retalia- vulnerable of foreign workers to relocate are controlled by a handful of processing tion for organizing activities can quickly to the American plains in exchange for companies that contract with individual lead to a producer's bankruptcy." $6 an hour jobs in one of the country's farmers. Under the contract, the compa- most dangerous industries. On the Mid- nies supply the birds, feed, and the man- Corporate Concentration western prairie, these workers now agement scheme (some companies, like and Falling Wages occupy jobs that once went to unionized Cargill, even hold monopolies on the Over the past few decades the meat- meatpackers earning three to four times seeds used to grow the feed.)1° Farmers packing industry has come to be more the current wage. are allowed to own their own buildings concentrated than any other in the U.S., Staggering injury rates - 27% in poul- but are paid by piece rate at levels that as large integrated conglomerates have try and 42% in meat - and on-the-job often don't cover their costs, let alone a bought out and squeezed out the inde- stress caused by difficult, repetitive work, return on investment.ll The integrity of pendents, and increasingly extended often means employment for just a few a farmer as an independent decision- their control over farmers through dra- months before a worker quits or the making individual has been lost along conian contract arrangements. In 1973 company forces him or her off the job. with his or her economic viability. As the top four beef packing companies It's a human chain greased by the gruel- journalist Susan Meeker-Lowry put it, slaughtered 29 percent of steers and ing work regimen which generates an "whole communities' way of life is for- heifers. Today that figure has risen to astonishing worker turn-over rate of 80- ever changed as their farms are trans- over 80 percent, and the industry is 100% a year - a rate common to the formed into meat factories and farmers dominated by three transnational corpo- entire industry. "Perfect for the com- into production workers."'* rations (ConAgra, Cargill and IBP).6 pany," says Heriberto. "Most workers just Four companies now control 45 percent leave before six months is up and the Dangerous to Your Health? of pork production (IBP, ConAgra, company health insurance begins." As if Concentration and integration are part Cargill, and Sara Lee) and four control that were not enough, these new immi- and parcel of the industrialization of the 44 percent of boiler production in the grants are left even more vulnerable by meat and poultry industries, with signifi- poultry industry (Tyson, ConAgra, Gold the Clinton administration's welfare and cant downsides for consumer health and Kist, and Perdue farm^).^ immigration "reforms," which have a the environment. Perhaps the most strik- The IBP factory in Storm Lake both direct and devastating impact on their ing has been the much publicized out- dominates and depends upon the work already fragile existence. break of "Mad Cow Disease" in Great of the 600 or more Mexican and Central Britain, probably associated with American workers and their families Corporate Megaprofits Creutzfeldt- Jakob degenerative brain dis- who have come to live here in Storm and Contract Farming ease in humans. Cattle are thought to Lake. Alongside 1,500 Laotians, these Meanwhile, IBP made a juicy $257 mil- acquire the disease by eating commercial immigrant workers are now the majority lion in profits in 1995, with Chairman feed containing ground-up dead animal

Food b Environmental Justice ( Corporate Agriculture 31 parts. It is feared that the disease can be contamination. Another two million Our Tax Dollars at Work transmitted to humans who consume cases of salmonella poisoning occur with The radical restructuring of American beef contaminated with Mad Cow Dis- up to 2,000 deaths each year. The meat food processing could only be carried ease.13 It seems quite a perversion of industry disclaims responsibility, calling out with the acquiescence of local and industrial agriculture to feed ground-up these slaughterhouse contaminants "nat- state governments, which have showered dead animals to cattle, which are herbi- ural" occurrences that can best be cleaned the meat-packing giants with millions of vores. Fifteen human deaths have thus up during food preparation by the con- dollars in tax rebates and subsidies. For far been linked to this syndrome, and a sumer. New federal meat regulations sim- example, the space now occupied by IBP recent report in the highly respected sci- ply keep contamination from exceeding in Storm Lake was the old Hy-Grade entific journal Nature predicts that current average levels. For chickens that is plant. Prior to the Reagan revolution the local, unionized work force was averag- ing $30,000 a year or more - some In 1973 the top four beef packing companies $51,000 in today's dollars. Refusing to reach agreement with its unions, Hy- slaughtered 29 percent of steers and heifers. Grade closed down in 1981. Today that figure has risen to over 80 percent. After $10 million in local tax subsi- dies as enticements, IBP re-opened the plant a year later, offering $6 an hour, or future deaths in the U.K. could range one in five, and turkeys one in two, con- about $12,000 a year. This pattern of de- anywhere from the low hundreds to the taminated with salmonella.lg unionization and ruralization can be tens of thousands.14 As we move increasingly toward fac- seen across the region. One after another, In March 1996, the U.S. livestock tory farming, the chemicals, hormones meatpacking plants have moved fr0.m industry announced a voluntary, partial and antibiotics given to animals to speed the big cities where they were close to ban on using certain dead animal parts up growth and prevent diseases may labor, into the countryside where they in feed.I5 The Food and Drug Adminis- pose health risks to humans, as does pes- were close to the animals and could save tration proposed making it a mandatory ticide contamination. Since the intro- on costly transport. As supermarkets ban, and is now awaiting feedback on the duction of the use of hormones in took on more specialty butchers, the proposed regulation.16As if confirming livestock production after W.W. 11, there processing plants needed more workers our concern, the industry was just have been a number of claims for an with fewer skills. Unions became anath- rocked by a scandal in which the USDA increase of premature sexual develop- ema. The industry's hourly wage rate found banned spinal cord fragments (the ment in children, enlarged breasts in peaked at $19 in 1980. By 1992 it was tissue most implicated in Mad Cow Dis- men, weight gain, impotence and infer- down below 1960's levels at $12 an hour ease) in ground beef." tility.20The European Union has banned and has continued to fall. By 1988 According to Richard F. Marsh, a vet- imports of U.S. beef, fearing human unionization was half of what it was in erinarian at the University of Wisconsin health effects of the hormones used in 1963. at Madison, "there are reasons to believe America. However, the U.S. government Where the new plants opened labor that mad cow disease has already risen disputes the risks and has asked the was in relatively short supply. And even spontaneously in American cattle, but it World Trade Organization in Geneva to in Storm Lake where hundreds of former apparently has not jumped into the ani- overturn the import ban as a barrier to Hy-Grade workers re-applied for the mal feed supply at this point."Yet pro- free trade as guaranteed under GATT.21 new jobs, IBP hired back only 30. "The posed FDA regulations will stdl allow The consolidation of meat packing company wanted to bar union-experi- cow protein to be fed to fish, chicken and plants has been made possible in part by enced workers from the shop floor:' says pigs in hope that if Mad Cow Disease the increased use of large feedlots. When Mark Grey. With just three companies were to appear, a species barrier would animals are concentrated in an area, (IBP, Cargill, ConAgra) dominating the stop it from spreading.'* manure becomes a waste disposal prob- field, competition among them was, no On the level of more common sick- lem and an environmental hazard pun intended, cut-throat. Production nesses, data suggests a link between instead of the source of nutrients for the lines were sped up. Injury rates climbed. industry concentration and outbreaks of soil that it once was on diversified family What was once a stable work force illnesses linked to beef. The median size farms. For example, the excessive became frenetically mobile. of E. coli and other disease outbreaks has manure produced on hog farms in North Over the last five to eight years Amer- nearly doubled, from 16 to 31 people per Carolina recently caused numerous spills ican meatpacking companies have outbreak between 1973 and 1987, the and runaway algal growth in rivers, aggressively sought out and brought in same period during which intense pack- killing fish and affecting the health of the cheapest and most docile labor force ing concentration occurred. While major people who came in contact with they could find. Along the way they meat packing companies make billions remaining live fish. These large hog smashed one union after another, each year, 500 people die and at least operations have also caused the contami- sparked wholesale migration and 20,000 people become ill from E. coli nation of groundwater with nitrates.22 exploited differences in ethnicity, gender,

32 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 regional and legal status to company duction, but we can hope they are supe- 12 Meeker-Lowry, supra, note 7. advantage, employing methods of labor rior to those described in this piece. 13 Greger, Michael. "The Public Health Impli- control and farmer contracts that one cations of Mad Cow Disease." www.envi- group of researchers say "recall systems Marc Cooper is a contributing editor to The rolink.org/arrs/ of peonage." Nation magazine and host of the syndicated AnimaLifelspring961madcow2.html RadioNation show. Peter Rosset is the execu- 14 Highfield, Roger. "CJD experts fear 100,000 tive director and Julia Bryson is a research There is Another Way new cases." The Telegraph (England), Jan. intern at Food First. This article originally 16, 1997. Food First co-founder Frances Moore appeared in Food First's Backgrounder. Food Lapp6 argued in Dietfar a Small Planet First, lnstitute for Food and Development Pol- 15 "USDA, U.S. Public Health Service Announce Additional Steps, Support for that a food system in which quality icy, 398 60th Street, Oakland, California 94618 USA. [email protected]. Industry Efforts to keep U.S. free of BSE," farmland is devoted to raising cattle feed USDA Release No. 0159.96,March 29, 1996. instead of crops is a good way to waste Notes 16 "FDA Proposes Precautionary Ban Against resources, impoverish farmers and main- Ruminant-to-Ruminant Feeding," U.S. tain hunger.23Yet that doesn't mean there 1 Krebs, A.V. , The Corporate Reapers: The Book of Agribusiness. Essential Books, Department of Health and Human Services is no place for farm animals in ecologi- Washington, DC, 1991. FDA Release P97-1, Jan. 2, 1997. cally-managed farming. In fact, the rota- 2 Welsh, Rick. "The Industrial Reorganization 17 "Ground beef sometimes contains banned tion of animals with crops, practiced by of U.S. Agriculture: An Overview & Back- parts, but USDA denies there's a health the world's small farmers since time ground Report." Henry A. Wallace lnstitute threat." San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 22, immemorial, is a highly productive sus- for Alternative Agriculture Policy Studies 1997. tainable practice in which the waste Report No. 6, Greenbelt, MD, 1996. 18 Blakeslee, Sandra, "Fear of Disease products of each component are key 3 Unattributed quotes and background Prompts New Look at Rendering." New inputs for the other. Thus manure fertil- information were obtained by Marc York Times, March 1 1, 1997. izes crops and animals eat crop residues. Cooper while researching his story "The 19 Meeker-Lowry, Susan & Jennifer Ferrara. Leading agroecologists believe that eco- heartland's raw deal: how meatpacking is "Meat Monopolies: Dirty Meat and the creating a new immigrant underclass," False Promises of Irradiation," 18, a report logically optimal farming systems should which appeared in the Feb. 3, 1997, issue by Food and Water, 1997. indeed incorporate animals.24Further - of The Nation. more, there are grassland regions which 20 Meeker-Lowry, supra, note 7; Saenz de 4 Welsh, supra; Strange, Marty & Higby, Rodriguez, C.A. Journal of the Puerto Rican are suitable for grazing though not for Annette. "From the Carcass to the Kitchen: Medical Association (Feb. 1982). crops, where it makes ecological sense to Competition and the Wholesale Meat Mar- 21 "Glickman and Barschefsky Announce WO raise rangefed livestock. ket." Center for Rural Affairs, Walthill, NE, 1995. Panel to Review EU Hormone Ban," USDA The U.S. Humane Society has created Press Release No. 0265.96,May 20, 1996. guidelines for humane, sustainable agri- 5 Minority Report I, in USDA Agricultural 22 Strange & Higby, supra, note 4. culture, in which meat and poultry can Marketing Service. Concentration in Agri- be produced in ways which are humane culture: A Report of the USDA Advisory 23 Lappe, Frances Moore. Diet for a Small Committee on Agricultural Concentration, to the animals, ecologically sound, free of Planet. Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 1996. 1971. hormones and antibiotics, and certainly 6 Strange & Higby, supra, note 4. don't contain ground-up dead animal 24 Altieri, Miguel A. Agroecology: The Science 7 Meeker-Lowry, Susan. "Challenging the ofSustainable Agriculture. Westview Press, There is an incipient movement Boulder, CO, 2nd ed. 1995; Garcia Trujillo, of farmers who offer rangefed or agro- meat monopoly: massive corporate control of land and farmers." Z Magazine, 28, 28- Roberto. Los Animales en 10s Sistemas ecological meat and poultry products, 35 (March 1995). For a succinct history Agroecologico. Pan para el Mundo, and for those consumers who are not check out www.eh.net:80/Archives/h-busi- Havana, Cuba, 1996. vegetarians, it makes sense to support nesslapr-961001O.html. 25 Fox, Michael W. "The Place of Farm Ani- them. 8 Hedges, Stephen, et al. "The new jungle," mals in Humane Sustainable Agriculture." While these hormone-free products U.S. News & World Report, Sept. 23, 1996. Humane Society USA, Washington, DC, 1991. cost more, that can be offset by reducing 9 Strange & Higby, supra, note 4. meat and poultry products in the diet pro- 10 Meeker-Lowry, supra, note 7. To find a local source of ecologically rational portionally, which in any event is a healthy meat and poultry, ask your health food store choice. Unfortunately we do not as yet 11 Strange, Marty. "Family Farming: A New or farmers at the farmer's market. To contact have any independent information on Economic Vision." lnstitute for Food & your state organic grower's association, call Development PolicyIUniversity of Nebraska the Organic Trade Association at 41 3-7747511. labor practices in alternative livestock pro- Press, San Francisco, CA, 1988.

Food b Environmental Justice ( Corporate Agriculture 33 I MONSANTO'S

EXAMINING THE ASSUMPI-IONS OF INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE by Andrew Kimbrell

"Mythology distracts us everywhere - in government as in business,

in politics as in economics. " -.IFK

uess Who's Coming to are taken as true. These myths provide The Myth's Dangers Dinner? 10 Billion By convenient cover for Monsanto and the Government and private efforts to "G 2030" proclaims the head- other agribusiness and biotechnology reduce world hunger are based on the line on Monsanto's home page. The transnationals who are themselves a technological quest to produce ever company warns of the "growing pres- major culprit in increasing world higher yields on agricultural land. This is sures on the Earth's natural resources to hunger. Unmasking these myths needs to causing environmental and social catas- feed more people." The agribusiness be an ongoing task for those advocating trophe. Additionally, this myth diverts giant then cautions that low technology sustainable agriculture. So, let us begin attention from the urgent need for eco- agriculture "will not produce sufficient by examining the four primary and nomic and land redistribution essential crop yield increases and improvements interrelated myths used by Monsanto in for food and economic security. to feed the world's burgeoning popula- its current ads and public information There is no myth about hunger. It is tion." campaign: estimated that 786 million people go However, there is no need to despair. hungry each day. And hunger is increas- According to Monsanto, "Today's high 1)The Myth ing. From 1970 to 1990, with the excep- yield agriculture is a stunning success ..." World Hunger is caused primarily by a tion of China, the number of hungry Further, the company asserts that lack of food with which to feed a growing people in the world increased by more "biotechnology innovations will triple population. than 11 percent. crop yields without requiring any addi- The myth is not about hunger but tional farmland, saving valuable rain The Myth's Assumption rather its primary cause. Monsanto forests and animal habitats." Even better, World Hunger can be solved by extract- would have us believe that as the world the biotechnology revolution will mean ing the maximum food output from land population increases, food production "less chemical use in farming." The con- in the shortest time. just cannot keep up. The result is that dusion is obvious and one that will be hundreds of millions are hungry. Yet trumpeted in an upcoming Monsanto ad The Myth's Refutation numerous studies and statistics refute campaign: "Biotechnology can feed the The primary cause of hunger is not the this claim. In fact, even as world hunger world... let the harvest begin." lack of food. There is currently a suffi- has increased since 1970, so has the food I Monsanto's current commercial prop- cient quantity of food. However, if you production per capita. In South America aganda is steeped in numerous danger- do not have sufficient money to buy the number of those hungry went up by I, ous modern agricultural myths about food, or sufficient land to grow it, you go 19 percent. Yet per capita food supplies hunger, food production and agriculture. hungry. rose almost 8 percent. In South Asia Unfortunately, these myths have been, hunger and food per capita both I and are being, repeated so often that they increased by 9%.

34 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 These statistics and numerous others Assessment of farm efficiency should The most immediate effect of this indicate that population growth was not be based solely on the volume of the drive towards larger, more technology- the primary cause of the increase in food it produces. intensive farms is that it accelerates the hunger since 1970. Total food theoreti- tragic enclosure trend. Since World War Environmental and social costs . . . - cally available for each person actually 11, the size of the average farm has more involved in food production are not increased significantly. What then is the relevant to efficiency because they are than doubled in the United States. At the primary cause of world hunger? The "external" to the farm. same time the number of farms has . basic cause is food dependence. The dropped by two-thirds and the number industrial system has, over centuries, in virtually every area of the globe, "enclosed" peasants off the land so that the land can be used for export crops. The profits gained from these exports is "If you don't have land on which to grow food the essential "primitive accumulation of capital" required for industrial develop- or the money to buy it, you go hungry no matter ment in any society. The result of enclo- how dramatically technology pushes up food sure was, and continues to be, that untold millions of peasants lose their production." land, community, traditions and most directly their food independence. Removed from their land, they then flock to the newly industrialized cities where they quickly become a class of Farms of all sizes produce the same of farmers by twice that percentage. The urban poor competing for low-paying crops, with the same technology and pattern is familiar, the destruction of jobs in the urban industrial setting. the same mix of inputs. rural communities and the consequent Those that stay on the land generally exodus to the cities of thousands of attempt to survive by low-paying farm The Myth's Refutation uprooted and impoverished farmers and work on the large newly industrialized others in the rural communities. The Even by conventional efficiency stan- farms. Currently, more than half a billion result: increases in unemployment, dards large farms are not the most rural people in the Third World are land- crime, food dependency and hunger. As efficient. less, or do not have sufficient land to large-scale farms and technologies con- grow their own food. * Environmental and social costs tinie to proliferate in the ~hirdWorld After enclosure, both the urban and should be calculated in any efficiency even more dire consequences are pre- rural poor are completely food depend- assessment. dicted. ent. Their access to food is by solely by It is not only the size of farms which Efficiency assessment should involve purchase and should they lose that pur- obliterates farm communities and food calculating the cost and nature of chasing power they starve. Increasing independence, but also technology. New inputs into agriculture, not solely the agricultural output has little effect on the technological advances replace workers volume of output. hungry because it fails to address the key in agriculture, and represent economic issues of access to land and purchasing The Myth's Dangers disaster for all but the largest farms. As power which are at the root of hunger. The phrase "bigger, more efficient farm" one researcher investigating biotechnol- As summarized in a recent Food First has become routine, causing a public ogy notes, "The majority of farmers do report, "If you don't have land on which policy assumption that larger farms not benefit from technological change: to grow food or the money to buy it, you should become a priority. Farm size 'the farmer beneficiaries are largely lim- go hungry no matter how dramatically increases environmental and biodiversity ited to the early adopters - usually larger technology pushes up food production." damage, displaces farmers and farm operators.' They are able to expend workers, causes the destruction of farm- quickly the capital to invest in the new 2)The Myth related businesses and communities, and technology. They reap the benefits of an Larger, technology-intensive farms are increases the urban poor and related aggregate supply increase and can still more eficient for food production. poverty and hunger. makea profit even as the price per unit The myth that bigger, technology ori- drops. At the same time, the price drop The Myth's Assumptions ented farms are better is a corollary of hampers the efforts of late adopters to the myth that food output is the solution remain in the changing market." The more land and technology the to hunger. To address world hunger, we Monsanto and others have acknowl- larger the output of food. need more output therefore we need edged the price that technology and size larger farms and more advanced technol- exacts from the farm community but "a- insist it is the price that has to be paid for Food b Environmental Justice I Corporate Agriculture 35 greater efficiency in food production. well on a small scale. It is a function of Industrial crop production has devas- But as writer and activist Marty Strange our fixation with maximums, and our tated agricultural lands, itself forcing has detailed, large farms are not more indifference to optimums:" the use of marginal lands. efficient. Her research convincingly In 1989, United States National Industrial agriculture is destroying demonstrates that even by conventional Research Council was asked to assess the aquatic and marine systems, them- assessments of efficiency, medium-sized, true efficiency of large industrial farms selves increasingly important sources not large farms are the most efficient. versus alternatives. Their conclusion of food and biodiversity. Moreover, the calculations which sup- went exactly contrary to the "bigger is port even the more moderate "economy better" myth: The Myth's Dangers of size" view that bigger is better are "Well managed alternative farming Along with the dangers described in fatally flawed. Conventional efficiency systems nearly always use less synthetic myths one and two, acceptance of this analysis completely ignores the social chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and myth can discourage government and and environmental cost of large scale antibiotics per unit of production than private support for research and devel- industrial farming. The costs of water conventional farms. Reduced use of these opment into low-tech alternatives to the and air pollution, top soil loss, biodiver- inputs lowers production costs and industrial model. This myth is used by sity loss are not considered. Numerous lessens agriculture's potential for adverse Monsanto and others as a permanent block to the growing trend of organic local production which can feed the Well managed alternative farming systems nearly world and protect the environment. always use less synthetic chemical pesticides, Monsanto and other agribusiness conglomerates are seeing the birth of a fer.tilizers, and antibiotics per unit of production powerful new competitor for consumers than conventional farms. in the United States and Europe, organic food production. No longer a "niche" market the organic food market soared studies have shown that large farms have environmental and health effects with- to $4 billion in the United States in the far greater environmental impacts than out decreasing - and in some cases mid 1990s and is increasing 20% each smaller farms, including up to 40% more increasing - per acre crop yields and the year. Over 2 million American families erosion. productivity of livestock management now buy organic, with more than 14 mil- The efficiency analysis also ignores systems." lion searching out "natural" foods. Of the human health costs of consuming even greater concern to Monsanto is the foods contaminated with pesticides, hor- 3) The Myth growing resistance to its corporate tactics mones and other poisons. The disloca- "Low tech" alternatives to high yield and message in India and other Third tion, over the decades, of million of industrial crop production require more World nations. Public outcry has forced farmers and thousand of farm commu- land to produce the same output thus the corporation to back down on nities also does not appear in the effi- threatening wetlands, forests and other numerous enterprises. The bigger is bet- ciency calculation. All of these costs are unique ecosystems. ter myth is beginning to lose its power. viewed as external to farm production Monsanto's response has been to and termed "externalities." With these The Myth's Assumptions launch media attacks on "low-tech" agri- costs excluded, the public never is cultural alternatives. The company does Technology intensive farming is the informed of the "real" price of the food so under the guise of being environmen- only way to boost yields. produced on large industrialized farms. tally conscious. Given the corporation's The efficiency analysis also does not Limiting land used for food produc- record on environmental issues this take into consideration the unique char- tion outweighs the environmental stance is not credible yet Monsanto per- acter of small farms. In that it is measur- costs of industrial food production. sists. Their primary claim (which they ing only outputs, the economy of size are attempting to transform into a new High tech industrial farms are as view ignores significant advantages that myth) is that in order to "feed the world" compatible with local environments small farms have in reducing input. For low tech agriculture (with its purport- as alternative methods. example, diversification increases effi- edly low yields) will need to massively A ciency because it allows the more com- The Myth's Refutation expand the amount of land being used to plete use of inputs, such as a variety of grow food, which will destroy important Alternative farming methods have crops grown in different seasons. As wildlife habitat and other vital ecosys- been shown to increase yields as effi- Strange summarizes, "In agricultural tems. ciently as industrial methods. economics, a bias against diversification As described above, however, numer- persists, reflecting the conviction that There is mounting evidence of declin- ous studies continue to indicate that doing one thing well on a large scale is ing yields associated with "Green Rev- alternatives to industrial, high tech agri- more important that doing many things olution" farming practices. culture are when properly calculated, at

36 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 least as efficient in producing output as Genetically-engineered crops, such as built its financial success selling the their industrial-chemical-based counter- herbicide-resistant crops, directly world's leading herbicide Roundup and parts. Additionally, the Monsanto argu- increase the use of chemicals. other agricultural poisons, it now pur- ment fails to account for the declining ports to reject the chemical industrial Biotech crops, such as those engi- yields now associated with the technol- neered with B.t., undermine the effec- model. "More Biotechnology Plants ogy-and chemical-intensive "Green Rev- Mean Less Industrial Ones," proclaims tiveness of natural pesticides leading olution" foisted on the Third World. In the headline of one ad. "The world grows to the use of more pesticides. the Philippines,- - India, and Nepal . its food at great- cost to the environ- research is indicating significant loss in Many biotech advances, including the ment," it continues. The ad then yields after they peaked in the 1980s. Soil creation of sterile seeds, could prevent bemoans the environmental impacts of degradation and a proliferation of pests, farmers from saving seeds, thereby "insecticides, fertilizers and herbicides." typical of large scale monoculture farm- increasing cost dependency and ulti- It concludes, "At Monsanto, we believe ing, are suspected as the culprits in the mately hunger. plant biotechnology can limit industrial decline. The patenting of genetically engi- and chemical impact on the earth. For Researchers at the Henry Wallace neered crops and animals increases instance, we have developed crops that Institute also note that just as the indus- are insect resistant, in some cases elimi- the cost of farming and the price of

Many biotech advances, including the creation of sterile seeds, could prevent farmers from saving seeds, thereby increasing cost dependency and ultimately hunger. trial agriculture destroys the productivity nating the need to apply insecticides food, thereby leading to an increase in of farm land it also compromises other hunger. altogether." food sources. Chemical contamination In reality of course, much of Mon- and eutrophication (primarily from Releasing genetically-engineered santo's work in biotechnology will runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous organisms into the environment can directly or indirectly lead to the use of from cropland) threaten the productivity cause "biological pollution" which can more chemicals in agriculture. Most of of the marine and aquatic systems equal chemical pollution in its the genetically-engineered foods on responsible for much of the world's food destruction of the environment. which Monsanto has over a dozen supplies. Sixty percent of the world's patents that are crops genetically-engi- population receive more than 40% of The Myth's Dangers neered to be resistant to the herbicide their yearly protein from fish and Acceptance of this newest of agricultural Roundup. Now farmers can buy and use seafood. Chemical contamination has myths will lead to greater, not less, use of ever more Roundup with the resulting also devastated wildlife and the biodiver- pesticides and herbicides. Additionally, it contamination of air, water and food. sity that Monsanto now claims to want will involve the release of untold num- Monsanto, as noted in their ad, has also to protect. bers of genetically engineered microbes, engineered a version of the natural pesti- plants and animals into the environment cide B.t. into a variety of food plants, 4) The Myth with potentially catastrophic results. Fur- hoping to make them pest-resistant. This Biotechnology will feed the world with less ther, it will result in increased depend- technology has not yet proven successful, chemical use, less pollution and fewer ency of farmers on technology which and will almost certainly have the effect resources. disempowers them and makes them into of creating wide-spread resistance in pest a new class of "tenant" farmers paying populations to B.t. This would be a near The Myth's Assumptions patent fees to grow crops and raise live- death blow to many organic farmers for stock. This myth is also being used by whom B.t. is an essential pest control Biotechnology has shown that it is Monsanto and others to discourage tool. If B.t. is lost because of increased effective. national and international regulation of pest resistance the only alternative for Biotechnology has developed prod- biotechnology, especially its environ- many farmers will be to increase the use ucts that protect the environment mental impacts. of pesticides. Monsanto's recent ad campaigns have There is, however, an even more The Myth's Refutation been almost entirely devoted to purvey- important sleight of hand involved in ing the myth that biotechnology can feed Monsanto's selling of the biotech myth. Agricultural biotechnology has a long future generations and can replace Monsanto knows that most of the history of failure chemical agriculture. Though Monsanto world's population is familiar with and

Food 8 Environmental Justice I Corporate Agriculture 37 concerned about chemical pollution the disease-resistant weeds will multiply from agriculture and industry. Chemical and be virtually impossible to isolate and 3 Id. pollution is a contamination model of control (even with massive and indis- 4 Louise Jury, "Anger at Monsanto's Claim to pollution. Chemicals contaminate water, criminate use of herbicides). Each release 'Feed the World.'" London Independent, air or food making it toxic. By attempt- of a genetically-modified organism is a July 25, 1998. ing to sell the myth that agricultural form of ecological roulette which Mon- 5 Peter Uvin, "The State of World Hunger,"in biotechnology is a "green," environmen- santo and others are playing. The ecosys- Ellen Messer and Peter Uvin (eds) The tally-benign technology Monsanto is tem can only be the loser. Biological Hunger Report: 1995 (Amsterdam: Gordon avoiding the whole problem of biological pollution may well be the most urgent and Breach Publishers, 1996). table 1.6. For pollution. pollution problem of the 21st century. a more'recent and fuller description of world hunger and the Myth of the Green Revolution, see Lappe, Collins, Rosset and Esparza, World Hunger: 12 Myths, Second Edition, (GrovelAtlantic and Food First Monsanto and other transnationals are now Books) Fall 1998. patenting the genes, plants and animals essential 6 Id. for agricultural production. 7 Roy L. Prosterman, Mary N. Temple and Timothy M. Hanstead (eds), Agrarian Reform and Grassroots Development: Ten Case Studies (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Pub- Biological pollution is a disease model Beyond the problems of biological lishers, 1990) Introduction p.1. of pollution. Most familiar with the bac- pollution, biotechnology completes the 8 Lappe, et al, "The Latest on the Green teria or viruses which effect human enclosure process in agriculture. Mon- Revolution and Proposals for a New Green Revolution," in World Hunger: 12 Myths, health, biological pollution is evident santo and other transnationals are now p.3. when exotic plants, animals or other patenting the genes, plants and animals organisms are released into the environ- 9 Linda M. Labao, Locality and Inequality: essential for agricultural production. Farm and Industry Structure and Socioeco- ment. In the United States this type of Monsanto has developed the ability to nomic Conditions (Albany: State University biological pollution, including the inva- sterilize seeds genetically so they cannot of New York Press, 1990), table 2.1. sion of the Gypsy Moth, Kudzu vine and be saved. These companies are enclosing 10 Jan Wojcik, The Arguments of Agriculture organisms responsible for Chestnut the genetic commons of all agricultural (West Lafayette, Indiana 1989) p.88 (citing Blight and Dutch Elm Disease, has life making all farmers and consumers the work of Frederick H. Buttell). wreaked environmental havoc. Now even more dependent on corporate enti- 11 See, Marty Strange, Family Farming; A New Monsanto and others are releasing thou- ties for their very survival. EconomicVision (Lincoln: University of sands of new genetically-engineered . Nebraska Press, 1988) pp.78-103. Andrew Kimbrell is a public interest attorney, microbes, plants and animals into the 12 Strange, at 93. environment. Each of these genetically activist and author. He has been involved in public interest legal activity in numerous areas 13 Alternative Agriculture, National Research altered organisms is a potential "exotic" of technology,human health and the environ- Council, (Washington D.C.: National Acad- which could harm the environment. The ment. After working eight years as the Policy emy Press, 1989). P.9. long term impact of thouiands upon Director at the Foundation for Economic 14 Hewitt, Tracy Irwin, Smith, Katherin R., thousands of genetically-modified Trends, Kimbrell established the International "Intensive Agriculture and Environmental organisms could well eclipse the damage Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) in Quality: Examining the Newest Agricultural 1994 and the Center for Food Safety (CFS) in Myth." at 7-9. that has resulted from the wholesale 1997. Kimbrell has written several books and release of petro-chemical products. given numerous public lectures on a variety of 15 Lappe, et al at 17. In chemical pollution, a chemical that issues. He has been featured on radio and tele- is found to be hazardous does not repro- vision programs across the country, including duce itself, and though it might spread, The Today Show, the CBS Morning Show, 17 Hewitt and Smith "Intensive Agriculture Crossfire, Headlines on Trial, and Good Morn- and Environmental Quality: Examining the its concentrations will become increas- ing America. He has lectured at dozens of uni- Newest Agricultural Myth." at 4. ingly dilute. Thus the damage caused versities throughout the country and has 18 See, www.monsanto.com. by chemical pollution is most often testified before congressional and regulatory localized and dissipates with time. With hearings. In 1994, the Utne Reader named 19 See, Mendelson, Joseph Ill, "Roundup Rules biological pollution, and with biotech- Kimbrell as one of the world's 100 leading the World." visionaries. nological organisms, the disturbance to the ecosystem increases and intensifies as Notes the organisms multiply, disseminate and mutate. The problem will not remain 1 Quoted in Hewitt, Tracy Irwin, Smith, Katherine R., "Intensive Agriculture and localized, but will expand in a potentially Environmental Quality: Examining the irreversible manner. For example, if pest Newest Agricultural Myth." p.1. resistance spreads from crops to weeds,

38 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter ZOO0 THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF AGRICULTURE IRONMENTAL RBUSM A Deadly combination Affecting Neighborhoods and the Dinner Table

By David H. Harris, Jr.

nvironmental racism manifests methods of production that often make communities is clearly an environmental itself in rural communities in three the food unsafe to eat. justice question. Eprimary ways: the construction However, are factory farms and the and operation of intensive livestock industrialization of agriculture an envi- Growth In Hog Operations operations in or near people of color ronmental justice issue? It depends on in North Carolina communities; labor practices dangerous the placement and who is impacted. The The bulk of the growth in hog inventory to workers (including factory workers placement of mega-beef operations in a nationally since 1991 has been in North and farmworkers); and the placement of remote, uninhabited part of Texas, where Carolina. The number of hogs on North landfills, incinerators, and other noxious the only neighbors are rattlesnakes, is Carolina farms has multiplied from 3.7 production and waste facilities in or near not an environmental justice question million at the end of 1991 to over 9.5 people of color communities and low- (except to the rattlesnakes). However, the million in 1997 - moving the state from income communities. This article placement of factory hog operations sixth to second in the nation in hog pro- focuses on the placement of industrial- short distances from African American duction. This growth has all occurred in sized livestock operations in -people - of churches, day care centers, and whole very large concentrated animal feeding color communities and low wealth com- munities. Much of the discussion will focus on North Carolina as an example, but the same facts are true in several states. The same economic neglect that makes people of color communities and low-income communities prime targets of the usual polluting industrial activities also makes them prime targets of the environmental harm caused by agribusi- ness' efforts to monopolize our food supply through unsustainable produc- tion methods.

"Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations" It may be a 700,000 hen operation that produces millions of eggs per day. It may be a dairy operation of 5,000 or more cows located in California or New Mex- ico. It may be a hog operation of 70,000 full grown hogs in North Carolina or Missouri. The trend is the same - the industrialization of agriculture by a few corporations, building monopolies and controlling all aspects of production and marketing, from egg to grocer shelf, dis- placing hundreds of thousands of farm- ers, mistreating farmworkers and processing-- plant workers, and using- Workers on this dairy farm milk 350 cows per day.

Food 6 Environmental Justice I Corporate Agriculture 39 operations (CAFOs)' - housing 1,000 to According to recent estimates, a single accommodate rapid expansion of the 60,000 or more hogs in confined feed- CAFO with 10,000 full grown hogs industry, and enforcement of existing lot~.~In North Carolina, CAFOs market- requires the same amount of waste treat- laws is relatively lax, and because the full ing 2,000 or more hogs annually ment as a city of 17,000 pe~ple.~Likewise, health impacts of this method of pro- accounted for only 9.3% of all produc- the waste produced by eight million full duction have not been assessed, a major ers, but owned 90% of the total inven- grown hogs requires as much waste treat- pollution time-bomb is set to explode. tory in the state. ment as that of 15 million people - more Air pollution is a lesser known but The bulk of these operations are than the populations of Virginia, North very serious problem. The evaporation of located in rural Eastern North Carolina Carolina, and Arkansas ~ombined.~ large amounts of ammonia gas and communities. The greatest concentration Because hog waste contains more concen- hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere cre- of people of color in the state is also in trated organic matter than human waste ates severe air quality and pollution prob- rural Eastern North Carolina. (and antibiotics and other chemicals lems. The emission of dust and particles Driven by production economic^,^ harmful to humans in large doses), and that contain biological contaminants is state and federal agricultural and tax contains metals like copper and zinc, also significant. Both workers and com- policies that favor industrial farming proper treatment and disposal are essen- munity residents experience breathing operations to the economic detriment of tial to safe production at these sites.8 problems, though long term effects are family farms, and ineffective environ- Despite the high level of dangerous not yet documented. Further damage to mental protection activities by the Envi- waste produced by swine CAFOs, the the ecosystems of river basins may also ronmental Protection Agency (EPA), this prevailing method of waste treatment occur as a result of nitrates that return to mushrooming growth endangers the remains only about as sophisticated as the system as nitrogen-rich rain. future of family hog farming in North rural residential septic tanks. Storage in The liquid portion of the waste is Carolina and several other states, and anaerobic lagoons containing tens of mil- removed from the lagoons and sprayed poses a grave threat to the economic lions of gallons of waste is the primary upon spray fields as fertilizer.ll The spray well-being of rural communities. While method of waste treatment. The lagoons, fields are often over-saturated, leading to North Carolina's hog inventory has lined with clay, often leach toxins into the runoff into the surface water. Hog grown 304% since 1984, the number of groundwater. Up to half of the existing CAFOs have already caused considerable hog farmers has declined 71%. Smaller lagoons in North Carolina may leak surface water pollution. At many sites, hog operators who do not use confined badly enough to contaminate groundwa- hog waste has been illegally discharged feeding lots, independent hog operators ter, according to research performed by into nearby water bodies, through direct that are not under contract to vertical North Carolina State University9Consid - piping from lagoons and from field integrators, and people of color hog ering the fact that 70 to 90 percent of runoff, causing algal blooms, fish kills, operators are now almost extinct in the rural residents drink well water (ground- and dying aquatic vegetation. Many of state. Exacerbating the situation are vio- water), the picture is not appealing. This these water bodies drain into larger lations of the Packers and Stockyards contamination directly threatens the waterways, such as the Cape Fear River Act4 and other unfair trade practices that health of the rural residents who drink and the Pamilco Sound, where larger go unchallenged. Lax enforcement of well water. The excess nitrates that seep communities obtain their drinking water. environmental and antitrust laws has into the groundwater have demonstrated Many poor and working class individ- allowed integrators (meat processing health impacts and are cause for concern. uals use these same streams and rivers to companies) to force independent opera- Nitrate-contaminated drinking water can fish for food. Reports of damage to fish tors out of business, and to treat their cause blue baby syndrome in infants, a are increasing. Yet people who have not own contract farmers (who also absorb a sometimes fatal disease. been adequately warned of the danger, or large portion of the risk of the opera- Hog waste lagoons, like earthen dams, who have no economic alternative, con- tion) like serfs. do break at times. During the summer of tinue to eat the fish that for many years 1995, there were seven major spills from has been an important protein source in Environmental Consequences waste lagoons in North Carolina, six of their diet. of Swine CAFOs which were hog-related. As a result of In addition to the breathing problems Rural communities face more than the these spills, more than 30 million gallons for workers and residents, the intense economic threat from the unregulated of hog waste poured into the waterways, odor from intensive swine operations growth in factory hog farming. Factory resulting in massive fish-kill~.~~The last has other public health implications. hog farms also pose a lethal danger to count was over 15 million fish killed in Many people can no longer open their the environment and public health, the state's rivers that year. Subsequent windows, work in their yards, wait for threatening air q~ality,~threatening inspections by the North Carolina school buses or play outside due to the drinking water safety, threatening safety Department of Environment, Health, terrible smell. Concern over public of consuming fish caught in rivers, and Natural Resources showed a large health was sufficient to cause the North increasing pest infestation, and creating number of waste lagoons in poor condi- Carolina General Assembly to commis- noxious odor and solid waste problems. tion. Because facilities and disposal sion a report on swine odor and water methods are grossly inadequate to contamination by North Carolina State

40 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 University. The final report indicates that become a powerful political force in allow attorneys to act as private attorneys odor problems are indeed an issue that Eastern North Carolina. They have general to protect communities. It is the the hog industry needs to address. Other located operations in counties that have hope of this author that more attorneys public health threats include the increase very high percentages of people who will take on these types of cases and do so in the number and disease-carrying have been traditionally disenfranchised, without the intention of taking the capacity of flies and other insects. people of color and the poor, and who money and running out on the client Neighboring farmers and landowners, have virtually no say in how these opera- communities before helping them who are most intensely exposed to these tions are affecting their lives. The public achieve the remedies they deserve. hazards, harbor grave concerns about the health, environmental, and economic detrimental effect of these operations on concerns of these populations remain David H. Harris, Jr. is the former Executive their property values and quality of life. largely unaddressed by state and county Director of the Land Loss Prevention Project - a nonprofit, public interest law firm created by Recent studies indicate that these con- agencies. the North Carolina Association of Black cerns are not without justification. In response to these threats, local Lawyers to address legal and economic prob- Increasingly, rural communities are communities are organizing to oppose lems associated with the loss of family farmers grappling with the negative effects this the construction and operation of and minority landowners. He currently serves industry has on the economic and envi- CAFOs, and to urge county and state in the office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ronmental health of their area. Poor and governmental officials to enact more people of color communities who often ordinances, regulations, and statutes. Notes have not had a role in the decisions that These communities have called for, and bring these facilities to their areas have urgently need, the assistance of lawyers 1 This author's definition of a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) is slightly been hit particularly hard by problems to respond with the type of regulatory different from that used by the Environ- created by factory hog operations. advocacy, legislative advocacy, and litiga- mental Protection Agency. 40 C.F.R. 5 Because factory swine operations are tion needed to address these problems. 122.23; 40 C.F.R. PART 122 Appendix B. considered agricultural operations, they From this author's perspective, EPA's defini- have enjoyed many exemptions from Environmental Justice tion is unrealistic in that EPA's definition attempts to pretend that large animal environmental regulatory checks, includ- Aspects of CAFOs feeding operations could never spill into ing zoning laws that apply to industrial Be not deceived: CAFOs are not farms. the waterways. operations, towns, and even private They are industries, industries that pro- 2 David Cecelski & Mary Lee Kerr, "Hog Wild homes. In addition, agribusiness remains duce hazardous waste. The non-regula- - How Corporate Hog Operations are a powerful economic force in North Car- tion of the waste management systems Slaughtering Family Farms and Poisoning olina, holding out the promise of eco- used by CAFOs has a significant negative the Rural South," Southern Exposure 9, 12 nomic prosperity and jobs for rural impact on communities. In the south- (Fall 1992). communities. Before 1996, policy-mak- eastern states, including North Carolina, 3 Per hog production costs tend to fall as ers in North Carolina and other states in the swine CAFOs and other types of hog operations become larger. the South had enacted few laws to regu- CAFOs are largely sited in people of 4 7 U.S.C. 55 181 et seq. (1994). late the industry, and the laws subse- color communities and low income 5 Dangers include human respiratory prob- quently enacted in 1996 are insufficient communities. One only has to place the lems and a type of acid rain. to protect people in neighboring com- operations on a census map: The 15 top 6 Cecelski & Kerr, supra note 2, at 13. munities. Many other states, especially in hog producing counties in North Car- the Midwest, are considering relaxing olina are all located in Eastern North 7 Id. their current environmental and anti- Carolina and have high concentrations 8 Id. corporate farming laws to allow them to of Blacks. 9 Joby Warrick and Pat Stith, "New Studies keep up and compete with North Car- Show Lagoons Are Leaking," Raleigh News olina's booming growth in the hog Conclusion & Observer, March 19, 1995 Reprint edition industry. This will endanger their own CAFOs are an environmental problem by at 2 (originally printed on February 19, 1995). communities. themselves. The placement of CAFOs in Although large, the CAFOs have man- people of color communities is an envi- 10 Joby Warrick, "Hog-Farm Spill Kills Thou- sands of Fish Downstream," Raleigh News aged to avoid the requirement to acquire ronmental justice problem - a problem & Observer, June 27, 1995, at A3. an NPDES12 permit by staying below the that has the same types of remedies and size threshold or claiming that they do require the same level of high quality 11 The heavy metals in the liquid usually kill the soil, making growth impossible in the not discharge into the surface water. This committed legal representation as with future. fact and lax state compliance with EPA other areas of environmental law and 12 National Pollution Discharge System mandates have made EPA's 20-year-old civil rights law. Nuisance and other com- (NPDES) permit. See 40 C.F.R. 5 122.25. regulations ineffective.I3 mon law theories also give rise to puni- With few state and federal controls tive damages claims. This fact and the 13 40 C.F.R. 122.23; 40 C.F.R. PART 122 Appendix B. and a concentration of money and polit- attorney's fees provisions in the federal ical power, the owners of CAFOs have environmental and civil rights statutes

Food b Environmental Justice 1 Corporate Agriculture 41

. . HAMBURGER

The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John C. Ryan and Alan Thien Durning

Editor's Note: The following article is an excerpt from Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things, published by Northwest Environment Watch. Stuff describes the impact of a typical North American consumer by examining the resources used to meet particular items of consumption. The excerpted chapters describe a fast food lunch.

share goes to cattle. U.S. livestock eat 60 fertilizing the feed. Nitrogen fertilizer is

cl percent of the nation's corn harvest, or essentially congealed natural gas: a Texas I had to eat lunch in a hurry today, so I about one-fourth of all corn grown in chemical plant heated methane from went to a fast-food joint. I ordered a the world. natural gas to form hydrogen gas, com- cheeseburger, hold the pickles. The pound of corn required to make pressed and superheated the hydrogen, my quarter-pound burger grew on six added nitrogen distilled from air, and Beef square feet of former prairie in ended up with ammonia. The U.S. econ- The quarter-pound patty of "USDA Nebraska. Monoculture fields have omy consumes nearly a pound of Choice" beef probably came from a steer replaced virtually all native grasslands on ammonia per person per day, mostly as that grazed for the first year of its life on the American plains, which may be why I fertilizer. private lands in the midwestern United remember being so bored when I drove The ammonia was oxidized and then States. But it's possible that the steer across them a few years ago; it all seemed combined with more ammonia to form grazed on public lands in the West. the same. The cornfield, owned by a dis- ammonium nitrate, the key ingredient of There, cattle have left about 10 percent of tant corporation and managed by local nitrogen fertilizer. (Ammonium nitrate arid lands desertified, barren and about contractors, was sprayed with fertilizers, is also an ingredient in explosives.) two-thirds substantially degraded. irrigation water, and pesticides including Finally, the factory formed the nitrate Streamside habitats, cornerstones of arid atrazine. Atrazine is the most heavily solution into pellets, which contractors landscapes, have especially suffered. applied pesticide in U.S. agriculture; it. injected into the soil of the Nebraska At one year of age, the steer rode a was the second most commonly detected cornfield. Small amounts percolated into cattle car to a feedlot in Colorado. There, pesticide in a national survey of drink- streams and groundwater supplies. In it spent six months eating corn plus ing-water wells. If ingested, atrazine pro- rivers and lakes, excess nitrogen causes some soybean meal, sorghum, and bar- motes the formation of hormones that algal blooms, which can suffocate fish ley. have been linked with breast cancer. Like and other aquatic life. One-fourth of all 40 percent of all pesticides applied in the U.S. fertilizer is applied to corn eaten by Grain United States, atrazine mimics hormones livestock. In the feedlot, workers driving heavy in our bodies. Among other effects, hor- Producing the hamburger patty machinery spread the feed mixture in mone mimics can cause reproductive required more than 600 gallons of water. troughs as long as city blocks. The steer disorders in adults and interfere with Because rainfall was low and unreliable, nuzzled into a trough and ate. Every 1.2 fetal development. center-pivot sprayers (the kind that make pounds of feed it ate turned into another To produce the quarter-pound ham- the giant green circles I've seen when fly- quarter-pound patty of muscle tissue. burger required as much energy as one ing across the country) pumped irriga- Feedlots and other animal raisers feed cup of gasoline would provide. Some of tion water from underground aquifers. more than 70 percent of the U.S. grain the energy was used in the feedlot or in Forty percent of the U.S. beef cattle are harvest to livestock each year; the largest transportation, but most of it went to fattened by mining ancient water from

42 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 the dwindling Ogallala Aquifer of Col- my office, where a teenaged cook (earn- unique in its loose soils and strong orado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas. ing about $5 an hour) fried it for me on winds, which combine to make it one of By eating the quarter-pound ham- a stainless-steel grill. North America's worst wind erosion burger, I also caused the loss of five times spots. the patty's weight in topsoil. Half of U.S. Condiments cropland is planted with hay, grains, and The cook slapped an orange square of Packaging other crops to feed livestock. Hay is a cheese on my burger. The cheese came The cashier wrapped my finished ham- soil-conserving groundcover, but row from dairy herds on the Oregon coast. burger in a three-ply package of paper crops such as corn and soybeans are not. Manure from these herds raises bacteria and polyethylene and put it in a white They leave the soil exposed and suscepti- concentrations in some coastal waters to paper sack with two paper napkins. It ble to erosion by wind and rain. unsafe levels. Sometimes, when I hike on smelled good. the coast, I see the signs warning against Wastes eating shellfish. Next time I'll wonder if My burger caused emissions of the my cheeseburger was partly to blame. greenhouse gases methane and carbon The cook garnished the burger with French Fries dioxide. The methane came both from lettuce and tomatoes from the Central I ordered french fries with my burger. the steer's flatulence and from manure as Valley of California. California grows Not the healthiest lunch, I admit -lots of it decomposed in a feedlot sewage more than 40 percent of U.S. fresh pro- grease and salt. But it's what I was raised lagoon. The carbon dioxide came from duce. This produce is irrigated with fed- on, and like I said, I was in a rush. the fossil fuels used to make fertilizers erally subsidized water pumped from The fries arrived,% of them, in a and to power the farm and feedlot. The what were once productive salmon rivers paper box. The box was made of greenhouse gases emitted in producing such as the Sacramento. The typical bleached pine pulp from an Arkansas my burger were equivalent to those emit- mouthful of American food travels 1,200 mill. My fries weighed five ounces. They ted in my six-mile commute by car. The miles from farm to consumer. were made from a single 10-ounce manure lagoon also leaked nitrogen into potato, sliced into remarkably uniform nearby streams and groundwater. Bun four-inch-long strips. The steer, once fattened to Choice The cook sandwiched the burger in a grade, was slaughtered. A packing plant toasted wheat bun made in a commercial Potato ground, portioned, and froze the burger bakery at the north end of Seattle. The The potato, a russet Burbank, was grown patty between two squares of waxed bakery used flour milled in Spokane. The on one-half square foot of sandy soil in paper inside a plastic-lined cardboard mill used wheat grown on two square the upper Snake River Valley of Idaho. box. A tractor trailer hauled it to the feet of soil in the Palouse region on the Ninety percent of Idaho potatoes are Northwest. It went from the distributor's Idaho-Washington border. Among russet Burbanks. They were selected in warehouse to the fast-food outlet near wheat-growing regions, the Palouse is the early sixties by McDonald's and other

Food 6 Environmental Justice 1 Corporate Agriculture 43 fast-food chains because they make good Processing effect. A refrigerated 18-wheeler brought fries. They stay stiff after cooking. A diesel-powered harvester dug up my my fries to Seattle. They were fried in The growing season was 150 days; my potato, which was trucked to a process- corn oil from Nebraska, sprinkled with potato was watered repeatedly. Seven and ing plant nearby. Half the potato's salt mined in Louisiana, and served with a half gallons of water were applied to weight, mostly water, was lost in process- ketchup made in Pittsburgh of Florida the potato's half-foot plot. If all of it had ing. The remainder was potato parts, tomatoes. My ketchup came in four alu- been applied at once, it would have sub- which the processing plant sold as cattle minum and plastic pouches from Ohio. merged the soil to a depth of two feet. feed. Processing my potato created two- The water came from the Snake River, thirds of a gallon of wastewater. This which drains a basin the size of Col- water contained dissolved organic matter What to do?! orado. The Snake River Valley and its and one-third gram of nitrogen. The Simple: Eat less beef. Almost any kind downstream neighbor, the Columbia wastewater was sprayed on a field out- of farm-raised meat is an ineffective Basin, produce 80 percent of U.S. frozen side the plant. The field was unplanted at use of resources, but red meat (pork french fries. Along the Snake's upper the time, and the water sank under- and beef) is most wasteful of all. Have reaches, irrigators of potatoes and other ground. a veggie burrito next time. crops take all the river's water. Directly Push your elected officials to support below Milner Dam, west of Pocatello, the Freezing sustainable agriculture and to stop riverbed is bone-dry much of the year. Freezing the potato slices required elec- subsidizing irrigation. The subsidies Eighty percent of the Snake's original trical energy, which came from a hydro- hurt the environment, taxpayers, and streamside, or riparian, habitat is gone, electric dam on the Snake River. Frozen those who don't receive the subsidies most of it replaced by reservoirs and irri- foods often require 10 times more energy - such as growers of rain-fed pota- gation canals. Dams have stopped 99 to produce than their fresh counterparts. toes. percent of salmon from running up the In 1960,92 percent of the potatoes Snake River, and sturgeon are gone from Americans ate were fresh; by 1990, Instead of buying fried, overpackaged all but three stretches. Like salmon, stur- Americans ate more frozen potatoes, fast food, cook some organic produce geon migrate between fresh water and mostly french fries, than fresh ones. for yourself. Eat it on a real plate. the sea, but sturgeon live up to 100 years. My fries were frozen using hydro-flu- Buy local foods or, best of all, grow They do not stop growing until they die orocarbon coolants, which have replaced your own. Garden produce is fresher, and can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. the chlorofluo~ocarbons(CFCs) that uses almost no energy except the sun, There are undoubtedly sturgeon in the harm the ozone layer. Some coolants and puts to use un(der)used land - Snake River that remember the smell of escaped from the plant. They rose 10 your own. the Pacific Ocean even thought they have miles up, into the stratosphere, where not been there for half a century. they depleted no ozone, but they did trap My potato was treated with fertilizers heat, contributing to the greenhouse and pesticides to ensure that its shape and quality were just like those of other potatoes. (My fries were so uniform that it was hard to believe they'd ever been potatoes.) These chemicals accounted for 38 percent of the farmer's expenses. Much of the fertilizer's nitrogen leached into groundwater; that, plus concen- trated salts, made the water unfit even for irrigation. Some of the fertilizers and pesticides washed into streams when rain fell. Among these were pesticides like Telone I1 (acutely toxic to mammals, and proba- bly birds, through the skin or lungs) and Sevin XLR Plus (nontoxic to birds but highly toxic to fish). The Environmental Protection Agency's tests of waters in the Columbia Basin found agricultural con- taminants in every tributary, including the Snake.

44 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 Grassroots Models ~QL!!~B---- All over the world in both rural and urban communities WORKING TOWARDS A people are gathering together to tackle the envi- ITY ronmental, social, and eco- nomic challenges that they The Laotian organizing Project in Richmond face. Community gardens; programs to support better by Audrey Chiang and Pamela Chiang nutrition for women and children; horticultural ther- eginning with Standard Oil's (now past 10- 15 years, is confronted with apy for homeless and mar- Chevron) decision to locate its incredible poverty. ginalized people; and unified refineries in Richmond in the early In a heavily industrialized part of political actions to protect 1900s, the city has become the industrial North Richmond, a square plot of land the rights of low income center of Contra Costa County and one lies next to a fenced-in area that has been communities to grow and of the most heavily industrialized cities covered over with concrete. The fence catch safe food are all part of in California. In a pattern consistent holds up a sign that can barely be read, a growing movement prov- with established findings about the dis- stating something about "danger" and ing that positive change can proportionate impacts of environmental "toxics." A duplex used to stand in that come from small steps and hazards on communities of color, it is square plot of land, where a Laotian fam- community grassroots mostly African Americans, Latinos, and a ily used to live, and where an African actions. growing population of Asians and Pacific American family used to live before Islanders who live in this area. Among them. The Laotian family grew vegeta- the most vulnerable are the newcomers bles next to its house to feed the family, a from Laos, who are concentrated in the practice inherited from generations of heart of these toxic sites. This refugee "living off the land" in Laos. What they community, which emerged only in the were not aware of was that the land

The Asian Pacific Environmental Network emphasizes the importance of bringing youth into community garden projects through its Youth Initiative Program.

I Food 6. Environmental Justice I Grassroots Models 45 behind their house used to contain a environmental injustice that is all too in apartment buildings with no place to scrap metal recycling company called common in low income communities garden, a community garden is a much- Drew Sales which contaminated the soil and communities of color everywhere. coveted space. LOP secured land and with hazardous amounts of heavy metals No people should bear the burden of water at the North Richmond Family such as copper, lead, nickel and zinc. these environmental problems, and all Service Center. The girls saw their proj- Drew Sales occupied the lot until 1976, people should have the right to garden ect through, from start to finish, securing and the Laotian family moved into the safely in their backyards and to fish safely donations of plants and compost, plant- neighboring house a few years later. But in nearby waters. At the very least, people ing, tending and harvesting their crops. it was not until 1988 that the site was have the right to know about the toxics The rest of the land was divided up for placed on the state's Superfund cleanup that are affecting their lives through the use by other African American, Latino, list. Unknown to the family, vegetables food they eat. These rights should not and Laotian families. This garden project from their garden were found to contain exclude people on the basis of language, was a way to address a community need high levels of the contaminants. The race or economics. for gardening space, to develop leader- method of "cleanup" consisted of cover- It seems ironic that in the heart of ship skills among the girls in terms of ing the contaminated soil with a "clay one of the United States's many "toxic planning and carrying out a project, and cap" and gravel. To this day, the site hot spots:' a tightly interconnected com- to develop relationships with a broad remains fenced-in, unused and un-clean. munity is practicing, against overwhelm- group of Laotian families. At another Superfund Site in Rich- ing challenges, a model of living that We also carried out a community mond, a pesticide formulator operated many of today's most avid proponents of based survey focusing on fishing and fish from 1947 to 1966, contaminating the biodiversity and sustainability are advo- consumption practices in the commu- Lauritzen Channel in Richmond's Inner cating. The growing Laotian community nity. The goals of the survey were not Harbor Channel. During this time, in the Richmond area carries with it a only to gather important information on United Heckathorn released various pes- way of life acquired from generations of community practices, but also to develop ticides, primarily DDT and dieldrin. "simple living" in the villages of their skills within the community to carry out DDT is a human carcinogen, which has homeland. To translate to eco-speak. a survey, to reach a broad base of people long-lasting effects in the environment. they are consuming less, re-using more, about environmental health concerns, to It wasn't until 1990 that the site was put and producing food on a sustainable familiarize folks with LOP as a local on the EPA's Superfund National Priori- scale. Healthy lifestyles are being prac- organization, and to begin to bridge the ties List and scheduled to be cleaned up. ticed in an unhealthy place. gap between generations by setting up According to an EPA project manager, Through APENS Laotian Organizing teams of youth and community leaders the concentrations of DDT in this har- Project, we hope to empower the Laotian to work together to conduct the survey. bor were at levels higher than anywhere community with the tools to seek those Reaching over 200 Laotian families in the US. In the process of planning solutions which will make Richmond a through this survey, we found that many clean-up efforts, EPA interviewed four healthier, safer place to live. MEN'S people were thankful to receive informa- local Laotian fishermen, a bait shop Laotian Organizing Project (LOP) was tion about toxics in the bay. More owner and a United Anglers Association created four years ago to build an inde- importantly, 79 percent of those sur- member, who confirmed that fishing was pendent membership organization led veyed expressed desire to be a part of a occurring in the area. The Laotians inter- by and for Laotian residents in Rich- grassroots organization to improve con- viewed had been fishing in the area for mond. LOP involves all of the many ditions in the community. up to 6 years, and the mostly African tribal groups which make up the Laotian In paving the way for a healthy com- American, Latino, Laotian and Viet- community and views children, parents, munity for Laotians in Richmond, we namese folks from neighboring areas fish seniors and all people as necessary and find that the key ingredients are develop- in the harbor as well. During Asian equal participants in building the healthy ing leadership among traditionally mar- Pacific Environmental Network (MEN) and empowered community which they ginalized groups such as youth and "toxic tours" of the area, we frequently envision. women, mobilizing a broad base of com- visit this site and are always amazed at Through our organizing work, we munity support, and exercising power to the poor warning signs that were put up. address a broad sector of community achieve solutions. Building the Laotian They are unreadable from the shore and needs and concerns. The first group of Organizing Project brings together these have not been translated into any Laot- girls to enter into our Youth Initiative ingredients of people and organization ian language. A large portion of the program worked to identify a project for a sustainable vision of the future.. Laotian community fish for food, for that would address a need in the com- fun, and as part of traditional practices. munity and bring families together. They Audrey Chiang and Pamela Chiang are staff Although extreme, these two exam- decided to work on a community garden members of APEN. Audrey Chiang coordinated the community based survey project and ples demonstrate how a healthy means of where the girls would have a small plot Pamela Chiang workson strategic planning putting food on the table becomes and the majority of land would be and organizational development within APEN. unhealthy due to industrial pollution. divided and shared with 26 local fami- APEN's phone number is (510)834-8920 and its The examples provide a clear scenario of lies. For many Laotian families who live e-mail address is apen8igc.apc.org.

46 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 ITIES IN AIJSTIN The Sustainable Food Center by Kate Fitzgerald

he cover story of the New York that advocates must devise programs La Cocina Alegre classes are one of Times Magazine of October 20, which help low-income families regain a the SFC's programs designed to increase T1996 was about affordable housing, modicum of control over their lives and food security in Austin. The SFC is a and discussed the fact that high housing their access to food, which is what the non-profit organization which does not costs directly affect what families can Sustainable Food Center (SFC) tries to provide direct services to people, but afford to eat, and what that does to the do. rather begins programs that increase health of their children. resources in a community so that its A doctor at Boston Children's Hospi- people can become more self-sufficient, tal did three studies of health indicators Epifana Salazar arrives at Seton South especially for food. At our farmers' mar- of low-income Boston children over the Community Health Center at 9:00 a.m. ket, we discovered that many of our course of three years. He found a direct every Monday with Dana De Loca, a neighbors would not try vegetables correlation between whether families VISTA volunteer with the SFC. Epi because they did not know how to cook had affordable housing (meaning subsi- teaches La Cocina Alegre cooking classes them. Many low-income families do not dized housing for poor families) and the at this clinic in South Austin, a low- have the basic nutritional knowledge the health of their children. Kids in subsi- income neighborhood of color. Epi is middle class takes for granted. As a dized housing were overwhelmingly from East Austin and has taught La result, these folks are easy victims of healthier than those whose families had Cocina classes there for the SFC for the food marketers' questionable claims to pay more for shelter: they had lower rates of anemia (19-30%) and fewer were underweight (3-22%). These statistics dramatically demon- strate the point that advocates in the food security field have been making for Food pantries and gleaning projects do a job of years: one cannot "cure" hunger without filling empty stomachs for a few hours, but understanding how the food system and larger economy works in at-risk commu- distributing free food does nothing to empower nities. Hunger does not exist in a vac- people to becomemore independent and self- uum. Food pantries and gleaning projects do a job of filling empty stom- sufficient. achs for a few hours, but distributing free food does nothing to empower people to become more independent and self-suf- ficient. Emergency food relief was a necessary past two years. "La Cocina Alegre" is about the healthfulness of their prod- and a generous response when Arneri- Spanish for "The Happy Kitchen." ucts. cans first became aware of the magni- "I feel good teaching La Cocina Ale- SFC will teach 20 La Cocina sessions tude of hunger in our country. But now gre. I know what it's like to raise a child this year, and still not be close to meeting we must do better. People are hungry when you are alone and don't have the demand for the classes. We teach today because they are powerless against enough money... Talung La Cocina them to adults, children and teenagers at what appear to be inextricable economic classes made my life easier because I schools, health clinics, churches and now forces: homes are expensive, supermar- learned how to make healthy meals with- at our new farm. People love the classes kets have fled the inner city, the new jobs out a lot of fat and sugar and how to get because they are fun, informal and inter- that are being created are not in the cities more for my Food Stamps at the grocery active. They learn because the informa- and the minimum wage doesn't bring a store. I want to work and not rely on tion is taught by people like them in a family with a full-time wage-earner (or AFDC and Food Stamps," Epi says. context which is real for their lives. By two) out of poverty. These realities mean 9:30 a.m. all of the students have arrived

Food b- Environmental Justice I Grassroots Models 47 I at the clinic, and the group leaves for a "My wife and I come from Mexico would have been too intimidated to go local supermarket for an intensive lesson and we miss the food from home:' con- downtown," Lourdes explained. in comparative, cost-effective shopping. tinued Gerardo. "Our sons like only As Lourdes and Gerardo talk, the While Epi is teaching La Cocina Ale- hamburgers and fried chicken. It is #208 East Austin Circulator bus passes gre, Gerardo is checking on his two plots expensive and I don't think it is good for the garden. The #208 is known in the at El Jardin Alegre (The Happy Garden) them. That is one of the reasons we neighborhood as the "grocery bus." The on East 2nd street. "We say that el jardin started to garden, to make our sons eat route is the first bus line in Austin specif- es siempre verde (the garden is always better... Sure, they still want McDonald's, ically designed to provide easy access to green) ." but they also enjoy the dishes my wife supermarkets for inner city residents. El Jardin is across the street from the makes with the vegetables we grow here. The Circulator was the result of a study oldest public housing complex in the We are saving money on the grocery cded Access Denied released by the SFC United States, Chalmers Courts. Built 50 bills. And, the garden is a safe place for in 1995. years ago, it has not had a major renova- the kids to play - that's important in this Access Denied analyzed the Eastside's tion since then. There is a core group of barrio." food system, and explained for the first families in Chalmers who work hard to "The SFC helped us by finding the time that part of the reason people are raise their children well and exert some land, explaining how to design and build hungry and poorly nourished in East control over the gangs and drug dealers the garden, and getting the donations we Austin is that they have inadequate which seem to take over after dark. Many needed to start out:' explains Lourdes, a access to affordable, nutritious food. of them have plots at El Jardin. More gardener at El Jardin and President of There are only two supermarkets in Cen- than 34 families grow food at the com- the Chalmers' Tenants' Association. "The tral East Austin, an area of over six munity garden. SFC also got the City Council to pass an square miles. One of the supermarkets is adequate. At the other one, prices regu- larly average 20 percent higher than in other parts of the city. Since fewer people in East Austin own cars than in other Comrr~ur~itygardens are an excellent investment. neighborhoods, more residents took a They are inexpensive to build, they save families cab, paid a neighbor or did an hour and a half commute to the supermarket to money on their food bills, and in many parts of the buy their groceries. Or, they shopped at country can provide families with fresh produce 365 one of the 38 convenience stores in the area. Access Denied showed that although days of the year. all 38 of theses stores sell alcohol and tobacco, only 19 sell milk and only five sell all the ingredients needed to make a balanced meal. The SFC's study made it clear that Community gardens are an excellent ordinance so that it would not be so there were serious failings in the East- investment. They are inexpensive to expensive for gardens in neighborhoods side's food system and that inadequate build, they save families money on their like ours to get water." access to food and lack of nutritional food bills, and in many parts of the "(Yet) even after the City passed the knowledge were as important as poverty country can provide families with fresh ordinance we could not get water:' Lour- in explaining why children were going produce 365 days of the year. Commu- des continues. "They promised we would hungry. As a result of the study, the nity gardens provide a place where have a pipe in three days and two weeks Austin City Council and Travis County neighbors can meet and get involved in later, still nothing. It was March and we Commissioners' Court created the community programs. They can also needed water. We were talking to Kate Austin-Travis County Food Policy Coun- spark microenterprises which increase and Eric (SFC staff) one day, and we all cil to propose policies and programs that family income and create jobs. just got mad. We went down to City Hall would increase access to food security in El Jardin had its first harvest last sum- and sat in the City Manager's office the Austin Area. mer. Gardeners had more than they explaining the problem. We had done An average of 300 people a day now could eat themselves, so they shared with everything we were supposed to and the ride the #208. In addition to providing a family and neighbors, and some of them City was not doing its job. By 3:00 that direct route to the supermarkets of put up a year's supply of salsa and pick- afternoon the street was full of city choice for East Austinites, it also passes led jalapefios. Epi and her friends trucks and we had our water by 5:00 the major churches, health clinics, Frances and Maria may bottle and sell p.m. It should not have been that hard, libraries and other commercial centers their salsa next year at the Capital City but that's the way it is when you are people in the neighborhood need to get Farmers Market. poor. I think it helped us to know that to regularly. The Circulator has increased we had the SFC behind us, otherwise we food security in the Eastside, and it has

48 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 made people more independent in many during World War 11. Over the years, the to buy them. Another farmer will donate other ways. It is now easier to participate community evolved to serve the base, the produce we need for one of the next in community life. and it is suffering now that the base has week's La Cocina classes. We will see each Cooking and nutrition classes give closed. The town is mainly ~atino,with other again at the farmers' market. people a way to eat better on their lim- some white and a few African American This group of farmers understand ited food dollars and to shop as educated families, and is overwhelmingly low- their connections to the city- to the customers. Better bus routes allow peo- income. Keith is teaching these kids people who buy their produce at Whole ple to buy the food they want at the because he sees in them the potential to Food Markets, and also to those who buy prices they can afford. These are impor- discover the area's agricultural heritage, from them at the Farmers' Market on the tant first steps. The community which is as well as anopportunity to offer them Eastside. In order to stay in farming they secure for food will also have better fulfilling futures as self-employed farm- need to strengthen the market for small, locally-owned grocery stores, ers. Agricultural communities close to locally-grown produce in the Austin farmers' markets and food co-ops. urban centers can play an important role area. There will need to be more farmers, in developing regional food security by and maybe some of them can come from growing food crops for their city. East and South Austin. Farmers grow At noon on Monday Keith Jones Locally-grown food is likely to be afford- food and understand its life sustaining leaves the SFC office for Del Valle High able and nutritious for consumers, and power. Hunger is hard for farmers to School. He will spend the next two hours serving a close market allows farmers to accept, which is why one of them stood with the 13 kids who have already com- reduce the amount of chemicals they shoulder-to-shoulder with a young mitted enough offenses to be expelled apply to their crops, and market their mother on Food Stamps, to insist to the Texas Legislature that farmers' markets must be able to continue to accept Food Stamps after the state made the transi- tion to an electronic benefit card. Agricultural communities close to urban centers can The SFC's work is done for one day - maybe we are one step closer to ending play an important role in developing regional food the scourge of hunger in our community security by growing food crops for their city, Locally- and finding solutions that will work else- grown food is likely to be affordable and nutritious where as well.. for consumers Kate Fitzgerald is Executive Director of the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, Texas. The preceding article was originally printed in Why Magazine, and is reprinted with permission. from school, but who are being given a goods directly, capturing more of the "last chance." final sales dollar. Keith is helping the teenagers build a The opportunity to grow food for garden, and teaching them math, science, people and earn a decent living at it gives English, history and entrepreneurship these kids a glimpse of a future that along the way. Most of these kids are in offers more promise. gangs, have never met an adult they respected, and see no connection between what they are learning in school By 5:30 p.m. the SFC's new farm (two and the future they imagine for them- acres of cultivation in East Austin) is selves. Interestingly, they articulated beginning to fill with the local organic some sophisticated goals for their gar- farmers. The 20 farmers eat burgers and den: they want to make money but they potato salad, watch a video on easy also want to provide healthy food to peo- mechanization techniques for small ple (so they will grow organically); they farmers, and talk late into the night want to build a beautiful place where about farming techniques, new crops people will want to be; and they want to and successful marketing avenues they learn something in the garden that will have discovered. Several offer to give the "help them in life." Del Valle kids tours of their farms. One Del Valle was a rural community - the of the SFC Boardmembers (who runs spinach capital of the world - until three Austin restaurants) meets a farmer Bergstrom Air Force Base was built there who has radishes to sell, and he arranges

Food b Environmental Justice ( Grassroots Models 49 San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners by Mohammed Nuru and Kate Konschink

oo often, organizations attempt to inside. Gardening and greening work- ing developments where SLUG works meet a community's needs with shops, jobs and job training, education, most extensively, unemployment tops Toutside resources. Rather than "liv- and emotional support, these are all inte- 80%. Job opportunities must be created ing off the pathology of the community," gral elements in our mission. The road is where the poorest people live. And SLUG as economist Michael Porter calls it, we long but the efforts are worth it. When challenges the belief that people need to need to recognize local strengths, and people work together to gain control "get out" in order to succeed. Instead, develop home-grown skills and resources over a park or an empty lot, they learn to jobs which contribute to the commu- to address community challenges. Job gain control over their own lives. Simi- nity's well-being are the most valuable, training and creation is a positive first larly, when we can inspire composting and the most meaningful. step towards building local self-reliance, and gardening enthusiasts, we are proud Cultivating community in low- one at the heart of the work of San Fran- of our purpose. income neighborhoods means creating cisco League of Urban Gardeners' SLUG invests in people. We spend local economic opportunity, and devel- (SLUG). time helping employees get their driver's oping local job skills to meet these Terrell Smith is a Bayview native and licenses, graduate from high school, and opportunities. When we begin landscap- the Director of SLUG's Youth Depart- fight evictions, knowing that a stronger ing and garden projects in the Tender- ment. When asked why he works for a person can make stronger contributions loin, in the Mission, in Bayview-Hunter's Point, we hire and train from those neighborhoods. Community-based work is more accessible to people with chil- "I didn't come here to be a gardener. I saw dren and limited transportation, and gardening as a tool to build corr~munityand work that benefits the community has an empowering effect on its workers. help people." SLUG's St. Mary's Urban Youth Farm, one of the only inner-city farms in the nation, was just a trashed-out, aban- gardening group, Terrell smiled. "I didn't on the job, and to the community. We doned stretch of land four years ago. come here to be a gardener. I saw gar- providk our members with information SLUG hired youth from the neighboring dening as a tool to build community and for masters' theses, or directions to the housing developments to help dear the help people." This view stresses the nearest plants supply store, knowing that land and start a farm, complete with an importance of urban gardening and their positive experience with us will be orchard, community garden, and food . greening. We're not just raising radishes passed on, word-of-mouth, to inspire and flower production areas. The Youth and roses; we also promise a bumper more people to come out and support Garden Interns are proud of their work, crop of real job skills, and opportunity. our community-building efforts. To us, and they feel that working at SLUG gives On a recent bi-annual retreat, SLUG this nourishing cycle is simply common them a sense of "family. . . if SLUG let staff were asked to define "environment." sense. me down, I really wouldn't know where The responses from our diverse group - With welfare reform's effects on the else I could turn." The internship pro- "trees and plants" but also "home," "fam- horizon, our challenge to train and gram, which combines garden work, a ily," and "neighborhood - reflect how employ people is greater than ever. City College certificate program, vio- we have grown over the years to include Nationwide, unemployment is at a lence prevention and health workshops, social issues in our gardening programs. record low (4.3%). However, some pop- and mentorship elements; is a real, posi- "Environment" and "community" are ulations, especially those in cities with tive alternative to the streets for many interchangeable concepts at SLUG; we limited access to the new jobs, run a youth. support each other as we work to green much higher risk of unemployment. Overwhelmed by the flood of appli- the urban landscape. 10% of African-American adults, and cants to the Youth Garden Internship SLUG is committed to building com- 33% of African-American teens in the Program, SLUG launched additional job munity by meeting the needs from the U.S. cannot find jobs. In the public hous- training programs for low-income com-

50 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 munity residents, young women and men with jail or juvenile records. For example, SLUG veterans Elmo Wright and Cardell Coleman work with juvenile offenders and at-risk teens to landscape the Youth Guidance Center. Older crews have been hired to landscape the Sunny- dale Housing Development, and senior housing sites throughout the city. SLUG'S Environmental Justice Depart- ment trains teens to educate and organ- ize others on environmental issues affecting their neighborhoods. Urban Herbals provides young people with marketing and management skills in an organic food products business. All of these programs are linked by one belief - that jobs can benefit the environment and the community. "Government can't create jobs, but government can create conditions for other people to make job opportunities," First Lady Hillary Clinton said in a recent trip to the Bidwell Training Cen- ter in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Mayor of Sari Franciscojwillie Brown, 'the Garden of Eatin' at 25th and Dickinson in South Philadelphia thrives near a decaying, and his administration have worked to elevated railroad track.

then agree to hire a certain percentage of Bidwell's clients. Strickland's vision has Locally-grown ideas, which are the most appropriate attracted the thelast two Presidential administrations, and organi- for meeting a neighborhood's unique challenges. are zationsinSanFrancisco are asking- him sprouting and blooming with SLUG support. to advise them on economic develop- ment plans. Programs, such as the two cited above, work with support from govern- create these conditions. The stadium economic empowerment of women will ment agencies and financial and techni- projects, the redevelopment of Third help strengthen the fabric of Baltimore's cal assistance from companies. Only Street and the shoreline, and the reloca- neighborhoods," runs business manage- when we all work together can we hope tion of the UC Medical School to ment training programs for long-term to make the long-lasting economic Bayview-Hunter's Point all represent real unemployed women. WEB then works impact that America's poorest neighbor- job opportunities. But the community with local banks to secure business start- hoods need to survive and thrive. bears the responsibility of preparing up loans. Seventy percent of WEB'S grad- SLUG has cultivated many commu- itself to meet these opportunities with uates have gone on to start their own nity-driven projects, and has nurtured job skills that the contractors can't pass businesses. the neighborhood leaders who imple- up. We need to do what we can to help Bidwell Training Center for unem- ment them. Locally-grown ideas, which the community build itself. ployed workers and welfare recipients are the most appropriate for meeting a SLUG is not alone in its quest to re- has been running job training and busi- neighborhood's unique challenges, are energize communities by enlisting sup- ness creation programs in Pittsburgh sprouting and blooming with SLUG sup- port from government agencies and since 1968. Its founder, Bill Strickland, port. As we continue to strengthen our corporations. Other organizations and believes that "education offered in an job training programs, we hope to con- agencies around the country are striving intelligent, planned, and financially tribute our part to the national dialogue to produce a solid workforce in their sound way will bear real results." Part of on economic empowerment. Bring your low-income communities. For example, its success rests on Strickland's ability to time, expertise, and resources to the Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore forge partnerships with Pittsburgh com- table. Come build gardens, and commu- (WEB), founded on the belief that "the panies - they invest in his programs, and nity, with us.. I Food b Environmental Justice I Grassroots Models 51 i Miss Sneed got better, she went to a hor- SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY ticultural school in England, took a six- month course at the University of California, and then, with volunteers from the jail and with donations from local residents for the purchase of tools, seeds and watering equipment, set about t is not often that a county jail does been changed by the self-discipline they creating her garden. The produce of the something to arouse the interest of have learned in the growing of radishes, garden, being the result of prison labor, Ithe federal government's Department lettuce, leeks and strawberries. cannot be sold: it is given free to San of Agriculture, but that's just what's hap- It is all the work of Catherine Sneed, a Francisco's soup kitchens, AIDS pantries pening in San Francisco. One of the determined member of the staff of San and homes for the destitute elderly. things prisoners can do in San Ms. Sneed invited local busi- Francisco's County Jail is to nessmen to see the jail's gardening learn the art of gardening. When effort. One of them, Elliott Hoff- they finish their sentences and man, the owner of a large San go free, they can get employ- Francisco bakery called Just ment at the San Francisco Gar- Desserts, and in constant need of den Project, a mid-city fresh strawberries, drew Miss vegetable-and-fruit garden that Sneed's attention to an empty lot is the offspring of the jail's farm. near his bakery in the heart of the The organic produce it grows is city. This became the Garden Pro- snatched up by local restaurants. ject, source of good things for the Reliable work in the Garden city's restaurants. Now the original Project usually leads to steady Garden Project is to expand into a work elsewhere, sometimes second site near the jail, leased to it planting trees for the city, some- by Sheriff Hennessy. times worlung in those restau- The benefactors have them- rants. selves benefitted. At first only a The Department of Agricul- handful of inmates turned out to ture is so struck by this project work in the jail's garden. Today that it has distributed a report more than 100 at a time learn the describing it all across America. rudiments of soil preparation, "I'm sure the chance to under- small-plant nurturing and careful stand how this has worked will harvesting. It is often the first con- be welcomed in every city," says structive work in their lives. Many Ellen Haas, the Under-Secretary of them then move on to the Gar- of Agriculture. Despite some den Project. It seems to help. Four early reservations in Washing- months after release from prison, ton, DC praise for the Garden only six percent of these gardeners Proiect has been lavish enough" have committed another offense, for the report to go ahead. Horticulture project at San Bruno Jail. compared with 29 percent of other Alice Waters, the owner of Chez Francisco's Sheriff Michael Hennessy. ex-inmates. Panisse, a nationally known restaurant in She is no born gardener. Having grown Ms. Sneed has now set up a "Tree Berkeley, first called the Garden Project up in urban Newark, New Jersey, she got Corps" that has planted 2,000 trees along to the Department's attention. Her a job with Sheriff Hennessy, counseling San Francisco's streets. Some of the city's restaurant has come to rely on it for women prisoners. During a serious ill- schools have begun to operate small gar- fresh vegetables and fruit. "A radish tastes ness she read John Steinbeck's Grapes of dens, to teach their children how to grow infinitely better if eaten the very day it is Wrath, and drew from it a belief in the things, and California's Department of picked," says Alan Tangren, who scouts healing power of work with the soil. Education is pushing the idea through- for Chez Panisse. But it is not only San Sheriff Hennessy, visiting her sick out the state. But the chief fruit of the Francisco's eaters-out who benefit. So do room, agreed to her suggestion that the Garden Project is the new life it has given the former drug or alcohol addicts, pros- jail should turn some of the idle acres to some of society's discards. titutes and petty thieves whose lives have around its walls into a garden. When

52 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 GARDENING

he Homeless Garden Project in San Francisco is not only a place of Twork and training: for many home- less people it is one of the few places where they may socialize, relax or snooze (in the chamomile nap patch) free from police hassles and away from drugs and alcohol. According to many of the homeless, it is here in this colorful and vibrant atmosphere, that they have a sense of belonging and contributing to the com- munity, that they have positive interac- tions with a broad cross-section of the community and regularly teach school children about composting and garden- ing and about people without homes. Through the process and gratification of nurturing soil and seeds to fruit, they are simultaneously nurturing their self esteemsd seeing some of their own potential ripen. In contrast, as gardener Patty Morse puts it, "On the street you have to have all your barriers up." In places as diverse as gardens for the homeless to hospitals, prisons to psychi- atric clinics, corporate offices to orphan- ages, gardening, or "horticultural therapy" (HT), has proven a successful tool for healing and empowerment. In WORDS FROM TOMLYN the United States, HT -primarily con- SHANNON, A FORMERLY cerned with special needs groups - is a long-standing, respected and rapidly- growing field, complete with university degree programs. Meanwhile, grassroots community gardeners (who might s I walk through the fields I am thinking of Spring: looking at seed chuckle at the term HT) have long recog- remember the seasons. Fall: catalogues, sowing seeds, days in the nized that gardening addresses much "A when I first came to the Gar- greenhouse, watering, watching, waiting. more than our needs for physical nour- den; the need to touch the earth deep in In Summer, everything bursting with ishment. my soul; I was so frustrated, depressed, life... The plants, people, and land at the and lonely; longing for a home and bal- Garden have given me beauty, comfort ance. Winter: when I was hired as a and praise. So much of my past is filled wreath maker; my days with Olivia as she with ugliness, pain and humiliation. I am shared her knowledge of dried flowers, so grateful to say, 'I walk in beauty, I have workshops, friendships and love, as we the comfort of friends, and I am proud listened to the rain, sang songs, and cre- of what I am doing." W ated wreaths; I also remember the pow- erful rush of my first wreath selling, the Reprinted from the quarterly newsletter of the comfort of people enjoying my art. And Homeless Garden Project. now as I am harvesting these flowers, I

Food 8 Environmental Justice I Grassroots Models 53 Native Food Systems, Health and Culture by Tristan Reader

ust as the sky began to brighten the weapons intentionally wielded ber is certainly less than 100 acres, per- behind Baboquivari Peak on the against them. haps not more that ten. At the same time JTohono O'odham Nation in South- Having been repeated over the years, the once common practice of collecting ern Arizona, the sound of gourd rattles, this statement may seem like a "politi- and storing wild foods has declined in an desert fiber drums and singing could be cally correct" telling of the earliest con- equally dramatic way. heard coming from the bahidaj (saguaro tact between Native Americans and The result of many factors, particu- fruit) camp. The voices of young and old Europeans. However, it is also an accu- larly the introduction of processed foods joined together in a traditional Tohono rate description of the effect that the through federal food aid programs, the O'odham harvest song, giving thanks for destruction of traditional food systems loss of the traditional food system has the blessings of the desert. has had on Native communities led to severe consequences for the By the time the sun rose above the throughout the U.S. in the last half of the Tohono O'odham. mountains, small groups of people were 20th century. In indigenous communi- For centuries, traditional desert foods scattered across the desert floor, gathered ties the loss of local food systems has - and the effort it took to produce them under towering saguaro cactus. Using lead to devastating health problems, con- -kept the Tohono O'odharn healthy. long poles made of the ribs of dead tributed to the destruction of systems of Over thousands of years, the Tohono O'odham metabolism had become espe- cially well adapted to the foods of the In a very real sense, the destruction of the traditional Sonoran Desert. The introduction of food system is killing the Tohono O'odham. processed foods, however, changed all of that. The new foods were metabolized by the body in a much less efficient manner, saguaros, the bahidaj was knocked to the local self-sufficiency, and played a central leading to a previously unexperienced ground where it was collected. Buckets role in the loss of traditional cultural disease among the Tohono O'odham: soon filled with the sweet, bright red practices. adult-onset diabetes. As recently as the fruit. The effects of the destruction of an early 1960s, diabetes was unknown By the time the afternoon heat indigenous food system cannot be seen among the Tohono O'odham. Today, reached 110 degrees, everyone gathered more clearly than in the case of the more than 50 percent of the population back at camp to begin boiling the fruit Tohono O'odham community. Known to develops the disease, the highest rate in into a thick syrup which would be used many outsiders as the Papago, the the world. As a degenerative disease, dia- to make the ceremonial wine to "sing Tohono O'odham and their ancestors betes causes many subsequent health down the rain" and bring the monsoon have thrived for millennia in the dryness problems, including kidney failure, loss floods to dry desert fields. of the Sonoran Desert. Living a semi- of eyesight, circulatory problems and More than a fun summer outing or a nomadic life, the O'odham traditionally severe organ damage. quaint cultural relic, events like this tra- combined dryland farming, the collec- ' The exponential rise in diabetes has ditional bahidaj camp may prove to be tion of wild desert foods and small mirrored the reduction of traditional the hope for restoring indigenous food amounts of hunting to provide food for foods in the Tohono O'odham diet systems, physical health and cultural their families and communities. resulting from the loss of the traditional vitality to Native communities across the These strategies served the O'odham food system. Indeed, several scientific U.S. well until relatively recently. In his book, studies have confirmed that traditional Shortly after the arrival of Europeans The Desert Smells Like Rain,Gary Paul O'odham foods - such as tepary beans, in North American, the Native popula- Nabhan notes that the O'odham still mesquite beans, cholla (cactus) buds and tions of the continent were ravaged by used traditional dry land methods to chia seeds - help regulate blood sugar diseases that had been borne across the cultivate more than 10,000 acres as late and significantly reduce both the inci- seas. Such infection caused more devas- as the 1920's. By 1949, that acreage had dence and effects of diabetes. In a very tation of indigenous cultures than all of declined to 2,500 acres. Today that num- real sense, the destruction of the tradi-

54 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000 tional food system is killing the Tohono commodity distribution programs, it no based in traditional food production; O'odham. longer really matters to most people and The harm caused by food system whether or not the rains come. In such providing opportunities to sell and destruction goes beyond the physical circumstances, there is no longer a com- distribute traditional O'odham foods health of individual Tohono O'odham; pelling reason to spend long, hot days within the community and elsewhere. it has also had a devastating effect on camped in the desert collecting bahidaj, Tohono O'odham cultural survival. no reason to learn the songs which bring Through these strategies, the program Virtually all elements of traditional cul- down the rain, no reason to bless the nurtures the production and distribution ture - ceremonies, stories, songs, the lan- ground... no reason for a key element of of traditional foods on three different lev- guage - are directly rooted in the system Tohono O'odham culture to continue. els. First and most importantly, families of food production. O'odham culture is The destruction of indigenous food and communities are provided with the truly an agrilculture. For example, the systems is causing similar, albeit some- resources they need in order to grow and saguaro harvest and the wine ceremony what less dramatic, damage to the health collect traditional foods for their own (noted above) served as the cornerstone of Native people and communities consumption. Second, the program is of O'odham ceremonial life for cen- throughout the U.S. The physical and developing opportunities for people to turies, calling forth the monsoon rains cultural survival of many Native peoples engage in microenterprise projects by that make agriculture possible in the arid requires the rejuvenation of these food marketing their surplus O'odham foods desert environment. After weeks of systems. Like in Native communities to local institutions (such as the hospital, preparation, people would gather across the U.S., such renewal is begin- elderly programs and schools) where they together in each O'odham community ning to happen on the Tohono O'odham are served to other community members. for the multi-day ceremony, telling sto- Nation. Third, after all local need has been met ries, singing songs and passing on cul- (and only then), additional microenter- ture. But all of that has begun to change. New Traditionalists: The Tohono prise opportunities will be developed by Today, only a tiny portion of the O'od- O'odham Community Food System marketing to surrounding communities, ham community participates in this The Tohono O'odham Community Food such as restaurants and specialty gro- sacred rite. Each year, O'odham still System, a project of Tohono O'odham ceries in Tucson. gather near the roundhouses for the cer- Community Action, is working with The Tohono O'odham community is not alone in the realization that physical health and cultural survival are depend- When food comes in cans from the grocery store or ent upon the rejuvenation of the tradi- in sacks from USDA corr~moditydistribution tional food systems. Native peoples from the deserts of Arizona to the ice flows of programs, it no longer really matters to most people Alaska are actively seelung to redevelop whether or not the rains come. the ways of producing, processing, dis- tributing and consuming foods that have nurtured both body and spirit for gener- emony, but only in one or two commu- individuals, families, communities and ations. nities with fewer and fewer people institutions to combine elements of the Shortly after the bahidaj harvest was participating. traditional food system with new forms over and the monsoon rains had brought The reason for this is relatively sim- of organization. These strategies include: precious moisture to the desert plants, ple: today, few O'odham produce their Christine Johnson, a basketweaver from establishing community gardens own food. Grocery stores and federal the village of Nolic, reflected on her where the traditions and techniques commodity programs, rather than the experiences harvesting and planting in of O'odham gardening can be passed desert, are the source of food. Is it any the desert heat. "Every year, I sang the on to a new generation; wonder that the saguaro wine ceremony songs that called down the summer is endangered? The endangerment of this helping families grow traditional rains," she said. "But this year, I had a essential element of O'odham culture is O'odham crops at home; garden filled with devil's claw and corn, the direct result of changes in the food melons and squash. This year, I sang for organizing trips to collect traditional system: People did not stop planting the them. This year, I sang like I really meant O'odham foods such as cholla buds, fields because the ceremony was dying it." saguaro fruit and mesquite beans; out; the ceremony began to die out when people stopped planting their fields. The revitalizing farming in traditional Tristan Reader is co-director of Tohono O'od- ceremony is in danger of being lost pre- flood plain fields; ham Community Action in Sells, AZ. He can be reached at 520-383-4966; e-mail, cisely because it no longer has any con- * sponsoring storytelling events and [email protected]. nection to the material reality of people's other cultural activities which are lives. When food comes in cans from the grocery store or in sacks from USDA

Food b Environmental Justice I Grassroots Models 55 URBAN CENTER ON RACE POVERTY HABITAT IRONMENT PROGRAM Providing Technical and Legal Assistance to the Grassroots Movement for Environmental Justice

e're getting COURAGE. he Center on Race, Poverty & the has worked with groups around the Communities Organizing for Environment recently expanded its country to enhance their capacity to use W Urban Regional Action and Toperations in California's Central Title VI, including holding trainings on Grassroots Empowerment is our new Valley by opening a new office in Delano. Title VI for members of the Southwest project to build leadership for social We welcome community organizer Joe Network for Environmental and Eco- equity, change the balance of power in Morales, attorney Caroline Farrell, and nomic Justice and others. the region, and create a land use agenda office manager Esmeralda Martinez to CRPE's director, Luke Cole, was for the Bay Area that supports affordable the CRPE team. In the San Francisco appointed by EPA administrator Carol housing, and transportation equity, con- office, Alex Berwick has joined the staff Browner to the EPA Advisory Committee trols gentrification, and stops suburban as assistant to the director. We are excited on Title VI implementation, a group sprawl. by our growth and the array of skills, comprised of industry representatives, We're borrowing COURAGE from contacts and experience our team brings heads of state environmental agencies, ongoing UHP projects, where partner- to the fight for environmental justice in and environmental justice leaders given ships with community organizations California. the task of helping EPA refine its civil gained some important wins. Our Trans- CRPES Delano staff has been tackling rights policies. Luke will also begin his portation Equity project published Crash important issues in Kern, Kings and fourth year of service on the National Course in Bay Area Transportation Invest- Tulare counties and has had several suc- Environmental Justice Advisory Council, ment, which looks at who benefits from cesses in recent cases against dairy farms, where last year he was elected to chair regional public transportation funds, forcing the dairies to complete full envi- the Enforcement Subcommittee. and successfully lobbied the Bay Area Air ronmental impact reports. We have Through his participation on these com- Quality Management District to incor- mobilized communities around issues mittees, Luke brings the issues and com- porate Environmental Justice regula- affecting their environment, such as pes- plaints of grassroots groups and clients tions. Our Community Revitalization ticide overspray, contaminated water, to the attention of federal officials and and Land Restoration Project, which sludge dumping, dairy farms and air pol- other stakeholders. supports community-driven efforts to lution. The first of a series to come, CRPE continues to develop what we cleanup and reuse brownfields (vacant CRPE Delano hosted a successful train- call "movement theory," as well. Luke and contaminated land), has organized a ing event in May on issues identified by published an article in Berkeley's Ecology regional forum for activists and pub- surrounding communities. Our Fresno Law Quarterly critiquing California's lished Building Upon our Strengths, a organizer, Ephraim Camacho, has been toxic waste dump siting law, and has just Community Guide to Brownfields Dwel- effective in organizing several commu- finished his book, with Sheila Foster of opment. Our new Leadership Institute, nity struggles around Fresno County. Rutgers Law School, From the Ground which offers hands on training to com- CRPE continues to develop civil Up: The Transformative Politics of the munity activists, will soon graduate its rights strategies for community groups, Environmental Justice Movement, which first class. UHP is planning workshops in and has filed several groundbreaking will be published by NYU Press in 2000. several communities on gentrification, administrative complaints under Title VI which is the regional issue of greatest of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the concern to Leadership Institute partici- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in pants. recent months, including one challeng- This Fall, UHP turned ten. Call UHP ing the use of the deadly pesticide, for a copy of our commemorative pro- methyl bromide, because of its dispro- gram of the Tenth Anniversary Celebra- portionate impact on Latino children in tion, COURAGE, at 4151561-3333. California's public schools. CRPE staff

56 Race Poverty and the Environment Winter 2000