Loren Cardeli: Dismantling injustice in the food system and building farmer autonomy (ep285)
Loren Cardeli of A Growing Culture joins us in this episode to discuss:
why the topics of power and justice must be centered in dialogues on 'sustainable food';
how they support the struggles of smallholder food producers around the globe, each facing their own sets of cultural, political, ecological, and economic barriers;
and more.
Musical feature: Trust The Sun by Johanna Warren (IG: @johahahanna, Spotify: Johanna Warren)
“Our relationship with the environment is a reflection of our relationship with society. Until we dismantle these hierarchies, until we dismantle the injustices and the patriarchy, we will not have sustainability.”
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Here’s Loren on the unjust hierarchies that underlie the food system:
“I think we all have a vision for a more sustainable food system. What A Growing Culture believes is that the only way to do that is to address power.
Our relationship with the environment is a reflection of our relationship with society. Until we dismantle these hierarchies, until we dismantle the injustices and the patriarchy, we will not have sustainability…
On our Hunger for Justice broadcast, this year we had over 100 presenters from Brazil to the Philippines to New Zealand to all over the United States to Africa, Asia everywhere—Indigenous, smallholder peasant farmers activists… Not a single one of them advocated for composting; not a single one of them talked about food waste; not a single one of those communities talked about [conscious consumerism].
Then, when you go to these conferences in the United States on regenerative or sustainable agriculture, presentation after presentation is another white person presenting a solution that's supposedly going to solve the world… That solution can see the elephant in the savanna easier than the elephant in the room. It circumvents privilege; it doesn't address power. That’s taboo…
We have to address something deeper—something more systemic. Yet we don't want to talk about that. We want to talk about food waste; we want to talk about composting. These aren't the solutions. They treat the symptoms of the disease, not the root.”
About Loren Cardeli
Loren Cardeli is the co-founder and Executive Director of A Growing Culture (Instagram: @agrowingculture; Facebook: @agrowingculture), a 501(c)3 nonprofit , advancing a culture of farmer autonomy and agroecological innovation.
A Growing Culture is a farmer-centric organization that believes the key to sustainability lies in returning small-scale farmers back to the forefront of agriculture. As part of this growing movement, Loren and his colleagues promote farmer-led research, extension, and outreach, helping to create sustainable, self-driving futures.
