Strong Women Introduction Version (Emily Parenteau)
Women are a big part of the food movement--especially women of color. The Color of Food discusses how this fact is many times overlooked, making females of color feel out of place in the farming community. In the section Brown Girl Farming, Natasha Bowens argues how it seems like she is the only women of color in a sea of white young hipsters beginning the farming trend. She questions why when we think farming movement we think white guy with a beard on a bicycle, as opposed to women of color who have grown up learning how to farm and cook since young ages. The women of Frogtown and Rondo have also started food work at a young age and it has brought them to be very knowledgable about food today. Here Carolyn Brown discusses her history with food--specifically greens.
Next, Jocelyn Collins discusses what it was like for her growing up cooking. Though starting to cook family meals at a young age may sound impressive to some people, it is important to remember there was not always a choice in whether or not she wanted to cook for her family after school.
By growing up surrounded by greens and lots of knowledge of growing and cooking food, women like these have been able to view food from a perspective not all people get the chance to know. A women named Karyssa Jackson connected food beautifully to feeling good in one's own body.
These women's knowledge of food has given them great ideas of how to bring the community together around it. Conversion is very important to bring everyone together. For example in Education for the Socially Engaged Art, Helguera states, "Conversation is the center of sociality, of collective understanding and organization. Organized talks allow people to engage with others, create community, learn together, or simply share experiences without going any farther."
An important topic of this food movement to remember is the strive for accessibility to healthy foods for all--no matter where one lives. According to the Atlantic, only around 8 percent of African Americans live in an area with a supermarket, while about a third of whites do. A statistic that needs to be changed.
