Before my time with AERO, I thought  healthy soil was the solution to the food system. But now, I have realized that not only is the food system wholly intact and functioning exactly how it is designed to, but that these systems need to be entirely unravelled and dismantled to lead to a better way. 

In my studies of the food system, I often find myself compartmentalizing and labeling issues as a social issue or an environmental issue. I do this to help my brain cope with what is a terribly tangled and knotted web of injustices. There are not strictly social issues versus environmental issues in the food system because every issue is a social issue. The issues that we are able to identify in the food system such as drought, pollution, and hunger are actually features of a system built on the backs of the people who have been strategically silenced by the same system that depends on them to function. Maybe a “fix” is not what we need, but a tear down and rebuild of the systems that are in place. I’m still not entirely sure how to “fix” this system that is not broken, but I do know that building resilient communities is a good place to start. 

In the wake of pandemics, climate change, wildfires and droughts, community resiliency is crucially important. The future of our society will depend on how well communities bounce back from disruptions. This requires localized food systems which serve the specific needs of their communities, dismantling the larger system. The power needs to be shifted out of the hands of corporations and into the hands of farmers, ranchers, researchers, educators, and ultimately, the people who inhabit these communities.