It is important that humans of all races and genders

Unformatted text preview: Arden Radford and Jill Lee BE 2100 Diana Vanegas November 5, 2021 Food Sovereignty and Indigenous Rights Speaker: Amanda Tan Summary of presentation Amanda Tan, a Clemson graduate student, presented the importance and lack of food sovereignty and security found across the world but specifically in Indigenous communities in North America. She shared with us the history of the continent of North America including westward expansion, mechanization and industrialization and how it led to food insecurity as well as the lack of food sovereignty found in our nation today. This loss began with the forced removal of Indigenous peoples in North America when Americans forced American Natives from their homes to reservations in unfamiliar territories. They no longer had the capacity to locally produce their food as they once had; instead, they were provided with foods of which they were unfamiliar and did not know how to prepare. From this, America began closing the door to the human right of food sovereignty and security in the United States. With westward expansion came mechanization and industrialization spreading across the continent of North America in which wealthier individuals began monopolizing farmland and industrial factories. Mass production became more prevalent over time, and large farms and corporations took control of supermarkets and the food market as a whole. In today’s time, the citizens of America of all races, religions and cultures are limited in their ability to obtain foods native to their culture, and corporations have also made it nearly impossible to know the security of the food that they consume. After a brief description of food history in America, Amanda stated the important 7 pillars of food sovereignty: peoples’ need for food, the knowledge of food and skills to grow food, working with nature to produce food, valuing those who provide food, reduction of food miles, local control of food, and the recognition that food is a gift of life. Amanda found in her research that in Canada, 11.1% of white households, 28.2% of indigenous off-reserve households, and 50.8% of First-Nation people on reserve households are not secure in the food that they ingest daily. This means that these households do not know where their food came from, how large of the carbon footprint was created in its transportation, or what kind of contaminants such as pesticides the food was exposed to before reaching their tables. Food sovereignty targets these issues by giving families and households awareness of the origin of their food and the option to choose the most environmentally friendly and healthy food possible to provide to their families. Amanda mentioned that it is imperative to ensure local control of food so that citizens are more aware of the origin of the food that they are being provided with. The local food approach also cuts down on the travel time of products, ensuring that the food is fresh and not contaminated with preservatives, as well as reduces the carbon footprint made during transportation. Not only does local food control ensure that citizens are aware of the production of their food, it also gives communities more input about the type of food that is produced in their area. Many communities tend to consist of a culture that has its own unique culinary style, such as reservations which consist of Native Americans and/or Native Alaskans that prioritize certain food groups. Amanda pointed out that in some cultures flour and other baking ingredients are a staple, but when Native American households on reservations were provided with these common English baking ingredients, they had no knowledge on the food provided to them; the flour was deemed completely useless and the only use they could find was for the bags that the flour was provided in. The lack of knowledge of the composition of food often results in dietary diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, hypertension and many more. When people have a secure local food system, they no longer have to depend on the unfamiliar substances that are provided from foreign areas. Analysis of presentation contents Amanda made it apparent to her audience that food is a necessity for the human body to keep people healthy by providing necessary nutrients. Not only is food a necessity of life, it is a gift that is to be enjoyed by the human race, so it is important that we prioritize the methods of food production and distribution. It is important that humans of all races and genders in any location on Earth know how to grow their own food and know that their food is not degraded or contaminated. Local control gives people a more hands-on feel to their food resources since they are able to see the farms producing crops and know that they are being provided with clean, uncontaminated food. This can reduce the formation of diet-related illnesses by allowing people to procure clean and healthy products rather than manufactured food that has to be preserved and shipped to their tables. The examples she provided about the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, along with further reading materials and local food sources in Clemson, gave great insight into grassroots solutions in indigenous communities, as well as providing the audience with ways to take personal action regarding food sovereignty. Analysis of presentation methods Overall Amanda gave a very compelling presentation about the food sovereignty and security crisis found throughout the world. From her verbal presentation, it is clear that she is very well-educated in the subject of food sovereignty and the need for such in indigenous communities, which made her an engaging speaker. Starting her presentation with a conversation about our personal experiences, or lack thereof, with food sovereignty also helped us to further connect this topic to our own lives and see its impact on our peers. However, she often goes into much greater depth into the subject than what is present on her slides, so the audience had to focus carefully on the spoken component of her presentation to get the full picture. Amanda’s presentation not only excelled in educational content and data, she also displayed her message very thoroughly through the images and structure that she uses in the presentation. The bright colors, lively pictures and well-formatted information found throughout her powerpoint kept the audience engaged visually and made it easier for audiences of various age groups to comprehend the material. Amanda was slightly soft spoken while presenting which made it difficult to hear at times, but her tone and passion towards the subject of food security and sovereignty impacted the audience from an emotional standpoint rather than simply stating facts. Personal opinions Although Arden thinks that the topic of food sovereignty and security is an important and fascinating subject to research, she thinks that the idea as a whole may be difficult to address from an engineering stand-point. It seems that a lot of the rooting issues of the lack of sovereignty in America comes from political issues. Food security, on the other hand, Arden believes could be approachable for engineers. It would be more feasible for engineers to come up with more environmentally friendly pesticides and fertilizers. It could also be opportunistic for engineers to address the preservation of products, so that people know that the food that they are consuming is not contaminated with preservatives that could possibly result in dietary related illnesses. Arden would consider researching the subject matter of food security because she feels that it is relevant to the line of work that she is already interested in. She thinks that coming in close proximity with agriculture is something that she is not only familiar with, but it is also something that she is passionate about, and she would love to see people across the world more secure and comfortable with the food that they are consuming in the near future. The topic of food security, especially pertaining to indigenous rights, is one that interests Jill very much, seeing how similar problems plague the indigenous community in her home country Taiwan as well. She believes that the history of colonialism and industrialization has taken food sovereignty away from people, which has negative health and environmental effects, and should be remediated to ensure justice for those who have had their traditional livelihoods stripped away. She believes that not only should the current food industry switch to less invasive agricultural and manufacturing methods, but they should be modeled after indigenous practices to cause the least amount of human and ecological harm. She also would like to work with local organizations and nonprofits in the future to ensure that vulnerable communities get access to the healthy food they deserve, as well as call for policies that hold corporations accountable for malpractices regarding food safety and security. ...
View Full Document