Environmental for Food Justice

Moderator’s Note: As has become customary, I am posting a selection of student research notes and essays prepared for a political ecology seminar I teach during fall quarter at the University of Washington. Taught as an advanced reading and discussion seminar, the course involves heavy reading loads and weekly writing aimed at development of analytical and critical skills. All of the students prepared a total of eight (8) critical reading summaries. They also produced the essays presented here which are synthesized from quarter-long topical research projects and presented in the form of a series of 2000-word posts. Some of these posts are autobiographical in nature and draw from personal life histories and experiences – but they are not self-indulgent empty exercises in navel gazing. The students of the so-called Millennial Generation are critical realists not because it might be an intellectual fad but as a matter of historical and structural circumstances. This is a group of seriou...

Credit: Union of Concerned Scientists Moderator’s Note: I am reposting a statement from the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) that defends the Séralini study but goes further by demonstrating that the latest analysis by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which supports the retraction, also violated scientific standards and applied double standards. Recall, that the editorial authority at the Elsevier publishing corporation that piublishes the journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology violated scientific principles by issuing the retraction. It appears we have another rat in the mix and EFSA is also adopting a double standard in which only studies challenged are those suggesting GMO food safety is a legitimate concern . The double standard in this case is clear since the Monsanto and Séralini studies adopted comparably well-vetted and quite similar research designs and methodologies. ENSSER is a scientific organization and not ver...

Old fashioned is right! ciw-online.org Moderator’s Note: I first heard about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in 1991 at the Environmental Justice Summit and have been privileged to witness their steps toward a unique approach to the organization of farm worker struggles – a model that is called “Fair Food.” CIW launched its movement to transform the organization of farm workers by networking across the entire food chain – for e.g., by organizing from the farm field to the fast food restaurants. The success of the campaign to organize the Fair Food sourcing program includes an important   agreement made in October 2012 with the Chipotle national chain.  This has turned out to be an almost singular achievement in  the history of farm worker organizing and goes well beyond measurably significant gains in “living wages” and other benefits tied to an innovative fair wage source agreement with the several fast food business sector corporations that the grow...