"What's Orting Eating? What's Eating Orting?": Defining food justice across the Puyallup watershed

The concept of “food justice” has been positioned in between the reformist (but still neoliberal) “food security” and the radical progressive idea of “food sovereignty” (Holt-Giménez, 2010). By bringing the goals... [ view full abstract ]

The concept of “food justice” has been positioned in between the reformist (but still neoliberal) “food security” and the radical progressive idea of “food sovereignty” (Holt-Giménez, 2010). By bringing the goals of social justice movements to the food system, the concept of food justice in a community development framework signals a departure from mainstream food access programs. Food justice widens the lens from the individual to focus more attention on systemic sources of injustice, while still emphasizing concrete investments in underserved communities to promote equity. But, what does “food justice” mean to the communities where these projects are happening? How do communities translate this concept in their own contexts? Does it clarify or obfuscate the connection between those contexts and inequity at higher levels of the food system? This paper analyzes qualitative data collected at two research sites within the Puyallup watershed of western Washington State: Orting (a small rural community) and South Tacoma (an urban neighborhood). This data was collected as part of a larger research project designed to generate community-based definitions of food justice that can help guide community development projects addressing food system inequity. The paper first addresses the difficulties of using food justice as a development goal in community-based work, and engages the food justice praxis literature (eg. Cadieux & Slocum 2015). An in-depth examination of data from Orting and preliminary cross-case analysis shows important differences in how rural and urban communities define food justice for themselves. The paper concludes that a watershed-wide definition of food justice cannot adequately address issues of equity across urban and rural landscapes.