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Rural Studies
Together at the Table: Sustainability and Sustenance in the American Agrifood System
Everywhere you look people are more aware of what they eat and where their food comes from. In a cafeteria in Los Angeles, children make their lunchtime food choices at fresh-fruit and salad bars stocked with local foods. In a community garden in New York, low-income residents are producing organically grown fruits and vegetables for their own use and to sell at market. In Madison, Wisconsin, shoppers select their food from a bounty of choices at a vibrant farmers’ market. Together at the Table is about people throughout the United States who are building successful alternatives to the contemporary agrifood system and their prospects for the future. At the heart of these efforts are the movements for sustainable agriculture and community food security. Both movements seek to reconstruct the agrifood system―the food production chain, from the growing of crops to food production and distribution―to become more ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially just. Allen describes the ways in which people working in these movements view the world and how they see their place in challenging and reshaping the agrifood system. She also shows how ideas and practices of sustainable agriculture and community food security have already woven their way into the dominant agrifood institutions. Allen explores the possibilities this process may hold for improving social and environmental justice in the American agrifood system. Together at the Table is an important reminder that much work still remains to be done. Now that the ideas and priorities of alternative food movements have taken hold, it is time for the next―even more challenging―step. Alternative agrifood movements must acknowledge and address the deeper structural and cultural patterns that constrain the long-term resolution of social and environmental problems in the agrifood system.
- GenresFoodNonfiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 30, 2008
very interesting in that the author questions the ability for "sustainable agriculture" and "food security" movements to coexist and support each other. can we support local, ecologically-sound food and farming systems AND work towards social justice at the same time? p. allen poses such relevant and challenging questions for those of us who are attempting to make these broad and diverse changes.
i fell in love with this book at the end. it just got better and better. this is a critical and absolutely necessary questioning of who are we fighting to change the food system for; who are "we"; how can "we" include all of the actors in the food system (farmworkers, food service folks, emergency food customers, etc); and finally, are we meeting our goals?
some quotes that stood out:
On discourse:
“’It is precisely in the creation, articulation, and formulation of new thoughts and ideas – new knowledge – that a social movement defines itself in society’. Discourse is not only constitutive of social movements; it is also one of the primary tools movements employ to work toward social change”. (page 6).
"It is through discourse that dominant perspectives within organizations, institutions, and society in general are produced, reproduced, contested, and transformed”. (page 81).
“The way the world ‘is’ insidiously translates and mutates into how the world ‘can only be’ or ‘should be’” (Page 118).
“The problem with focusing on structural change is that it seems remote and impossible. It can take time and energy away from work that could be making a difference in people’s lives even if it does not change the basic system. These leaders were more overwhelmed by than they were unwilling to confront core problems in the agrifood system” (page 208).
On participation:
“Progressive reforms can only be realized through the empowerment of those who are currently in subordinate positions. While involving those who have been excluded or subordinated is clearly required to meet liberal standards of democracy, it is in and of itself insufficient for achieving a deep democracy. As Stiefel and Wolfe (1994:5) point out, “After all, everyone ‘participates’ in society, whether as an effective actor or a passive victim” (page 158).
“Full participation and autonomous agency to make decisions require the evening out of various forms of power in society” (page 159).
On social change:
“Campbell (2001:353) sums up the situation, describing the sustainable agriculture movement as being ‘caught in unyielding tradeoffs between their commitment to deeply rooted social change and the need to be politically credible” (page 208).
“Unless groups working for change are aware of the need for deeper social restructuring, they may ‘end up legitimizing the very processes and interests they are seeking to change’” (page 208).
“We cannot move toward a future we cannot imagine, and we cannot imagine a future we don’t believe is possible” (page 210).
“Not every social problem generates a social movement; this potential lies with those issues that ‘strike a fundamental chord, that touch basic tensions in society’ (Eyerman and Jamison 1991). Agrifood issues are clearly those that have the potential to catalyze broad social movements. Through its procurement, preparation, and consumption food structures some part of daily life for each of us. It is an ‘intimate’ commodity in that it is something we take inside our bodies, which gives it special significance over commodities consumed outside the body” (page 212).
i fell in love with this book at the end. it just got better and better. this is a critical and absolutely necessary questioning of who are we fighting to change the food system for; who are "we"; how can "we" include all of the actors in the food system (farmworkers, food service folks, emergency food customers, etc); and finally, are we meeting our goals?
some quotes that stood out:
On discourse:
“’It is precisely in the creation, articulation, and formulation of new thoughts and ideas – new knowledge – that a social movement defines itself in society’. Discourse is not only constitutive of social movements; it is also one of the primary tools movements employ to work toward social change”. (page 6).
"It is through discourse that dominant perspectives within organizations, institutions, and society in general are produced, reproduced, contested, and transformed”. (page 81).
“The way the world ‘is’ insidiously translates and mutates into how the world ‘can only be’ or ‘should be’” (Page 118).
“The problem with focusing on structural change is that it seems remote and impossible. It can take time and energy away from work that could be making a difference in people’s lives even if it does not change the basic system. These leaders were more overwhelmed by than they were unwilling to confront core problems in the agrifood system” (page 208).
On participation:
“Progressive reforms can only be realized through the empowerment of those who are currently in subordinate positions. While involving those who have been excluded or subordinated is clearly required to meet liberal standards of democracy, it is in and of itself insufficient for achieving a deep democracy. As Stiefel and Wolfe (1994:5) point out, “After all, everyone ‘participates’ in society, whether as an effective actor or a passive victim” (page 158).
“Full participation and autonomous agency to make decisions require the evening out of various forms of power in society” (page 159).
On social change:
“Campbell (2001:353) sums up the situation, describing the sustainable agriculture movement as being ‘caught in unyielding tradeoffs between their commitment to deeply rooted social change and the need to be politically credible” (page 208).
“Unless groups working for change are aware of the need for deeper social restructuring, they may ‘end up legitimizing the very processes and interests they are seeking to change’” (page 208).
“We cannot move toward a future we cannot imagine, and we cannot imagine a future we don’t believe is possible” (page 210).
“Not every social problem generates a social movement; this potential lies with those issues that ‘strike a fundamental chord, that touch basic tensions in society’ (Eyerman and Jamison 1991). Agrifood issues are clearly those that have the potential to catalyze broad social movements. Through its procurement, preparation, and consumption food structures some part of daily life for each of us. It is an ‘intimate’ commodity in that it is something we take inside our bodies, which gives it special significance over commodities consumed outside the body” (page 212).
January 26, 2013
In Together at the Table , Patricia Allen examines the U.S. alternative agrifood movement, which she sees as arising from the community food security movement and the sustainable agriculture movement. She is focused on analyzing the movement’s discourse as a way to get at its self-understanding (or “cognitive content”) and aims at producing theory not only about the movement but for the movement. By understanding the ideological underpinnings of the movements’ weaknesses, she is able to offer possibilities for future collaborations and positive directions for the movement. As Allen explains, “Discovering how people working in the alternative agrifoodmovement and agrifood institutions view the world and how they see their place in challenging and reshaping the agrifood system represents an essential step for better understanding the sites of and possibilities for change in the agrifood system” (9). I highly recommend this read to anyone interested in the sustainable food movement.
Allen highlights the way that the alternative agrifood movement draws on residual ideas of Jeffersonian agrarianism, continuing to privilege the farmer and property owner. This prioritization of the farmer not only marginalizes farm workers but other forms of food systems labor as well. She suggests the ways ideas of economic competition and individualism structure the alternative markets that the movement produces, constraining some of the movement's more progressive impulses. She also questions the focus on the local within the sustainability movement, suggesting that local is not necessarily more democratic but may magnify the inequalities of race, gender, and wealth that already exist on a local level.
Allen highlights the way that the alternative agrifood movement draws on residual ideas of Jeffersonian agrarianism, continuing to privilege the farmer and property owner. This prioritization of the farmer not only marginalizes farm workers but other forms of food systems labor as well. She suggests the ways ideas of economic competition and individualism structure the alternative markets that the movement produces, constraining some of the movement's more progressive impulses. She also questions the focus on the local within the sustainability movement, suggesting that local is not necessarily more democratic but may magnify the inequalities of race, gender, and wealth that already exist on a local level.
March 11, 2013
This book is a fantastic critique of the American Agrifood system and offers examples of the ways the agrifood system perpetuates the discourses it fights against (class, gender, power); while also offering ways to change the issues within the movement and create a greater social change.
Allen is forthright in her discussion, passionate about the ability of social movements to create change and yet frankly honest in pulling back the curtain on a very positivist movement.
After reading this book, it has helped me recognize the need for critique of social movements. Without the critique social movements may fall into a rut of furthering the problems it purports to work against. Despite the critique, the book ends with how food is one of the greatest ways to bring people together and create the most change. Food is a basic human right and one of the most fundamental ways people can become involved in a social movement.
Allen is forthright in her discussion, passionate about the ability of social movements to create change and yet frankly honest in pulling back the curtain on a very positivist movement.
After reading this book, it has helped me recognize the need for critique of social movements. Without the critique social movements may fall into a rut of furthering the problems it purports to work against. Despite the critique, the book ends with how food is one of the greatest ways to bring people together and create the most change. Food is a basic human right and one of the most fundamental ways people can become involved in a social movement.
March 21, 2011
This is an important and nuanced evaluation of what Allen dubs "the alternative agrifood movement." Where the book lacks is in its often vague and taken-for-granted assumptions about what constitutes "sustainability." That said, Allen highlights both the practical success and ideological pitfalls present in the current alternative agrifood movement, pointing to areas of further research that could promote the movement's dual goals of increased "sustainable" agriculture and more community food security.
November 17, 2012
Allen gives a thorough evaluation of the positions and effectiveness of the two primary alternative agrifood movements in the States -- sustainable agriculture and community food security -- in changing our existing food system and food policies. She focuses mostly on these movements in relation to the state of California, which is one weakness of the book, and some of the research is already a little outdated.
Want to read
October 17, 2007a rural studies/local foods grad student i met in a coffee shop recommended this as a great starting-off point in learning about social networks & ethically produced food. it is at the top of my queue, for sure!
January 19, 2008
Well worth reading if you have an interest in competing agricultural paradigms. The books scope may seem limited at first but widens out to encompass existing institutions and historical social movements.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews