An intersectional feminist food studies praxis: Activism and care in the COVID-19 context

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare global structural inequalities, including those involving food. Although feminist frameworks have been applied to the study of food, we have much to learn about activism and environmental education (EE). In this article, I thus develop a nascent intersectional feminist food studies praxis for the field to animate important conversations about “new” ways of thinking and doing EE research for a post-pandemic future. To begin, I describe the places where I work in eastern Los Angeles County, California. Then, I provide a brief overview of intersectionality, highlighting key components informing my work. Drawing on two and a half years of feminist participatory research focused on the activist-scholar nexus, I elucidate an intersectional feminist food studies praxis that elevates the politics of knowledge, is attuned to the affective domain, and supports transformation. To conclude, I specifically highlight how these insights can influence EE research and practice.

Keywords:

• Food justice
• intersectional feminism
• activism
• activist-scholar
• care
• gender

Notes

1 See, for example, Aguilar (2021), Carter et al. (2016), Hintz (2015), Julier (2019), Lloro (2020), Lloro-Bidart (2019), Lloro-Bidart and Sidwell (2020), Lowan-Trudeau and Niblett (2017), Machum (2016), Maina-Okori et al. (2018), Nxumalo (2015), Soma (2016), Stapleton (2021), and Stovall et al. (2015).

2 Indeed in 2018, the prevalence of food insecurity among households with incomes below 300 percent of the federal poverty level was 20 percent and the city ranked in the 0th percentile on the California Healthy Profiles Index Clean Environment Score, meaning that Pomona experiences the highest pollution burden in Los Angeles County (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2018). Although data are not available, one can imagine that the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these inequalities.

3 Although the PCFA does work with California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), I use the language of chemical-free instead of organic food for several reasons. First, most activists prefer the term chemical-free because it implies zero-tolerance for pesticides (even those the US Department of Agriculture has approved as organic) and synthetic fertilizers. Further, PCFA activists willingly work with many local farmers who cannot afford organic certification, but nonetheless do not use pesticides or synthetic fertilizers and practice agroecological or regenerative farming.

4 All research participants referred to in this study consented to be part of the research process, which has been approved by California State Polytechnic University’s Office of Research and Compliance Institutional Review Board (Protocol 18-229). All names used in this study are pseudonyms used to protect participants’ identities.

5 For a detailed described of the research approach, including research methods and data analysis, see Lloro & González (in progress).

6 Resonating with the creativity of the Galapagueño educational community during the pandemic (see Román et al., this issue), PCFA activists demonstrated a strong commitment to continuing to provide food to the community. They did this despite a policy environment that shut down many local farmers markets and notwithstanding the limited resources they had available to them.