C: Glossary

Accessory Structure A structure on the same parcel of property as a principal or main structure, and whose use is related to that of the principal structure (i.e., a residential structure may have a detached garage or a farm may have a storage shed for garden tools).

Agroecology

An integrated approach to agriculture that applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems, seeking to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment while also taking into consideration the social aspects that must addressed for a sustainable and fair food system. Aquaponics Circular system of growing food that combines “aquaculture” (raising fish in tanks) with “hydroponics” (cultivating plants in water). In these systems, fish waste fertilizes the plants, and plants remove toxins from the water. Community Kitchen A shared kitchen available for communal cooking in a social atmosphere. Community kitchens can be health and safety certified and can provide free or rentable space for food preservation and preparation activities. Community kitchens are often part of a community center or other social facility.

Cooperative

Culturally Relevant

Cooperatives are people-centered enterprises owned, controlled, and run by and for members working together toward common economic, social, and cultural needs and goals. Foods that reflect the preferences and cultural contexts of a particular the community. Food literacy around culturally relevant and appropriate foods recognizes that the connections people have to food go beyond nutrition, with important connections to our families, histories, cultures, and environments.

Food Apartheid

Food Desert

Food Sovereignty

Food System

Referencing the man-made political and economic systems that perpetuated discrimination and segregation in South Africa based on race, the term ‘Food Apartheid” speaks to the geographic distribution of increased barriers to food access that can be explained by the continued legacy of racially discriminatory economic and political structures. Generally defined as low-income areas with little access to nutritional foods and large grocery stores. This term has been used by many organizations, academic institutions, and government entities, including the USDA and food movements. However, the term “desert,” may give the impression that these food landscapes are naturally occurring, when in fact they are a result of compounding systemic injustices and racism. See Food Apartheid, above. As defined by the Declaration of Nyéléni, the first global forum on food sovereignty, in 2007, “food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.” In other words, food sovereignty is the ability to choose what nourishes you and your community. The network of mechanisms that produce, prepare, distribute, consume, and dispose of food. Even in the most basic of understandings, food systems are complex and interrelated, shaped by land, climate, policy, and people, and directly impacting the health and wellness of communities, the local economy, and regional ecosystems.

Foodshed

Foraging

Land Access

Land Bank

Land Security

Land Trust

Middle Passage

Monoculture

Racialized Land-Based Oppression Rematriation

The food traditions and customs of a group of people, including growing methods, nutritional and culinary practices, what people eat and why they eat it, and the social practices related to foods. The geographical area between where food is produced and where the food is consumed; how far food travels from production to plate. The act of searching for wild food or acquiring food by hunting, fishing, or gathering plant matter from the natural world. The legal ability to use land for a purpose, such as agriculture, provided through a lease, license, other arrangement, or permanent ownership. Quasi-governmental entities created by counties or municipalities to effectively manage and repurpose an inventory of underused, abandoned, or foreclosed property. They are often created by enabling legislation to have powers that allow them to accomplish these goals in ways that existing government agencies can not. A state of potential permanence enjoyed by a land use such as a garden when all of its parcels are owned by the gardeners or a trusted organization or entity that will protect the garden over time. The opposite of Land Insecurity, which is a situation that exists when one or more of a garden’s parcels are owned by an individual or entity that does not intend to preserve the garden over time. Non-profit corporations that own and manage land for the purpose of stewarding the land, preserving the uses on the land, or conserving the natural resources on the land. The forced voyage of enslaved Africans from their homeland across the Atlantic Ocean. The term refers to the middle leg of the triangular trade route that took material goods (such as weapons, tools, and fabrics) from Europe to Africa, enslaved Africans to the Americas and West Indies, and raw materials, produced on the plantations (sugar, rice, tobacco, indigo, rum, and cotton) back to Europe. A commercial or industrial practice of cultivating of a single crop on a farm or in a particular region to increase yields and profits, often stripping the soil of nutrients and relying on synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. Methods of discrimination based on race and connected to land, land access, and land security. The process of returning land, seeds, or foods back to Indigenous communities.

Seed Saving

The practice of saving seeds from harvested plants for replanting in the near future or exchanging for other desired seeds.

Seed Keeping

The practice of preserving seeds in secure locations such as libraries or archives along with their identification information, place of origin, and documented stories. Seed keeping can also benefit from cultural and scientific knowledge of growing methods and plant maintenance. Ugly Produce Fresh, edible, produce deemed imperfect and not fit to sell due to its size, shape, or slight bruising or damage. Universal Design Architectural designs that make places (buildings, public space like sidewalks, or outdoors spaces) accessible to all people, including disabled, differently-abled, seniors, and small children.

Whole Community Approach

A framework for addressing health and education adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The model focuses on schools and the relationships between health and academic achievement and identifies nutrition environment and services as one of ten key components critical for a child’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development.