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SPOTLIGHTS
Fighting for a fair food system
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hose voice is missing? This question confronts Leah Cohen daily. As a soldier in the fight for food justice, Cohen is an amplifier for the voices of those in the food system who are too often ignored and subject to discriminatory practices. Everyday food consumers are rarely faced with the direct consequences of their choice in food sources, with the exception of the direct impact the food has on their bodies. Food travels through an expansive network of individuals between the time it leaves the farm and lands on a plate. This system benefits some and disadvantages others. Significantly. Corporate entities, for example, benefit from the current structure of the food system in a major way. Whereas the case is not the same for SYNERGY MAGAZINE
farmworkers. This is just one sector of stakeholders Cohen’s work strives to support. As the General Coordinator of the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP), she’s entrusted to support food system stakeholders who shoulder a disproportionately high share of the negative impacts and a disproportionately low share of the benefits of how the food system operates. This includes farmworkers, small and mid size family farms, food processing workers, ethical food brands, independent grocers and retail workers. Cohen says many of the disparities in the food system result from racism that’s taken place since the founding of the United States. “The food system in its current model uses cultural structures to
Story by: Heaven Taylor-Wynn
