Food and social justice go hand-in-hand, and producers need to find more ways to bring balance to what is produced and how people on the producing side and the consumption side are treated. Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, an organization founded two years ago to highlight the role of food in social justice, spoke with Chuck at the Bayer CropScience 10th annual Ag Issues Forum in Phoenix. One of the first areas she said needs to be addressed is the role of women in agriculture.
“Women, unfortunately, are not getting the same access to resources as male farmers,” she said. “They make up about half of the world’s agricultural labor, and yet they don’t have access to land, credit, financial and banking services. If they did, we could lift 100-150 million people out of hunger.”
Danielle also pointed to issues for food service workers, who are underpaid, as well as the farm field laborers. She said we need to make sure these people get the respect, recognition and pay they deserve.
Another area Food tank would like to see addressed is the production of foods that Danielle said fills us up but don’t provide good nutrition. She’d like to see a move away from some of the starchy crops and better investment and production of foods such as fruits, vegetables and even crops, such as sweet potatoes, millet and sorghum, to add more diversity to the food system.
Listen to Chuck’s interview with Danielle here: Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank