When thinking about issues of spatial justice, we all too often focus only on urban context. It is true the majority of Americans live in urban centers, but spatial justice is not solely an urban issue. While there are, of course, a myriad of ways in which spatial justice manifests in rural areas, but I wanted to focus on one area of spatial justice that deeply effects Athens and the surrounding counties: food insecurity.
Food insecurity refers to the USDA measurement of lack of access to food required to live a healthy, active life. Though “hunger” is a measure of a physical sensation, food insecurity refers to a lack of financial resources for food or lack of access to affordable and nutritious food. Unsurprisingly, areas with higher rates of poverty tend to also have higher rates of food insecurity, and food insecurity is connected with a number of negative health outcomes.[1] The food insecurity rate in Athens County is currently 19.3%, which is the highest rate of any county in Ohio.[2] The high rate of food insecurity in Athens and the surrounding counties is, in part, a consequence of Appalachia’s history as a region economically dependent on extractive industries. But, Appalachian Ohio has a history of small-scale, diversified agriculture that differentiates it from the kind of commercial cash-crop agriculture that characterizes much Ohio farmland outside of the region.[3] While food insecurity remains a significant local and regional problem, local agencies have been addressing this issue through what I would argue is a lens of spatial justice that has the potential to transform health, poverty, and economic empowerment.
Though poverty is certainly one contributing factor in high rates of local food insecurity, transportation is perhaps an even more difficult barrier to overcome. Rural areas in particular are vulnerable to the erosion of “spatial links” discussed in the Design Studio for Social Intervention report on Spatial Justice (hereinafter referred to as “Spatial Justice Report”). As the Spatial Justice Report shows, “when spatial links are torn out, blocked, or divested, residents lose connection with the rest of the city or the larger ecology, and spaces become cut off and left behind” (p. 5). Until the development of the Athens Public Transit system, those without access to cars living outside of the city of Athens were essentially cut off from many community spaces, workplaces, medical facilities, and social service agencies largely based within or near the city limits. More importantly for the issue of food access, many communities do not have ready access to grocery stores that stock fresh, healthy foods, meaning many in our region live in food deserts.
If transportation poses a barrier to food access, one obvious solution to combat food insecurity is to increase transportation services. But, transportation networks are difficult and expensive to develop and, as the Spatial Report demonstrates, “if we demand the reworking of spatial arrangements, we are demanding the reworking of all other arrangements” (p. 3). Rather than necessarily demanding the reorganization of spatial arrangements like transportation networks, the conversation locally around food insecurity has shifted to one about food sovereignty. Organizations like Rural Action, ACEnet, and Community Food Initiatives, emphasize our local history of small-scale farmers, instead creating new spaces where food grown in the region is bought, sold, and consumed locally, with an emphasis on getting nutritious food onto the tables of those who are food insecure. One such space is the Chesterhill Produce Auction (CPA) located in Morgan County.
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| Produce on the floor of the CPA, with the auctioneer's stand in the background. Buyers usually purchase large lots of produce, but during the peak of the growing season, smaller mixed lots are available as well. |
At the CPA, local buying clubs, restaurants, families, and social service agencies can purchase produce grown locally for personal use, commercial sale, or donation. I spent some time working for one of the agencies that purchases food from the CPA for donation, Community Food Initiatives (CFI). CFI runs a Donation Station that purchases food from local sources and distributes that food to representatives from food pantries and other agencies working to combat food insecurity in the region’s most rural areas. In this way, CFI is forging new spatial links that function as an alternative to the infrastructure provided by the city, county, and corporations in the area. Though the local movement for food sovereignty extends well beyond the CPA and the spatial links CFI forges through the Donation Station, their work is just one example of how spatial justice work happens in our local, rural area.
On a personal note, if you have never been to the CPA (and you have access to a vehicle), I highly recommend you go! The auction runs every Monday and Thursday between May and October beginning at 4pm, and occasionally there are special auctions on Saturdays. Check out the calendar on their website: https://chesterhillproduceauction.com/.
And if you are interested in learning more about CFI, you can find their website at: https://communityfoodinitiatives.org/.
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| I served as an AmeriCorps VISTA for CFI from 2017-2018 and again for ten weeks this summer; this picture is from one of my last auctions, taken after loading a half-ton (over 1,000 pounds!) of produce into the CFI truck. All of this food was taken back to the CFI office on Columbus Road and stored in a cooler until it was distributed to local food pantry representatives the morning after the auction. |
[1] Feeding America, "What is Food Insecurity?" Accessed September 12, 2019, https://hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/understand-food-insecurity/.
[2]Feeding America, "Minding the Meal Gap," Accessed September 12, 2019, https://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2017/overall/ohio.
[3] USDA, "Farming and Farm Income," Accessed September 12, 2019, https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/farming-and-farm-income/.
It wasn't until I came to Athens that I heard about food insecurity. I went on a visit to the Southeastern Ohio Food Bank in Logan, Ohio during my freshman year. On Saturdays, groups come into the food bank to volunteer by stocking boxes of non-perishables that will be given out to qualifying members of the community. Part of this visit included a tour of the facility with a member of the organization. Our guide stopped us by a large map of the counties in Ohio to talk about the way that food insecurity is a major issue in our region.
ReplyDeleteThis map had data about farms in each county. Sandusky county, where I grew up, was one of the counties with the largest amount of producers. Athens county was the complete opposite; I cannot recall whether there was any names listed for the county. It made me realize how much I took for granted. Nearly all of the major routes leaving or coming into my childhood town had produce stands on them.
Katie, I really like your article. I think you've done a great job explaining the links between local people and the local producers. It even made me consider the spatial distancing in my community. Although there are many producers, is everyone actually able to reach them? The roads in my town are very rural once you leave the city limits. Considering the county-operated transportation system, I think there's still a limit on those who are able to get out to the stands. Unlike Athens county, Sandusky county's transit system operated like a taxi service, requiring that riders call 24 hours ahead of their requested pick up time. Sometimes 24 hours notice is not enough and their time slots are all filled up. I think it would be valuable for the county government to consider ways for more people to reach the local produce.