Agency through Urban Gardening
Sam Plouff (Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design)
How can we create a more inclusive and accessible food system, when changing food policy is next to impossible within the United States? While systematic change is needed, citizens should be granted the power to regain some of their agency in relationship to their food. People of color are more likely than their white counterparts to live in areas of food apartheid: areas where people do not have consistent access to reasonably priced, fresh produce. Under a climate-descent scenario we will require re-worked food systems that require less energy and are able to prosper in the changing climate. Agriculture is one of the highest emitters of fossil fuels in the United States, along with being responsible for high amounts of global deforestation, soil degradation, and water pollution to name a few. By localizing parts of our food system, we can change our relationship to food and its value to us, while helping to decrease the need for unsustainable food systems that have disproportionately negative effects on neighboring countries and the Global South. The project consists of an indoor instillation, including a garden and photographs of urban farms from SE Michigan. The goal is to help people be aware of the values of localized food systems early on, so they have more agency in relationship to their food, and are able to transition easier into a future with more difficult food access from climate change.