Introduction

Describing someone as a food “radical” can imply many different things. It can suggest the person has unusual ideas, or it can mean that he or she is awesome in some way. The Latin ancestor of the word “radical” suggests the person is someone attempting to get at the “root” of a food problem. Many individuals seek to improve the food system. Most are radical in various ways. All are creative, unconventional, brave, and compassionate people. While they do not all agree on solutions, they do agree on the need for a better food system, and one can learn something from all of them.

Conclusion

The radicals whose voices are represented are ordinary people, trying to achieve the common goal of a better food system. At points, they agree with one another; at times they do not. Hearing from people with diverse experiences and perspectives gives the reader insight into the complex nature of the current food system. Each of the radical friends addressed throughout the book has something to teach us. Often, it takes a nonradical, someone engaging in the “routine,” to lend a radical notion credibility. The radical and commonplace work in tandem. To understand the changes taking place in our food system and the challenges to come, both need to be understood.

Meet the Food Radicals

Brief bios and pictures of twenty-seven individuals are offered as a preliminary introduction to the “food radicals” who engaged in conversations with the authors. Some individuals are considered food radicals because they are helping to radically change how we farm, or challenge society to radically change how food is distributed. Others seek radical departures in the local and international laws regarding the production and selling of food. A few seek radical changes in how people eat. All come from diverse backgrounds, showing that the food system is impacted by many different types of people with a multitude of perspectives.

The Forum

Food is political. Movements challenging issues of food access and security are occurring all over the world. Led by creative thinkers and targets of racism and discrimination themselves, members of radical food movements speak out for environmental and social justice, seeking to establish more democratic social systems. Food is central because its absence causes so much pain. Structural racism is manifest in the food deserts across the United States, where gas stations serve as grocery stores. Oppression is magnified in developing countries by an entire nation’s inability to control its own food supply. We meet people experimenting with new, radical forms of democracy, with food as a central dimension of their organizing strategies.

The Fork

The quest for food access and an ethical diet often requires lifestyle adjustment. To reach this goal, people are willing to pay higher food prices to ensure better treatment of livestock, are patrons of local food suppliers, consider spaces that promote positive nutrition, and are planting more vegetable gardens. While most lifestyle alterations are minor, requiring little sacrifice, a food radical does not just stop with marginal changes, but adopts a way of living vastly different from the norm. Our food radicals also take action to directly implement practices to encourage greater and more mindful access to nutritional food.

The Farm

Agriculture is experiencing radical changes. Farmers are learning to produce crops without tilling the soil, robots are becoming farmhands, and companies are raising crops without sunlight or soil. Though these changes are revolutionary, some believe we have not gone far enough. While pesticides allow farmers to prevent soil erosion, some argue agroecological methods can prevent erosion without pesticides, through the use of polycultures, green manures, and other techniques used in organic agriculture. Livestock agriculture is also being challenged on animal welfare and environmental grounds, so much so that some individuals conduct undercover investigations of livestock farms, and companies are investing large amounts of money to create meat substitutes. The possibilities afforded by genetic engineering are enormous, and while some see the technology as a key component of sustainability, others see it as a threat. While individuals may share similar goals for improving the food system, their preferred methods often differ.