The legacies we leave
Before the Cutting Board: August 30, 2024
Hey there,
I hope August has treated you well. In the latest episode of “I can’t travel anywhere in 2024 without something chaotic happening”, my grandmother passed away while I was in Aspen this month for the first 2024 Food Leaders Fellows gathering.
This is the second grandparent I’ve lost in the last couple years and it turns out it doesn’t get much easier, even if it technically is ‘their time’. But something that’s brought comfort and solace in the after moments is going through old photos and sharing memories. It sounds cliche as ever, but it’s been quite special to see common threads that I may have taken for granted in the moments I did have with my grandparents.
In my grandmother’s photos, I see a discerning side-eye that I never fully realized that we share. It was one thing to listen to her speak about her adventures in Germany as a teenager, and another completely to actually see photos of those adventures from 1949, appreciating how unique it is to share the experience of living abroad with your elder. I remember experiencing something similar with my grandfather. We were a bit closer, and I spent a lot of time witnessing his love of growing food, meticulous composting, and cooking a masterpiece with whatever was available. And yet, while he was around, I didn’t fully register the huge impact that had on the life I live today.
So I get to cherish it now through photos, memories, and small moments that remind me of who I come from. I recognize it's a lucky thing to have that. And I also recognize how and why it’s so important for Black families in particular. So much of our history and our ancestry was taken from us that it makes the family history we are able to hold on to - down to the literal physical pieces of it - incredibly special.
The legacies we cultivate during our time and leave for those after us matter in a big way. On a smaller scale, in terms of the metaphorical story quilts that we weave for our families and on a bigger scale, the systems we pass to the next generations. It becomes the way in which our own generation is defined and remembered by. When I look at the ways my grandparents - the ones who are no longer with us and the ones I’m fortunate to have around - and their generation fought to give us something better than what they were given, it reminds me of why I do what I do.
Welcome back to Before the Cutting Board, your monthly roundup of food + supply chain hot topics to help keep you up to speed on what’s going down with your food.
Let’s dig in.
-This Month-
Speaking of legacy…
Earlier this summer, the Food and Environment Reporting Network in partnership with New Republic provided captivating coverage of the legal battle between The Everglades Foundation and its former chief scientist. This piece has everything - court drama, political chaos, underdogs, and a possible assassination attempt. The center stage lawsuit takes place against the backdrop of the wetlands that make up about one-third of Florida, and an ecosystem that has been subject to intense manipulation over the last 150+ years. Everglades water drainage systems were in part built to support growing southern Florida cities, but the original intention of messing with the water table was anchored in and continues to serve the interest of plantation development. Enter “Big Sugar”.
Sugarcane takes up over 400,000 acres of Everglades every year and is the most extensively grown row crop in Florida. In 2022, it raked in over $553M for the state, falling behind profit-wise only to cut flowers and oranges. The sugar industry is also a central player in the politicization of the Everglades, having directed nearly $60M to political campaigns between 1994 and 2016. This was perhaps one of the most riveting threads of this particular story and the history of the Everglades generally. The social and economic fabric of the US, and the South in particular, continues to be marred by the legacy of plantation agriculture. It’s felt in the way in which our agricultural systems and economics are structured, the environmental impacts that has created for rural agrarian communities particularly for the Black residents in and around them, as well as the involvement of ag industries in our political system. There’s few clearer examples of that than sugarcane.
What Else I’m Reading and Listening to:
From the Freedmen-Heirs Foundation newsletter: the USDA awarded over $2B in aid to over 43,000 Black farmers and farmers of color as part of a long overdue discrimination-relief effort that’s been marked with court challenges over the last two years.
From Civil Eats: Kelp companies are emerging and partnering with companies to build a supply chain from scratch - climbing over cost barriers to consistent logistics at one end of the supply chain, and ensuring reliable market access for a highlight perishable food product at the other end.
There have been over 11 food product recalls in the last month - cucumbers and deli meat were among the big ones.
The FTC’s challenge to the largest proposed grocery merger in US history kicked off court proceedings in Oregon this week.
Dollar General is expanding produce sales across 1500 more stores.
In case you missed it:
As part of their Climate Solutions for Restaurant Survival campaign, James Beard Foundation is asking independent chef restaurant owners to take a survey and share how climate change impacts have affected their business.
That’s it for this month. If you enjoyed reading this, please forward to a friend. Even if you didn’t enjoy reading it, still tell your friends - misery loves company :)