Blog 18

Describe the Community Food Security movement and what perspectives/voices are included in this approach? How does the Community Food Assessment tool fit in? How might a Social Justice framework around food insecurity re-frame these issues? (compared to, say, a strictly health/nutrition approach?) With the Missoula County case study – how do cultural beliefs, social, political and economic relationships affect the community food system?

Think back to when our student-lead group presented on this issue a few weeks back. What questions and concerns should be raised regarding our own system here in SC

Community Food Security means having readily available access to healthy and safe foods and the CFS movement works to address the issues within our global food economy such as the cost of transportation as well as the loss of local, family farms.  Some voices included in this approach are farmers, ranchers, anti-hunger activists, nutritionists, environmentalists, public health educators, and city planners. The Community Food Assessment tool fits in by “organizing tools for identifying food-related issues, planning what to do about them, and gathering local support to take action to address them”. The CFA works to solve the many issues associated with the CFS movement on a community level. The Social Justice framework re-frames issues by connecting food consumption and production. It helps to address food security on more of a community level. 
A few questions/concerns regarding our SNAP/Double Bucks community food system in South Carolina:
Is the idea of Double Bucks used strictly at farmer's markets really feasible? Would it also be beneficial to expand the use of Double Bucks to state-grown produce that is sold in grocery stores as well? 
What about people who do not live near farmer's markets or grocery stores who offer local/organic produce? How do we give people living in food deserts in SC the same access to healthy foods as those who are not?