Clearing your palate

 

When Kim Fox became frustrated with the increasing layers of corporate interference between herself and what she put on her plate – she decided to turn that frustration into academic inquiry, and then into a festival.

We rarely think about the source of grocery store produce, peeling off the identifying sticker without even registering it. “Most people in North America don’t know where their food comes from, or what’s in it,” says Fox of the ever-growing distance (both literal and figurative) between food growers and consumers.

To help educate people about what they consume, and start a dialogue between people involved in producing, distributing and consuming food, Fox successfully proposed and produced a Sustainable Food Fair. “A festival is a really good way to rally people.”

On September 15, Concordia's Hall Building became central for a group of community activists, vendors, workshop participants, the curious and the hungry to learn more about what they eat. “A lot of people told me they met people they didn’t know were out there and made contacts,” says Fox.

Fox’s salary was funded by the Sustainability Action Fund, and the day came together with help from numerous campus and student groups and student volunteers. Fox, who has been organizing music festivals for years, applied her skills to the venture. She also made every effort to limit the waste, energy and resources used during the day, “We worked to make this a zero-waste event.”

Fox spent part of last year researching different aspects of agribusiness as an independent study project with Department of Political science Professor and Chair Peter Stoett. The deeper she dug, the more dirt she turned up.

“Agrobusiness is controlling the majority of what we eat,” she explains. Farmers around the world are pressured to switch from traditional farming practices to use specialized seeds that promise bumper crops but require expensive pesticides and fertilizers to maintain. The seeds don’t reproduce themselves so farmers must buy new seeds annually to maintain the over-inflated yields.

“All of this is changing biodiversity and the way we grow our food.” Add excessive packaging, over-processing and GMO issues and it’s clear that something’s wrong down on the farm – or between farm and kitchen.

Fox researched alternative food producers and used the food fair to launch a map for people who want to know more about how they can change their diets or consumption habits. From buying local to educating yourself about food farming and delivery practices “there are a million ways to make a difference.”

Fox wants to maintain the momentum, “I just don’t know what it will look like yet, it might be a speaker series,” says Fox.