How do we make a big change to our current patterns?
No one ever said change is easy and this is no different. We are swimming upstream against a system set up to make sustainable change fail. Our current system is trashing our planet at an alarming rate. “Just buy better stuff” or “shop smarter” roll off the tongue so easy but the thing is, not everyone can afford to go green. Yes, we need to take responsibility and recycle or buy foods with less packaging, etc. but the entire burden does not fall on our shoulders. We didn’t choose to put toxins in our products. We didn’t choose to have factories using slave labor.
Citizens make a change. Not consumers. We need to take action and change what our economy prioritizes. Twenty-first-century food policy will have to address a new set of priorities.
Bit by bit and despite their fragmented remit, United Nations bodies have collectively charted how food systems are unlikely to be able to continue developing on the path set out by the architects of production from the 1940s. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has summarized the case from a health perspective in two commissions: Macroeconomics and Health in 2002 and Social Determinants of Health in 2008” (National Institutes of Health).
Inevitably, the issue of power gets in the way of our food and health questions. Powerful interests dominate our food systems. These interests are deeply opposed to change, therefore the best interests of our society get lost. Food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition: This happens at an individual, household, and community level and is closely linked to the distribution of wealth.
Let’s change the rules. We can’t do it alone. We need to take action! Whatever you have to offer a better future needs it.
There is major potential for diversified agroecological systems to succeed where current systems are failing, namely in reconciling concerns such as food security, environmental protection, nutritional adequacy and social equity.” International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems
The DYGUP & SUSTAIN program is a non-profit dedicated to regenerative organic agricultural practices to teach the benefits of land stewardship in the Paso del Norte Region. DYGUP, an acronym for Developing Youth from the Ground Up, is available to youth ages 14-17. The SUSTAIN program targets adults over 18 and combines "Roots Of Success" Environmental Literacy Curriculum with intensive farmer training. The DYGUP/ Sustain Program has many partnerships in the community including Taylor Hood Farms, Backyard Farms LC, First Christian Church, and Las Cruces High-School. Chihuahuan Desert Charities is proud to be the fiscal sponsor for DYGUP & Sustain and support their important work in the Las Cruces community.
Support the DYGUP & Sustain Program at Legacy Farm in Las Cruces by visiting ChihuahuanDesertCharities.org