Voices for Environmental Justice

Katie D.

April 25, 2009 - 4:00 PM

Today I participated in an awesome event put on by the University of Oregon student group CAER: Coalition Against Environmental Racism. Voices for Environmental Justice was an inspiring series of speakers on topics surrounding environmental justice and environmental racism.

CAER is an amazing student group whose mission is to bridge "the gap between the struggle of social and environmental equality" ("What is CAER"). They consistently bring great speakers to campus to educate the community about issues that surround environmental racism, especially in the areas of unequal health detriments specific to a neighborhood's ethnic makeup. Environmental Justice, an offshoot of the wider Pro-Environment Movement, seeks to become more inclusive to ethnic minorities or those of a lower socioeconomic status. The larger Environmental movement often has a stereotype of catering solely to those of higher socioeconomic classes, who can afford to pay for organic food or worry about distant issues like rainforest depletion. While these issues are important, it is equally important to focus on environmental issues in our own backyards, where pollutants and other factors affect ethnic minorities at a much higher rate than they do to richer members of the same societies.

Today I attended two events out of a day-long series.

First I attended a talk by a Navajo activist, Louise Benally, regarding the Navajo people's struggle to preserve their lands and traditions in the face of coal and uranium mining in Northern Arizona. Native American peoples face a large degree of Environmental Racism in the US and around the world: they are often pushed onto the least-habitable land, and the US Government also has a history of re-appropriating land when something of value is discovered there. In the case of Louise Benally's talk, she leads political action against huge mining corporations that not only destroy the Navajo people's sacred mountains, but that also expel huge quantities of toxic dust and fumes into the air during the process of mining and refining the minerals.

The second event was a panel discussion on Food Justice. This is a topic I think is extremely interesting and important: our food choices hold huge implications in our personal health, and have implications on the welfare of our fellow human beings and the well-being of our planet.

The first speaker, Reese Erlich, spoke about Cuba and their experiences with organic farming. Cuba is unique in that organic food is sold at the exact price of other produce. Erlich talked about organic food prices in the US being driven mostly by grocery stores that have created an organic niche market, and know people will pay more for organic apples, even if the production cost is no higher than that of chemically-enhanced foods. Erlich also said that the Cuban governemnt assists neighborhoods in the construction of community gardens, and sends agronomists to help with any new project. What a radical idea!

The second speaker, Judy Castro, spoke mostly on the health benefits of organic foods. She also spoke about something I've never heard of before, which is irradiating food. Most grocery stores sell food that has been sprayed with radiation "recycled" from nuclear waste in order to kill any pests on the food and to give it a longer shelf life. This is done without any understanding as to the health implications of eating irradiated foods. And we eat it!

The final speaker was Sarah Cantril, a community member and organizer of the nonprofit organization Huerto de la Familia, which provides garden and farm space to Latinos in the community who live below the poverty line. The garden provides food, education, a community spirit, and an opportunity for people to work together to feed themselves healthy, organic food they might not otherwise be able to afford.

During the talks, I decided a couple of things.

First, I will be volunteering with Huerto de la Familia this summer if at all possible. I love being outside, working in the garden, and if I get to practice my Spanish so much the better. They also have programs for kids, which I always love to be a part of. They are expanding into small-scale farming projects, sponsored through my favorite NGO, Heifer International. I would love to experience working with an organization like that

Second, I will be working at the University of Oregon's Urban Farm project this summer. There is a class on organic urban farming and gardening offered through the Landscape Architecture Program, and hopefully I can learn more techniques in gardening and local agriculture through them.

Third, I have finally decided it is time to go organic. I've been resisting this for years because I try to live a very frugal life, and am currently spending only about $100 a month on groceries, mostly because I buy in bulk. This whole year I've made the commitment to only buy high-quality, hormone-free, organic and free range meat. This has meant that I a) eat less meat, and b) feel better about the health implications of the meat I do eat. But I think it's time to finally embrace organic, at least in my produce. So I'm announcing publicly, by means of this blog, that from now on I will be eating all organic fruits, vegetables, and meat, and will be trying hard to avoid irradiated food as well.

Fourth, I will become a more active member of CAER. Please check out their website, and keep your eye out for more events, because their speaker events are some of the best I have attended at the University thus far.

Happy spring guys, time to get some high-quality produce into our systems.