As I’m approaching the end of summer and wrapping up my research, I’ve been reflecting on the actual research process. It’s fair to say that my final paper is quite different from the one I planned to write at the beginning of the summer. My experience at Harlem Grown changed how I approached my research, and the existing literature also shifted my thinking.
A surprise in my research was how important defining words would be. This can be said for most research, but I think especially in the “food advocacy/food justice,” because the academic space is relatively new, there are few set definitions for terms like food sovereignty, equitable nutrition, neoliberalism, hunger, etc. This makes writing fun and dynamic, but I’ve also found it a bit elusive as I try to balance a couple of different definitions at a time. One paper that I’ve found useful for this is “A Scoping Review of the conceptualizations of food justice” (Murray et al.), where the researchers compiled a list of definitions in academic literature just for the term “food justice.” I’ve found that these papers that interrogate the literature are useful in understanding the biases present in academic literature for food justice/sovereignty.
During my internship, I also visited Hunt’s Point Market, the main food distribution point in New York City. Approximately 4.5 billion tons of food are distributed through Hunt’s Bay yearly, half of which go into New York City. Visiting this area was eye-opening as I saw not only the massive production, which is food distribution but also the immense amount of waste that occurs daily. Harlem Grown works with Sharing Access, an organization that takes leftover produce from Hunt’s Point and donates it to charities and non-profits. However, this is a small fraction of the food that is wasted.
I’m looking forward to the beginning of the school year, and until then, I’ll be drafting my final paper!