“Our food system was not broken by the pandemic and it was not broken by independent family farmers or ranchers. It was not broken by animals/grazers on the landscape, who are now, too often, the scapegoat. It was broken by large, multinational corporations and the industry who, because of their buying power and size, have undue influence over the marketplace and over public policy. Multinational corporations have concentrated our food system to its breaking point, having extracted profits from farmers, workers, and consumers for too long. The virus has stripped away the veneer, shining a bright light on these longstanding abuses. Lately, I’ve been hearing experts and friends talk about the need to “fix our broken system.” But I disagree. Our food and agricultural system is not broken. It is working exactly as it was designed to work—for the benefit of a few corporate companies and their coffers at the expense of everyone else and the land. What we need is an entirely new system. A system that is rooted in justice and equity and puts the land and all people before profits. It’s unfortunate that it might take a pandemic for us to realize a new way forward, but I have hope that this moment is the wake up call that we needed. As Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farms states, “If you don’t have any control over your food system, it essentially puts you at the whim of a racist, capitalist food system in terms of your basic survival needs.””

— Jennifer O’Connor from Guidelight Strategies