Oran B. Hesterman
Forfatter af Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All
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- male
- Bopæl
- Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Uddannelse
- University of Minnesota, St. Paul (PhD|Agronomy and Business Administration)
- Organisationer
- Fair Food Network
- Kort biografi
- With more than 35 years of experience as a scientist, farmer, philanthropist, businessman, educator, and passionate advocate, Oran B. Hesterman is a national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems and is a respected partner for policymakers, philanthropic leaders, and advocates nationwide. He currently serves as president and CEO of Fair Food Network, a national nonprofit pioneering multi-win solutions that increase access to healthy food in our most underserved communities, support farmers, and stimulate economic activity. Before launching Fair Food Network, Hesterman led the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Integrated Farming Systems and Food and Society programs, during which time he seeded the local food systems movement with more than $200 million in investments. Prior to his work in philanthropy and nonprofits, Hesterman researched and taught forage and cropping systems management and sustainable agriculture at Michigan State University. A former fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program and the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C., Hesterman has published more than 400 reports and articles on subjects ranging from crop rotation to the impact of philanthropy on food systems practice and policy and trends in the good food movement. He currently serves on the board of a number of national and Michigan-based organizations and businesses including FoodCorps, Five Acre Farms, and the Groundwork Center. Hesterman is a native of Berkeley, California. He lives with his wife Lucinda Kurtz and gets his hands dirty in his garden and at the potter’s wheel.
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Though the title may lead some to think Hesterman’s main concern is social justice in the food system, it is apparent that he is equally passionate about creating a healthy environment and economy as well. The four principles he believes to be most crucial to a sustainable food system are equity, diversity, ecological integrity and economic viability. While it seems that he has forgotten about health and nutrition, it is woven into the other four principles and is often the focus of his arguments. This encompassing perspective of the food system makes the book stand out among the many works that focus solely on one issue.
What I particularly appreciated about Fair Food is that the Hesterman acknowledged that low-income individuals or those who are unfortunate enough to live in food deserts are not less intelligent when it comes to food than the wealthy, organic-eating class. Most families who do not have access to fresh produce and healthy food dearly wish they could access it. Often this segment of the population is portrayed as believing McDonald’s French fries are a vegetable and other such nonsense. While a child who grew up in the inner-city may need to have broccoli explained to them simply because they have never seen it before, they are just as eager to eat healthy food as the rest of us. Hesterman focuses on ways to make healthy food accessible to the underserved, as this is an integral part of a sustainable food system.
Another place where this book stands out is in the connection that is clearly drawn between what individuals do and believe personally and their involvement as active citizens. Too often individuals eat local or organic foods and then neglect to get involved in programs and policies that would make these foods more accessible to the rest of their community. Hesterman provides many excellent ideas about how individuals can put their values to action. My favorite example is beginning or getting involved in a food policy council at a local or state level. The necessity of a council like that is growing, as the need for organization among members from all parts of the food system is essential to making the food system sustainable. If that idea does not appeal to you, there are fifty pages of resources in the last chapter that are sure to spark other ideas.
I also appreciated that Hesterman acknowledges the tendency of the fair food movement to be more liberal politically, and that he presents his ideas and suggestions to his readers knowing he will have a bipartisan audience. The sad thing about movements like sustainable food is the way they tend to become attached to one political party’s ideology when in reality a sustainable food system is something that would benefit everyone, no matter their political leanings. Demonstrating that there are solutions both sides can champion, Hesterman makes sustainability seem patriotic rather than partisan.
Fair Food does a masterful job of incorporating all aspects of the food system into the discussion. However, the book falls short when it fails to extend that same systems mindset beyond the food system. The food system is just a small part of a much larger system when it comes to public policy, and though the Farm Bill was given admirable coverage, attention should also be given to small business policy, health policy and urban development policy if the shift towards sustainable food is truly going to be system wide.
For anyone looking for a well-informed description of sustainable food systems, Fair Food has my recommendation. What I learned during four years of studying sustainable food systems, Hesterman has nicely summarized in this work. It is not often you can find the motivation to mobilize people on a cause combined with the excellent story telling present here, with the credentials to back it all up. If Fair Food does not convince you to get involved in your food system, I don’t know what will.… (mere)