Food Activism (Food Activist)

“Activism” and “activist” became popular in the 1960s, usually associated with civil rights. “Food activism” was cited in a September 1970 newspaper, and “health food activist” was cited in an October 1970 newspaper.
 
The terms “food activism” and “food activist” were popularized in 1975 with the first Food Day.
     
 
19 September 1970, Boston (MA) Globe, “An Epicurean in a political-ecological age” by Ellen Goodman, pg. 9, col. 3:
But my first independent food activism didn’t take place till I hit college.
 
7 October 1970, Daily Defender (Chicago, IL), “Charlie Cherokee Says,” pg. 5, col. 1:
... to Mrs. Mahala W. Moody mother of health food activist, Dr. Alvena Fulton.
 
8 May 1972, Lexington (KY) Herald, pg. 1, col. 3:
‘Organic Revolution’
Fayette Has Food Activists
By W. B. ARDERY
Fayette County has a new activist type—food activists—in the Blue Grass Organic and Consumer Association, Inc. (BOCA).
 
22 October 1972, Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR), pg. 15, col. 1:
Health Food Activist, 68,
Fights for Better Nutrition
By JACQUELINE KING
Of the Associated Press
LOS ANGELES—Adelle Davis, guru of health food fadists and mender of the malnourished, reluctantly admits that a fan once caught her sipping a soft drink.
 
26 November 1972, Fort Lauderdale (FL) News and Sun-Sentinel, pg. 2B, col. 4:
Health Food Activist Looks To PB Area
 
2 January 1975, Detroit (MI) Free Press, “National Food Day: Dow We Care?” by Carol Haddix, pg. 1-B, col. 1:
“IT’S TIME THAT Americans became actively involved in the creation and implementation of national food policies,” said Dr. Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest at a recent news conference. Jacobson and other food activists are planning a national Food Day reminiscent of the Earth Day Ecology activists organized a few years ago.
 
16 April 1975, Newsday (Long Island, NY), “The Food Activists” by Arthur Schwartz, pg. 4A, col. 1:
Food Day isn’t happening all by itself. Tomorrow’s events, teach-ins, lectures and TV and radio programs around the country are the result of several years of “consciousness-raising” by a number of active persons—nutritionists, economists, scientists, professional consumer advocates and concerned citizens.
(Profiled are Michael Jacobson, Jean Mayer, Lester Brown, Jacqueline Verrett, James Hightower, Barbara B ode and James Turner.—ed.)
 
9 May 1975, Newsday (Long Island, NY), “A meal of Mideast delights” by Arthur Schwartz, pg. 2A, cols. 1-2:
When Fran Zaslow—caterer, food lecturer, cooking teacher and diet consultant—says she’s a food activist, she means it in every sense of the word.
(...)
Since part of Mrs. Zaslow’s “Food activism” includes omitting refined sugar from her family’s diet as much as possible, she’s developed a number of naturally sweet desserts, such as a frozen fruit and yogurt whip.
 
12 November 1975, New York (NY) Times, pg. 58, col. 2:
CONSUMER NOTES
Honor Roll Lists 10 Food Activists
By FRANCES CERRA
 
28 December 1975, The Tennessean (Nashville, TN), pg. 18-E, col. 1:
‘Terrific 10’ Pushing Food Activism
By FRANCES CERRA
The New York Times News Service
 
19 January 1976, Hartford (CT) Courant, “Food Activist, 76, at His Peak” by Carol Bass, pg. 1, col. 6:
MERIDEN—Bernard Jurale is tired of being ignored.
   
March 1998, Human Ecology, “Sociologies of Food and Nutrition” by William Whit, pg. 172:
This book is really encyclopedic for the field of sociology of food and nutrition. What I find lacking in his prospectus for further study is an examination of domestic hunger and food activism. This could include studies of the organization and effectiveness of food banks, soup kitchens, church food dispensations, and the variety of feeding arrangements by a multitude of different groups throughout the country, in addition to a more thorough treatment of food activist groups.
 
24 January 2001, The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA), “Taking Time to Enjoy” by Sara Terry, pg. 14:
“I see it as a kind of food activism,” says Jordan Vannini, a member of the Los Angeles convivium who helped organize the wild boar dinner at Flora Bella Farm.
   
9 December 2001, New York (NY) Times, “Slow food” by Lawrence Osbourne, The Year in Ideas sec., pg. 100:
Slow Food activism is curious but simple: the idea is to protest the spreading evils of fast food and the bland, unhealthy cuisine of the globalized economy by going back to the locally grown, “authentic” food that our grandparents cherished. Why eat mass-produced and plastic-tasting Monterey Jack, Slow Food activists cry, when you can eat a handmade and zesty chevre from a tiny village in Corsica - and support a Corsican farmer too?
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Determinants of anti-GM food activism
Author: Gale E West; Bruno Larue
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: Journal of Public Affairs, v5 n3-4 (2005): 236-250
Database: CrossRef
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Bodily geographies of ‘slow’ food : food activism and visceral politics
Author: Allison Hayes-Conroy
Publisher: 2009.
Dissertation: Ph. D. Clark University 2009
Edition/Format:   Thesis/dissertation : Thesis/dissertation : Manuscript   Archival Material : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Growing roots : the new generation of sustainable farmers, cooks, and food activists : stories and recipes
Author: Katherine Leiner; Andrew Lipton, (Photographer)
Publisher: Durango, Colo. : Sunrise Lane Productions, ©2010.
Edition/Format:   Print book : English
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
Enhanced by recipes, a cross-country tour introduces people growing and cooking healthy, natural foods from grass-fed beef, vegetables, and grains to cheese-making and wild edibles.
   
The Reluctant Gourmet
What is a Food Activist
G. Stephen Jones • December 29, 2010
(...)
Food activism is a growing trend that puts the spotlight on our food sources and demonstrates just how detrimental the mass production of food can be. It is the process by which we learn more about where food comes from and what it takes to bring it to the modern consumer..
 
Although just about anyone can be a food activist, some individuals take it to a new level, becoming the professionals whose job it is to find and secure healthy foods for entire communities and even cities. Local governments, restaurant co-ops, and educational systems often have a need to hire someone who can advocate food rights and come up with realistic solutions to the growing national nutrition problem.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Food activism : agency, democracy and economy
Author: Carole Counihan; Valeria Siniscalchi
Publisher: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2014
Edition/Format:   Print book : English
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
—“Across the globe, people are challenging the agro-industrial food system and its exploitation of people and resources, reduction of local food varieties, and negative health consequences. In this collection leading international anthropologists explore food activism across the globe to show how people speak to, negotiate, or cope with power through food. Who are the actors of food activism and what forms of agency do they enact? What kinds of economy, exchanges, and market relations do they practice and promote? How are they organized and what are their scales of political action and power relations? Each chapter explores why and how people choose food as a means of forging social and economic justice, covering diverse forms of food activism from individual acts by consumers or producers to organized social groups or movements. The case studies embrace a wide geographical spectrum including Cuba, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Mexico, Italy, Canada, France, Colombia, Japan, and the USA. This is the first book to examine food activism in diverse local, national, and transnational settings, making it essential reading for students and scholars in anthropology and other fields interested in food, economy, politics and social change”
 
OCLC WorldCat record
The food activist handbook : big & small things you can do to provide fresh, healthy food for your community
Author: Ali Berlow
Publisher: North Adams, MA : Storey Publishing, [2015]
Edition/Format:   Print book : EnglishView all editions and formats
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
Small steps can create big changes in your community’s food quality and food security. This book shows you dozens of things that anyone can do, from creating a neighbourhood kitchen for preserving fresh food to mapping farmland, connecting food pantries with food producers, starting a school garden, and organizing a community composting initiative.