Map-Making For Marginalized Peoples, Participatory Food-Based Community Organizing Strategies And The Decommodified Foodways Of Watauga

Traditional models of food assistance fail to address the issue of food insecurity in a holistic manner. The giver-receiver transactional model of food assistance rather creates dependencies and serves to pacify a systemic issue that, to solve, takes a fundamental re-ordering of the food system and social-economic relationships to address. The capitalist system, which commodifies food and does not consider food a human right, makes resources inaccessible for many people, especially for minorities and communities in times of crisis. Participatory food asset mapping is one way of mobilizing local communities to highlight free food resources in their area, build relationships, and take initiative to re-frame the way the food system is represented. Watauga County, North Carolina is one of the poorest counties in NC with the most wealth disparity and a large number of food-insecure residents and students in the nearby college town of Boone. Yet, the county has a plethora of local and free food resources. This research set out to address the issue of food insecurity in Watauga County, highlight areas of strength within the local food system, and address weaknesses. By getting involved in the Watauga County food system through volunteering for nonprofits, working on farms and gardens, and attending community meetings, I completed participant observation. My involvement then led me to conversations with local food systems experts, which provided me with insight as to what strategies are already being employed in Watauga County to combat hunger and what more needs to be done. It was found that building intentional community around food is one of the most important aspects of community organizing for greater food self-sufficiency. While mapping out free food resources helps build community and create alternative envisionments of community foodways, it is just one step along a grander process towards a movement for food sovereignty.