A Recipe for Justice: Support for a Federal Food Justice Interagency Working Group

Area of Science:

• Social Justice Studies
• Environmental Policy
• Agricultural Policy

Background:

• Systemic social justice issues, like food justice, require multi-level governmental attention and interagency collaboration.
• Food justice, defined as equity for all in the food system, faces complex challenges from production to consumption.
• Long-term successful models for interagency collaboration are essential for addressing such systemic issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a federal interagency program for food justice.
• To model this program after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group (EJ IWG).
• To identify the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as the lead agency for a food justice interagency working group.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of the food justice movement and the environmental justice movement.
• Examination of the structure and success of the EPA's EJ IWG.
• Argument for the USDA's suitability to lead a food justice initiative, despite historical civil rights concerns.

Main Results:

• The EPA's EJ IWG model is proposed as a viable framework for a federal food justice program.
• The USDA is identified as the most appropriate federal agency to lead such an initiative due to its program administration.
• Key features of the EJ IWG that could be adapted for a food justice interagency working group are explored.

Conclusions:

• A federal interagency working group, inspired by the EJ IWG and led by the USDA, can effectively advance food justice.
• Leveraging the USDA's existing programs and infrastructure is crucial for implementing a successful food justice strategy.
• Adopting a proven interagency collaboration model can provide a roadmap for addressing systemic food system inequities.