Introduction: Nurturing Just and Sustainable Food Futures

When we published Cultivating Food Justice in 2011, we began by asking readers to "picture a field of corn stretching out into the horizon."We described its ge ne tic homogeneity and the mechanization and economic centralization that both produce and are reproduced by it.Though social movements to reform and transform the food system condemn this sort of industrial agriculture as socially and ecologically destructive, we used this metaphor to suggest that these movements themselves were a sort of cultural monoculture.Not only had white activists become the most prominent voices for alternative food systems, but the narratives and strategies they brought to this work were infused with cultural norms and values rooted in an agrarian imaginary that resonated most deeply with white people, inviting them in while subtly pushing Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities away.Today we begin by asking you to picture a garden.The soil is dark, enriched by diverse agroecological knowledges and techniques.In one bed you might find the "three sisters," as cultivated by Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island.Several va ri e ties of nitrogen-fixing pole beans are planted in mounds together with maize, which provides a trellis as they grow.On the earth below, squash leaves offer shade to the soil.In other comingled beds, there are yams, collards, and okra, grown from seeds first brought to the Amer i cas by enslaved Africans before becoming a part of the American diet (Keeve 2020).There are bittermelon and long beans cultivated by Southeast Asian refugees, purple potatoes from the Peruvian highlands, and hundreds of va ri e ties of chiles and tomatoes first domesticated in Mexico.Next to the tomatoes, cempasuchil, or marigolds, represent a connection to ancestors, especially during Dia de los Muertos, while their use in Hindu ceremonies reminds us that plants can connect cultural traditions across the globe