As I reflect on sustainability in our food systems, I cannot separate the practices of inclusion, anti-racism, and decolonizing efforts from sustainability. To me, sustainability must include social justice and equity or how sustainable are we really making things? In San Juan, I met with chef and food justice activist, Nivia at a local market. She explained that colonizers came to San Jaun and eradicated the diverse crops farmers were growig to make sugar cane the monocrop. In doing this, Puerto Rico became known for their sugar cultivation, but this came at a large price. Even though this occurred many decades ago, Nivia explained that Puerto Rico is in a food crisis. With the combination of COVID-19 and a destructive hurricane, Peurto Ricans were left with very little in terms of food access because supply ships could not come to port or were severely damaged, and they were no longer growing food for sustenance, they were growing monocrops for market. This put Puerto Ricans in a very dangersous spot. Nivia informed me that it is imperative that Puerto Rico liberates its food system from colonizing practices that not only put them in precarious situations such as their current food crisis, but is also more sustainable for the land.

The market place as a space exudes an interesting mix of vibes. The particular market we found ourselves in was very old. Nivia said that the market was used for much more than the selling of goods. At night, it became a social hot spot where locals would come to dance and socialize. It was much livelier after market hours than the peaceful morning when we were visiting with a few older locals sipping coffee on the bench outside and a couple market patrons, quietly examining fresh fruit and yautias. The market places have also been spaces for political and cultural demsontrations and serve as sites for locals to reclaim space for themselves as Nivia describe in her dicussion of the multiple purposes the spaces have.

In Bogota, there is a market space that has been taken back by the people and the public quite literally own the market space. The vendors in the space are locals to the Bogota area and bring in fresh fruit, meat, vegetables, spices, and other goods to sell. Most of the vendors have been a part of this market for generations. In addition to the conversation around property and land rights, I found the resourcefulness of the market vendors to be inspiring as well. They used banana leaves to wrap items in as another use for the leaves aside from cooking and producing fruit. I think that both of these ideas of land sovereignty and resourcefulness are major tenets of sustainability.

My food travels have both deepened and broadened my conceptualization of sustainability, not only as it pertains to food systems but how it shows up in all aspects of my life. I brought these lessons learned back home with me to apply a critical lens to my local food systems and sustainability efforts. My interests and passion for food and sustainability has appeared in my personal, acadamic, and professional lives. I have devoted countless hours to learning about sustainable food systems, produced a master’s thesis on food access and equity, presented at a food justice conference on food politics, volunteered at nonprofits that are centering sustainability in their food practices, and asked for composting in our adivisng offices.

Sustainability is more than reducing, reusing, and recycling. It is also about establishing just and equitable measures to steward our planet and each other for generations to come. It is about social and economic justice. I think that our food systems are an excellent example of how all of these aspects of sustainability show up, at least for me and that is why I will continue to do the work that I do and share my love of food.