In Nisqually Food Sovereignty: Sustainable Decolonization and Restoration, Tori Chapman reviews the history of the Nisqually Tribe in Washington, and how its hard-won treaty rights have protected salmon habitat and the Nisqually River estuary. The article focuses on the old Braget Farm in the estuary, which has become the home of the Nisqually Community Garden, and concludes that “through these acts of resistance and resilience, the Nisqually people have worked to preserve their culture, land, and food sovereignty.”
In Palestinian Olive Trees Under Attack, Anna Lucia Salerno discusses Palestinian olives as “the most political food in the world. Thousands of Palestinian families’ livelihoods are supported by the many commodities that the olive tree bears. Olives, olive oil, and olive wood are threatened by the destruction of Palestinian olive trees by the Israeli occupation.” Palestinians have been marketing olive oil and wood from their ancient groves, and working with some Israelis to protect them from destruction.
In Planting Justice: Food Sovereignty in the Bay Area, Kieran Shell looks at the food justice projects of the West Oakland-based organization Planting Justice, which works with local East Bay residents in creating community gardens in the urban “food desert,” and actively incorporates incarcerated people in its prison training program, which has dramatically cut down their reincarceration rate to zero.
In The Chicago Unemployed Movement’s Protests for Food and Housing, Harry Katz recalls the social movements of Unemployed Councils during the Great Depression of the 1930s, which viewed food and housing as human rights rather than commodities. The Councils successfully organized Chicago residents (particularly in the mixed black and white South Side community) to confront housing evictions, and prevent government cuts in public aid.