Fighting for a ‘Food Democracy’

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In 2013, the German Green Party was in a crisis. Seeking to advance policies that would help citizens safeguard the environment, party leaders had hit upon a novel idea; support a policy that, one day a week, work canteens would be required to serve solely vegetarian options. The policy was called ‘Veggie Day.’

As a result, on election day, the Green Party captured less than 9 percent of the vote. Veggie Day sank their bid to become part of the country’s ruling coalition. Meat, and food in general, is a fraught political topic.

That’s just what Esther Seha finds fascinating about it.

On August 6, Seha, a German native currently serving as a visiting researcher at BU, gave a lunch talk on the topic of ‘Food and Political Science’ at the Pardee School of Global Studies – one in which she introduced her audience to the idea of a ‘food democracy’ where people were empowered to take back control of their food.

The crowd filled the school’s Eilts Room and attendees enjoyed – what else? – complimentary vegetarian eats.

“Veggie Day might have been a disaster for the green party, but what fascinated me the most about it was that it was a solution to the problem of meat consumption that stressed individual responsibility,” Seha said. “I was surprised to learn that especially the Green Party wasn’t looking for different solutions.”

This question is at the heart of Seha’s food research, which she hopes to make into a book.

“My background is in political studies, so I am fascinated by the cross-national comparisons in food systems. For example, here in the U. S., you see the issue of ‘food deserts,’ or areas where there is not fresh healthy food available. That just doesn’t exist in Germany,” Seha said. “On the other hand, don’t romanticize Europe. We have huge meat processing industries in countries like Denmark and the Netherlands that bring to the fore issues not just of animal welfare but worker’s rights as well.”

To attack this global question, Seha has designed a method that breaks the food process into different systems, such as production and distribution, and then looks at challenges inherent in these systems on a personal as well as global scale. In so doing, she’s noticed some interesting trends.

“One thing we see over and over again is that there will be individual solutions prescribed for industrial problems,” Seha said. “In a way, that’s what Veggie Day was. It was a consumer responsibility policy – the same as telling customers to pay more attention to nutrition labels or buy local food. But the problems in industry and politics are places where choices are made FOR you. I’m not a politician, so I don’t know what the solutions are, but I think it’s important to start to have conversations about this disconnect.”

‘Food and Political Science’ was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Europe, an affiliated center of the Pardee School.