When I started writing this, even after much formal writing
on how to open up a paper/article/blog/etc. I was at a loss of how to begin. The
state of the country and world sometimes feels incomprehensible. I decided to forget all of the rules on how to grab your audience and just speak honestly. Sometimes it’s all we have.
I’ve grappled with how we can address a growing concern of a
lopsided food and economic system for quite some time, but the major turning
point was in 2007. I had an opportunity to visit the Dominican Republic
and stay with fair trade coffee farmers. The idea that we are all connected
through expanding globalization and that we’ve outsourced food production started
to intrigue me with this experience. I saw that people who grow food for the United
States aren’t paid fairly, which struck a chord and spurred me to learn more
about what can be done to improve this system. This trip was life
changing, because it allowed me to experience a new system that incorporates better practices. Once farmers
earn fair wages, they become emerging leaders in their communities and are able to send their children to school- often, for the first
time.
This experience drove me to talk with student groups at
Washington State University on fair trade and how it can have a large impact on
the food system. Also, it’s what got me involved with Oxfam America. The work Oxfam does
spans policy, advocacy, and campaign work, along with partnering with other
organizations to make great strides in building a better economic system to treat people fairly across the globe.
Recently, there has been an explosion of ideas on what we can
do on an individual level to improve the global food system. Is it the organic
movement? Fair Trade? Maybe it’s eating locally. People so badly want to find a
way to make the system fairer. These questions instigated me to read everything I could get my hands on about
the subject and search for answers. Earlier this month I felt so defeated and just wanted to find solutions.
So I called up Brian Rawson who is the head of organizing for Oxfam America in
the United States. I told him everything. About how I felt like I was trying to
find solutions and didn’t feel like I had the right answers. He stopped me, saying, “Sometimes ‘I don’t
know’ is okay”. Brian has a
soothing understanding that empowers people. There’s something incredibly
comforting when we feel defeated and reach out to
someone else who understands. Just saying it out loud is powerful. I still
wanted to keep asking questions after talking with Brian.
After this conversation, I decided to sit back and just look at the world objectively
and try a different approach. I started to see things unravel, shedding layers about
who we are as people to rebuild a different understanding. The more I looked
at human nature, the more I saw something: everyone is looking for
acceptance and love and underneath it all we are afraid. It's a beautiful thing which connects us to each other.
I also examined this incredible age of the internet. We have access to everything that’s going on in the world and feel so
connected, but are at such a loss of what to do about the challenges our world faces. I thought about who Americans are. The fact is, we are at a point where we’re losing so much faith in the
government and corporations, that it's difficult to face this reality, myself included.
In the midst of this chaos there was something that remained clear: when people partner with Oxfam it
makes a difference. Oxfam works to hold governments and corporations
accountable to fairer practices. They put pressure on these entities to pay people fair wages and have equal opportunities. Last year,
because people who supported Oxfam across the US signed petitions to government
officials, it made a significant impact. For example, Oxfam previously called on Starbucks to stop bullying the poor.
Starbucks listened and formed a better partnership with Ethiopian farmers. Oxfam
is also working with communities to pressure oil industry members who erode the
land and ignore people who live there on $2 a day. When people sign on with
Oxfam, petitions are hand delivered to government offices and as a result, it
helps improve policy on food and human rights, giving people involved a stronger voice.
Often times we can spin our wheels wondering about what can
be done with this complex system and the problems that come with it, that we forget there might be a powerful way to act that’s right in front of
us. The digital age makes it possible to sign a letter to our government and
put pressure on the decisions they make on our behalf. It matters. There are
people who are up at night wondering if they can eat the next day and because
of peoples’ strengthened efforts with Oxfam, they can. It matters. People have so many opinions about whether these petitions make a difference. It makes a significant difference when you sign to make the food system more fair and hold governments and organizations accountable. Signed petitions are mailed to Oxfam headquarters and then go to Washington D.C., where you're part of a big voice on this movement to make changes.
After all of these questions I’ve been asking recently, I
also discovered human beings like to be right. We love it. It makes us feel
more secure because it helps us make sense of this crazy world. I decided to get rid
of being right and see what was left. I wiped away everything I knew and I
realized something so simple and profound: being right is a strong reflection
of the time period. Being right is subjective and people make up their own version
all of the time to fit their understanding of the world.
Today many people take off work because of a man who
fought for human rights. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. decided it was the right thing
to fight for equality on behalf of African Americans. Today it’s time to expand our definition of equal rights to understand the inequities in our global economic and food system.
We’ve come to a tipping point where corporations and governments
are not treating the people they are accountable for fairly. It’s incredibly
wrong. It's the right thing for all people to be able to have food, water, and
fair wages. Period. We have enough resources in the world and this is a human
made problem; humans can make solutions.
Whoever you are, wherever you are: sign a petition, attend
an event to learn more, share a story, or rally your friends. You have the
ability to do something. I'm learning imperfect action is incredibly more powerful than no
action at all. Just give it a try and watch the results unfold. You don't have to have read all of the books on these subjects or know everything about this food movement. Caring is enough. It matters and you make a difference to so many people around the world by partnering with Oxfam. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatyoucando/take-action/community-action
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By Kalen Olson
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