Jill Richardson, A Food Policy Activist Sees Hope For Reform Under Obama

The food movement is an un-structured and unorganized movement that has grown over the last several years through the convergence of separate independent, grass-roots, regional and national-level efforts to bring greater awareness and activism to food-related issues. From its varied origins have emerged, and continue to emerge, a wide array of strategies and practices for tackling issues of production, distribution and accessibility to sustainable, local and fresh foods. 

Jill Richardson, a well-known food activist and the indefatigable blogger behind La Vida Locavore, is a proponent of food policy and legislation activism as an important site for pressuring local and national level government officials to take note of public demands around food. More importantly, she sees food policy and legislation activism as critical for holding public officials accountable to public concerns and for preventing the powerful lobbying industry behind the industrial food and industrial agriculture systems from shaping policy in a way that favors large producers.  The consequence of which is often the enactment of food policies that exhibit a reckless disregard for human health, the needs of communities on the ground, and the wellbeing of small-scale food producers and distributers committed to more sustainable methods.