Stanford University Urban Studies &
Urban Summer Fellowship
Student perspectives of community-engaged learning and research across the United States
Hi everyone! It’s Lexi again, writing from my cubicle at the San Francisco Department of the Environment (SFE). I am now beginning my seventh week of my ten-week internship at SFE, and I cannot believe how quickly almost two months have flown by! To recap, I am working on revising the department’s internal food purchasing policy with the hopes of reducing SFE’s food-related greenhouse gas emissions. This assignment is one of the Special Projects within the Climate team, meaning that I am primarily working on my own. However, that means that I have had a decent amount of freedom in deciding what deliverables to produce, which has been exciting for me because I am particularly passionate about sustainable urban food systems. So far, I have created a list of resources (which includes restaurants, grocery stores, cookbooks, blogs and specific products) for people in the Bay Area who are interested in trying out a plant-based diet, whether that be for health, environmental, or ethical reasons. I have also compiled resources specifically for people of color who are interested in veganism. Veganism as a movement has been criticized for being exclusionary toward POC, which I have personally experienced as a Korean person who is vegan. Often, white vegan recipe writers will create vegan adaptions of “ethnic” foods without considering the cultural context, socioeconomic status, and physical climate of the places where these foods originated. Thus, the overall effect is to erase the history behind POC’s traditional food staples by suggesting that plant-based, Americanized alternatives are inherently “better”. However, there are in fact many ways to appropriately adapt traditional foods and pay respects to the cultures from which they originated. For example, here is one of my favorite Korean recipes for veganized kimchi: thekoreanvegan.com/recipe/favorite-kimchi-time/. I am also writing a paper on my findings regarding the carbon footprints of various food groups and how to minimize one’s food-related greenhouse gas emissions. I have found that many climate change mitigation strategies and “green” organizations have avoided the topic of agriculture’s (particularly animal agriculture’s) carbon footprint, even though agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation sector. There is a clear need for environmental organizations to discuss food (and consumerism, in general). However, I am also excited about this project because the food industry also presents an exciting opportunity for high impact emissions reductions to occur immediately and to be consumer-driven because shifting consumption patterns does not require new technology or policy changes. Whereas other consumption-based emissions reductions, such as reductions caused by the shift from a gas-powered vehicle to an electric vehicle, depend upon technological advancement and/or government policy, low-impact food choices allow the individual to reduce emissions on his or her own. I find this to be super empowering because it means that someone could decide today to make a change that substantially reduces their carbon footprint, which is extremely difficult in a society that is so dependent on fossil fuels. I am so excited to be part of SFE’s first strides to address food-related emissions and I hope to get the ball rolling for future work. I am giving a presentation on the climate impacts of different food choices to the SFE staff on September 4th and, if I can convince at least one person to spend an extra moment considering the climate tradeoffs of their food choices, I will feel proud of my work. Moving forward, I hope to stay engaged with SFE and the friends that I have made there. SFE employs some of the most committed, passionate environmentalists I have ever seen. Whether it be staying overnight and sleeping on the floor of the office to finish a grant proposal (which did in fact happen this summer), or simply coming to work each day with a smile on their faces, the SFE employees approach every task with 100% effort and genuine commitment to ensuring all San Franciscans have access to a clean, healthy environment. SFE has achieved so many environmental victories for San Francisco, and I know they will continue to do so. Currently, San Francisco is working toward a Zero Waste goal, which states that the City will divert 100% of waste from landfills by 2020. The City has already achieved an 80% diversion rate, which is significantly higher than all other major U.S. cities, and I am excited to see how far we can go. For those of you that are interested in the role of cities in climate change mitigation, I would suggest following the proceedings of the Global Climate Action Summit, which is going to be held in San Francisco from September 12-14, 2018. Also, be sure to check out the summit's affiliate events, most of which are open to the public, which can be found here: www.thehumsum.org/calendar-list/.
0 Comments
|
AuthorThis blog is authored by Stanford University students engaged in summer fellowships through the Cardinal Quarter and the Program on Urban Studies. All writings and thoughts belong to the Fellows and do not represent the opinion of the sponsoring programs. Archives
September 2018
Categories |