We’re on a journey here in the Mississippi Delta – a journey to common ground. More than 100 participants filled the hall at Delta State’s Student Center this morning, greeted by culinary students’ locally-produced sweet potato biscuits and pear jelly and welcomed by the college’s President, Dr. Jon M. Hilpert. Participants hailed from multiple counties throughout the Mississippi Delta and a few welcome interlopers from across the river in Arkansas.
Represented were small farmers, community health workers, the USDA Extension Service, culinary students, local mayors, 4 different universities, public policy advocates and legal counsel, local foundations, community organizers and grassroots organizations, and school districts. Together the participants – many who had never crossed paths before – told the stories of their ancestors, reflected on world trends throughout history to the present day and connected them to local and regional trends in agriculture, health, the environment, wellness and quality of life. Together the participants made history visible: a proud agrarian heritage with emphasis on community and sharing what was available; an active civil rights movement erupting in response to deep racial and social injustice stemming from slavery and plantation life; the advent of “big ag” and the consolidation of small farms into oceans of pesticide-laden soy, corn and cotton – all leading to present day trends of diet-related disease and childhood obesity, racial divisions, fast food ubiquity alongside a renewed and growing interest in creating local food systems and local economies tied to the availability of fresh foods and food justice. We then drew a “mind map” outlining the trends and issues affecting fresh foods in the delta today. What emerged was a chaotic visual representation of everyone’s experience, assumptions, hopes and fears related to the food desert that now describes much of the fertile Delta. The messiness of the map represented the complexity of opposing and shared ideas and experiences. Small groups of stakeholders then convened (farmers sat with farmers, educators sat with educators) and noted the trends that were most important to them as an affinity group and reported to the larger group what they are doing and what they want to do in the future. We ended the day by putting ourselves in the future and beginning the process of envisioning what could be.
Next stop on this journey: ACTION!
