An Occupied Community.

Amid the popular “Occupy” movement, there have come several subdivisions of social issues that seem to be impacting the supposed “99%” of the common population. Among these branches of awareness movements is the newly found “Occupy Against Big Food” ideology. In November of 2011, this group decided to jump onto the Occupy bandwagon by forming a peaceful protest group that gathered in Zuccotti Park in New York City. The group was organized and founded by a nutritional expert and an NYU food studies graduate and managed to gather at least 50 people in the small paved park in the middle New York City.

The rally-goers for this particular event are often associated as a type of “occupant” involved in the Occupy Movement. They often identify themselves as the ‘Foodie’ population or part of the “Slow Food Movement”. In previous times, the ‘Foodies’ have associated themselves with the ideology of sustainable farms, small farms, fair trade of crops within poverty-stricken agricultural communities, and more humane treatment of massive industrial-sized factory farm livestock. The Slow Food Movement was founded as part of a countermovement against the fast food industry, endorsing ideas of small, organic, and close-knitted farming and distribution trends. This community declares themselves to be crusaders for the cause of organic and healthy food for everyone.

However, this rally, as well as the community has been met with much disdain from the populous. Like many of the Occupy rallies, the police have become involved due to public discourse within the greater scheme of the city, such as disruption of public peace and obstruction of traffic. The Slow Food Movement as a whole, similar to many facets of the Occupy argument (which deals with the discrepancy of the supposed “1% vs. 99%” has been met with criticism from actual members of more poverty-stricken communities. These members of poorer communities are often forced to support a fast food habit due to their income, but do not see these protesters as doing anything constructive for their cause. Many members of these less fortunate communities are dead-set against these crusaders for Slow Food, arguing that they often depend on these fast food restaurants for survival, and that this cause  has no business trying to change the status quo of economic impact since they themselves are not dependent on fast food.

This community seems to be doing its own agenda, maintaining its calm throughout much protest. It’s a cause which when gathered into small groups, seems to not have much power; but as whole, it is recognized as something to be reasoned with.

For more information on the Occupy Big Food Rallies, please see the following sites. 
http://occupybigfood.wordpress.com/
http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2011/11/01/occupy-big-food/ 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-wartman/occupy-wall-street-food_b_1062967.html

Sources:

Wartman, Kristin. “Occupy Against Big Food.” Huffington Post, October 28, 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-wartman/occupy-wall-street-food_b_1062967.html.