Most of us know a little about what eating sustainably looks like: just head to your local farmers’ market and tote your fresh, organic produce home in a reusable bag. Easy enough, right? But what else are we serving up alongside our sautéed kale and fair-trade coffee? As environmental awareness becomes more widely and visibly practiced in the American food system, what — or who — is mainstream food advocacy leaving behind?

A bustling farmers’ market in Missoula, Montana — the future of food? (photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

As global climate change progresses, the challenges of feeding a rapidly growing population grow increasingly complex. From square-foot gardens to large-scale agroecosystems, sustainable agriculture opens a variety of promising pathways. Yet alternative food systems can just as easily uphold profound – and profoundly unsustainable – inequality. Urban agriculture has been called a new form of gentrification. Short-lived consumption trends among alternative foodies may disrupt cultivation, diet, and social cohesion for indigenous peoples. And we all know that making conspicuously “green” food choices means paying significantly more green. In an increasingly globalized world, how can we balance issues of scale with the need for community autonomy? How can we manage natural resources while respecting food as a vessel of heritage? And how can we ensure that food access does not come at the cost of workers’ rights and environmental quality? Such an intimate and essential act as sharing a meal carries complex implications we cannot always see — yet our approach to food also offers great opportunity for a world transformed. By complicating popular approaches to food sustainability, we can see where the cultural baggage of alternative food outweighs its benefits. More importantly, we can find and learn from movements that deliver eco-friendly food options with a side of justice.