When localism becomes nationalism (Farmers Markets and White Supremacists)

Christian Century.org ^ | 08 09 2021 | Rebecca Bratten Weiss

[yesthatjallen]

Celebrity farmer Joel Salatin, known to many from Michael Pollan’s best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, was one of the most influential figures in the local food movement. So it was a blow to many of his fans when his history of appallingly racist remarks and bigotry toward people of color became public knowledge. After an ongoing social media dispute, Mother Earth News, the go-to publication for devotees of the local and sustainable, cut all ties with Salatin in 2020.

To me, the revelation of Salatin’s bigotry was not surprising. I’ve been involved in the local food movement as an eco-grower for nearly 15 years. I’ve sold at farmers markets, supported restaurants and caterers with fresh produce, and organized crop-sharing plans, popularly known as community supported agriculture or CSAs. I have enthusiastically promoted localism as the philosophical underpinning of this work.

But I have become increasingly aware of how threads of White supremacy and ethno-nationalism run through the local movement and through localism in general. After years of vocal advocacy for localism, I now see the ideology’s potential dangers as well.

Localism is the belief that political, social, and economic order should be structured, as much as possible, on a local, communal level. Once a fringe ethos popular among counterculturists, localism has migrated into the mainstream of contemporary society. It’s common these days to prefer the artisanal, small business, and farm-to-table food and to reject big-box stores and suburban sprawl.

SNIP

[yesthatjallen]

Are YOU guilty of supporting farmers' markets?

[packagingguy]

No......please don’t hurt me! I promise only to buy food grown by Bill Gates!

[Little Ray]

Yes.
But the more of this crap I read, the more I like White Supremancy and White Nationalism.

[The Louiswu]

Yes, yes I am guilty.

[Sirius Lee]

But I have become increasingly aware of how threads of White supremacy and ethno-nationalism run through the local movement and through localism in general.

ORLY? Well then stay the hell away. Buy your food from a box from the diverse, woke, and nuanced chinese, bitch.

[Billthedrill]

It started with Mrs. Wigglesworth's tomatoes in my salad and now I'm singing the Panzerlied and goose-stepping over to the fruit stand in my KKK hood. I should have suspected.

I have become increasingly aware of how threads of White supremacy and ethno-nationalism run through the local movement and through localism in general.

I have become increasingly aware of stupid a person has to be to spout this stuff.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Most of the actual farmers (and loggers, and miners, and cowboys) that I have known throughout my life have been, shall we say, not politically correct.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Yep, when I go out to delve into racism and white supremacy, I always go to a farmers market. /s/ What a buffoon.

[Irenic]

It’s common these days to prefer the artisanal, small business, and farm-to-table food and to reject big-box stores and suburban sprawl.

Yep, very local, backyard to table. :) Right now I'm having some purple hull peas with okra, a side of tomatoes slices and some jalapeno peppers for scooping it with. Delicious!

[Pollard]

In November 2019 Salatin wrote a blog post[18] responding to a blog post by Chris Newman, another Virginia farmer, in which Newman critiques the small family farm model and describes an alternative, vertically integrated system rooted in collective ownership.[19] Salatin said in his article that Newman, who is Black and Native American, was too early in his farming career to know whether he would be successful in the long-term, and that Newman would only "push would-be team players away" by complaining. In August 2020, Agdaily described Salatin's blog post as racially inappropriate, and criticized that he had described Native Americans as "hostile" to William Cody.[20] After Salatin's remarks, Mother Earth News asked Newman to write for the publication for diversity in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Newman declined the invitation raising concerns about Salatin's article.[2] After public criticism of the publication's support for Salatin, Mother Earth News ultimately severed its relationship with Salatin.[21][2]

Help me out here. I can't seem to find the racist part.

[Tommy Revolts]

"Ms. Bratten Weiss, a prolific blogger who identifies as both feminist and pro-life,...

And there you have it folks, just another White Female Liberal.

[Eagles6]

File under “Everything Is Racist”.

[farming pharmer]

The author is an idiot, and the whole premise of her argument is garbage. I see lots of blacks at our farmer's market and the farmers treat them quite well.

Everybody's money is green.

But remember what happened to white farmers in Rhodesia.

[Leep]

Anywhere white people gather in numbers is a white supremacists gathering.

[Leep]

Ohhh...prolific blogger.

[TexasM1A]

Imagine that the vast majority of farmers in rural England are white, in a majority white country, the horror.

Everyday the stupid gets thicker, and the leftist racism becomes more extreme.

[Augie]

I have my own farmers market.

It’s a ~2500 sq/ft plot in my front yard where I grow all sorts of things that are good to eat.

Takes a lot of work to make it happen, but it saves me having to go to the in-town farmers market and rub elbows with all of the dang dirty hippie democRat voters that frequent the place.

[meowmeow]

Even worse! I grow my own as did my White ancestors before me!

Go Whitey!

[Governor Dinwiddie]

White Supremacism? He was guilty of saying "All lives matter!"

[cdcdawg]

Glad to see that this stupidity is getting what it deserves in the comments. I’m not familiar with the publication, The Christian Century or with the author, Rebecca Weiss. They are not off to a good start for me.