F is for Fight: Food Access Language series

| 3 minute read |

We hear the battle cry often.

“Join the fight to end hunger!” “We’re fighting hunger!” “Fight childhood hunger!”

It gets louder around the holidays, and even louder the past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting every gear in our food system.

We see the words plastered on donation bins or in the subject line of our local pantry’s newsletter.

Sometimes it’s attached to a feel-good story of people feeding other people the best they can.

We put our fists up, ready for another round, ready to knock it out this time.

…What are we fighting, again?

This word, “fight,” might be an issue.

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Fight, fight, fight!

Fight: a battle or combat; a contest or struggle.

Popular stories use the word “fight” in a simplistic way. The protagonist fights the antagonist. The hero fights the villain. We win!

The hero triumphs, and (even if there’s a trilogy) the story ends.

We like to see the winner. We like the hero to raise their hands in victory, do a silly how-do-you-feel interview, then take off the gloves and retire.

But if we’re fighting for one more meal in the “fight to end hunger,” then we underestimate the enemy.

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Fight + Food Access

I’ve often heard “fighting hunger” become “solving hunger” within the same conversation. This subtle shift reframes hunger-solutions from sparring with an enemy to creative problem-solving and critical thinking scenarios. These two phrases appeal to different audiences, and, of course, we need more engagement.

But “fighting hunger” remains popular in the food access language dictionary. When we talk about “fighting,” we must be clear about the enemy.

As an organized mission, we’re not simply fighting the physical experience.  

We’re fighting the policies and complex structures perpetuating undernourishment.

Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, does it?

And that’s alright. We don’t need to replace this common phrase. We need to understand who or what we’re fighting, appreciating the complexities of this villain.

Hunger isn’t caused by a lack of food or donations to nonprofits.

That’s an old “bucket brigade” approach, as Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America describes in his 2016 TED Talk. Before fire stations were funded by our taxes in the U.S., neighbors would bring buckets of water to the nearby house on fire. If they were prepared. And they typically only reached the first floor.

Then we, as a collective, decided to fund fire stations for the benefit of both our communities and ourselves.

“Hunger is caused by a scarcity of democracy,” said author & activist Frances Moore Lappé in an interview with Earth Eats. We’re not experiencing a lack of resources, but a lack of control over them.

So when we “fight hunger,” what –and who- are we stepping into the ring to face?

We’re fighting monopolies of companies run by people who have too much control over the production, distribution, and pricing of our food.

We’re up against unlivable wages that people in power fail to change, and underfunded, stigmatized social programs.

And we fight to imagine better foodways, stronger communities. To design and create this reality.

We fight for equity in our food economies.

Let’s ask each other if we’re fighting the right enemy. Because if we’re not, we’re wasting a lot of time, resources, and potential to make lasting change.

Fighting hunger means fighting for democracy in our food system.

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| The Food Access Language series investigates how we talk about our food. Let’s ask how our words impact our ability to put food on our tables. Unpacking this language reveals how we’ve built our foodways. This reflection helps us take steps toward more accessible food for all. |