Steeves, H. Leslie (author) and Porras, Luz Estella (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2009
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D00447
Notes:
Pages 141-158 in Thomas L. McPhail (ed.), Development communication: reframing the role of the media. Electronic resource from Wiley InterScience. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK. 239 pages.
Steeves, H. Leslie (author) and Porras, Luz Estella (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2009
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D00829
Notes:
Pages 141-158 in Thomas L. McPhail (ed.), Development communication: reframing the role of the media. Electronic resource from Wiley InterScience. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK. 239 pages.
15 pages, via Online journal, Critical food scholars have argued that activists’ political ideologies and environmental values are important influences on their food justice projects. However, this body of work has given little attention to religion and spirituality even though religious studies scholars maintain that religious values affect environmental and social action. Bringing together these perspectives considers the way religious values and meaning making intersect with actions toward food justice outside of traditionally religious spaces. This paper draws on qualitative research, including a dozen interviews and 11 months of participant observation, at Franklinton Farms, a nonprofit urban farm in Columbus, Ohio. I demonstrate that Franklinton Farms team members reference diverse religious values and practices when explaining the meaning and significance of their farming. In addition, I argue that they renegotiate their religious values in light of the injustices they see in the food system. By examining religion and spirituality within a secular food space, this paper sheds light on an underexplored influence on whether and how alternative food spaces realize food justice.
