Stand Together or Starve Alone: Unity and Chaos in the U.S. Food Movement

The United States-one of the world's wealthiest and resource-richest nations-has multiple food-related problems: declining food quality due to industrialization of its production, obesity across all age groups, and a surprisingly large number of households suffering from food insecurity. These issues threaten to shorten the lives of many and significantly reduce the quality of life for millions of others. This book explores the root causes of food-related problems in the 20th and 21st centuries and explains why collective impact-the social form of working together for a common goal-needs to be employed to reach a successful resolution to hunger, obesity, and the challenges of the industrial food system. Authored by Mark Winne, a 45-year food activist, the book begins with background information about the evolution of the U.S. food movement since the 1960s that documents its incredible growth and variety of interests, organizations, and sectors. The subsequent sections demonstrate how these divergent interests have created a lack of unity and deterred real change and improvement. Through examples from specific cities and states as well as a discussion of group dynamics and coalition-building methods, readers come away with an understanding of a complicated topic and grasp the potential of a number of strategies for creating more cohesion within the food movement-and realizing meaningful improvements in our food system for current and future generations.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Anne Palmer Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 What's at Stake? Chapter 2 Growth Brings Challenges Chapter 3 Food Movement Divisions Chapter 4 Communication Chapter 5 Funding the Food Movement Chapter 6 Moving toward Unity Chapter 7 Strategies for Unifying: Building a Bigger Tent That Won't Fall Down Conclusion References Index

About the Author :
Mark Winne is senior advisor to the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is cofounder of the Community Food Security Coalition, where he also worked as the Food Policy Council Program Director.

Review :
[T]he most important book going on today's food movements. . . his book is a seedbed for city food advocates in all countries. I read his book through my city lens, and invite you to see how his book can help city-based food organizers everywhere. . . . I thank Mark Winne for prodding me to think of such joint city ventures. I am sure many other people will have their own reasons to thank him for a life well lived, and thoughtfully dedicated to food security that benefits the entire community. Winne's firsthand knowledge strengthens the book, and although he draws on the literature at times, he is not merely an academic making recommendations without understanding their potential effects on the ground. . . . Winne provides a solid treatise that will appeal to both students and practitioners within the food movement. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.