Defunding Police Is Food Justice
Defunding police is essential to building a fair food system.
Safety means having the right to food
We are only safe when our basic needs, like nourishing food and clean drinking water, are met. Hunger is a violent consequence of poverty, but the government criminalizes poverty (using police) instead of addressing it.
Policing reduces access to food
Growing, buying, and selling food is essential to our survival. But police often surveil, arrest, and jail people for getting or growing food, accessing food assistance, or street vending. Where police presence is highest, food apartheid is starkest.
The food industry bankrolls punishment
Corporations profit from exploiting workers, our communities, and our planet, and from selling us food that makes us sick. Then, they invest those profits in private security, racist policing tech, and pro-cop political donations (Target, Walmart, etc.). They cry “crime wave” as they poison us and steal our wages.
Cops can’t solve hunger
MPD uses grocery distributions and food drives as “community policing” publicity stunts. But we should combat the root causes of hunger – poverty and racism.
Food and farm workers are especially vulnerable to police violence
In addition to low pay, few workplace protections, and COVID-19 risks, many folks who work in the food sector are undocumented or have been previously criminalized by the state. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation by corporations and the police.