In order to act on something that is affecting the health of our families, we must first understand what it is and who we are up against. In this workshop we will ponder what is food colonization, who promotes food colonization, and what we can do to take back control of our food and change modern day food systems that are contributing negatively to our health and our environment. 
 

Food colonization is the action of appropriating the food system for one's own use. Entities who promote it are big corporations that control the food systems and see nothing wrong with food deserts, low access to affordable nutritious food, and increased food-borne diseases. These entities have developed cultures, through big dollar marketing strategies and branding, that oppress low-income people by making them dependent on junk and low-quality food they sell. All of this with the main goal of increasing their profits and maintaining wealth. 

This must change. It must start with each one of us by educating ourselves, organizing ourselves, and maintaining the integrity of our ancestral traditions regarding food. This means we must start recovering the way we grow our food, cook it, eat it, and nourish our bodies. It does mean rejecting the assimilation into junk food in which we are trapped now. 
 

There are tools for the decolonization of our food. Tools to get the freedom to grow our own healthy, nutritious, diverse, culturally appropriate food at all times. Freedom to grow food that is produced for the sustenance of people and the planet, and that allows us to define our own food system instead of being subjected to largely international food markets. At Adelante Mujeres, we have proven that these tools work; that decolonizing our diets is possible, and that we are completely capable of breaking the chains of food colonization.
 

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Learning Objectives:​​

• Objective 1:

  • Understand what food colonization is and identify systems or entities that create subtle ways to oppress masses.
     

• Objective 2:

  • Identify and apply the tools that allow us to get the freedom to feed ourselves in healthy and responsible ways, without damaging the environment.
     

• Objective 3:

  • Recognize the subtle ways modern oppressors use to create dependency on their products, and also learn what we can do to break this cycle and awakening the hope to increase the vitality of oppressed people.
     

• Objective 4:

  • Understand what food colonization is and identify systems or entities that create subtle ways to oppress masses.