Greetings,
[This letter is partly a constructive criticism of a July article submitted by Katie Paige, Kelly Alana, and Renato Flores, but may not be related to that article at all.]
“Food is a working-class issue, and a system that perpetuates hunger while overproducing food at the expense of workers and the environment must be done away with at once, which is why we as socialists have an obligation to stand up and fight for food justice for all,” wrote Katie Paige, Kelly Alana, and Renato Flores back in July.
What their article did not discuss, however, is one particular angle that deals with both food production and the geographic urban-rural divide. A serious Marxist approach to food production and political program should not hesitate to mention vertical farms and facilities for lab-grown meat, as a solution for the here and now.
Marx and Engels were wrong in advocating “gradual abolition between town and country” in their approach to the urban-rural divide, and I am stating this as a millennial Marxist with an urban “identity” and with keen awareness of environmental issues. Only greater urbanization can facilitate meaningful environmental restoration and protection of what is left of the “countryside.”
Food sovereignty is essential, but it has to be on the basis of urban independence in food production. With today’s technology, however, such urban independence can be won only with vertical farms and lab-grown meat. Urban independence in food production has the political upside of making rural livelihoods no longer economically viable, and compelling rural people (who are generally more economically right-wing) to resettle in urban settings.
“Industrial policy” promoting vertical farms and facilities for lab-grown meat, with an end goal of public ownership, would promote real food sovereignty for urbanites.
Comradely,
Jacob
