Rhonda Young
Program Associate
Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking

It started with my move to Denver. I expected the acclimation to the altitude, the outdoorsy “let’s hike a 14er” attitude, and the presence of jeans and cowboy boots at every event from graduations to weddings. I did not expect the meaningful conversations about agriculture, the prevalence of buy local sentiments, or the general culture of foodie-ness. And I most certainly did not expect to connect my food choices to my understanding of human trafficking.

But moving to Denver and meeting socially- and gastronomically-conscious foodies has fundamentally shifted my perception of daily meals. While the national and international voices of Vandana Shiva, Wendell Barry, Michael Pollan, and Nina Planck have informed my decisions philosophically, it has been the day-to-day discussions with fellow students, coworkers and friends that have sent me on a path of local discovery and personal food choices.

That said, I canned pickles this summer. As I poured the hot and smelly brine into the last jar, I thought to myself, “How did I get here?”

It started with a conversation with a fellow church congregant and friend, Gretchen. I told her that I had been thinking about the connection between where our food comes from and exploitation. I wanted to start making personal life choices that matched my professional decision to pursue a career in the anti-trafficking field. Gretchen, who pursues local eating herself, recommended I check out a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share with Monroe Organic Farms here in Colorado. Months of new recipes, bags of veggies, and a purchase of canning supplies later, I was turning Monroe’s cucumbers into tasty jars of pickles. But even as I savored my culinary accomplishments, mentally, I was still navigating the complicated connection between food and exploitation.

Wendell Barry suggests that intentional eating involves more than choosing an organically-produced vegetable. He emphasizes the need to relink human, animal, and vegetable life in the agricultural process. As our video, "Every Small Action" says, “they’re connected.” And it’s true; they are connected. What’s more, those connections make my own food choices even more complex.

So, as I’m still figuring out what to do with the two dozen ears of corn in my freezer, I’m also working through what it means that food and human trafficking, community and animals, labor and agriculture are interlinked. I’ve had some great conversations with folks at my local farmers market, staff at LCHT, friends and family. I hope to expand upon some of these individual themes in future blogs.

But today, I want to start a conversation with you.

How do you understand food and food production in relation to the issue of human trafficking? Where do you get information about food and where food comes from? What individual choices do you make regarding what and where to eat? Let’s start this conversation about connection today.