Even though I’m familiar with a lot of the major themes involved in food sustainability, I’m surprised by how much I learned this week. One of the most interesting things I looked at was the concept of food citizenship. This idea seems to be the root of everything when thinking of ways we can become more sustainable yet it is rarely uplifted. Food citizenship is the mindset of seeing oneself as more than just a consumer in the food system. It is also the understanding that every single individual impacts the food system. This includes our behavior around food, but even the language we use. Today, the language we use around food revolves around our role as the consumer, rather than having a sense of responsibility in our food community. Something as simple as language has such a significant impact on our mindset and sense of responsibility. This is arguably the biggest obstacle in the global effort to become more sustainable. Because food is such a transactional business, It is easy for people to forget their role in the system. Every person has a voice in the system through the choices they make.