AOC says growing cauliflower is ‘colonial’ as she addresses racial divisions of community gardens and the environmental movement
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram live to discuss her Green New Deal
- The 29-year-old claimed people of color ought to be able to grow familiar foods
- She said they were alienated by not being able to grow their native vegetables
- AOC said: ‘You’re taking a colonial approach to environmentalism’
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed that growing cauliflower in community gardens is ‘taking a colonial approach to environmentalism.’
The firebrand New York Democrat took to Instagram to discuss how such gardens were a ‘core component’ of her proposed Green New Deal on Tuesday.
She discussed in the live broadcast how it was important that people of color felt they were able to grow foods familiar to them in these green spaces.
The 29-year-old said: ‘What I love too is growing plants that are culturally familiar to the community. It’s so important.’
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, walked around her native New York as she discusses how community gardens were central to her Green New Deal
She added: ‘A core component of the Green New Deal is having all of these projects make sense in a cultural context, and it’s an area that we get the most pushback on because people say, “Why do you need to do that? That’s too hard.”
‘But when you really think about it, when someone says that it’s “too hard” to do a green space that grows Yucca instead of, I don’t know, cauliflower or something – what you’re doing is you’re taking a colonial approach to environmentalism.
‘And that is why a lot of communities of color get resistant to certain environmentalist movements because they come with the colonial lens on them.’
The Bronx native has become a central and bold voice in the climate change cause, unafraid of suggesting Presidential favorite Joe Biden took a ‘middle of the road’ approach to the issue.
AOC claimed that by telling different communities that it was ‘too hard’ to create a space where they could grow their native vegetables, when someone said this they were ‘taking a colonial approach to environmentalism’
While she never mentioned him by name, Ocasio-Cortez retweeted a linked to a Reuters article reporting Biden ‘is crafting a climate change policy he hopes will appeal to both environmentalists and the blue-collar voters who elected [Trump].’
She slammed the idea with her own added commentary: ‘This is a dealbreaker. There is no ‘middle ground’ w/ climate denial & delay.
‘Blaming “blue collar” Americans as the main opponents to bold climate policy is gas lobbyist 101. We’re not going to solve the climate crisis w/ this lack of leadership. Our kids’ lives are at stake.’
AOC was at a community garden to show her followers the work people were doing and had high praise for a composting area
In March Democratic Senators failed to vote through her Green New Deal to the voting stage, claiming it had been brought forward by the Republican Senate Majority Leader for political ends.
Last week she tweeted that the ‘GOP doesn’t care about babies at all – especially brown, black, or poor ones,’ claiming that if they did they would back her Green New Deal, ‘or at LEAST have a real climate plan.’