Subversion (from the Latin word subvertere, ‘overthrow’) refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed, in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Subversion can be described as an attack on the public morale; while it is generally used to describe political + bureaucratic events, it also has a historical meaning in the United States’ approach to food production + distribution.

Centralized food systems came into power almost immediately after World War II. Black Indigenous, Afro-Americans, and Native Americans had largely stewarded a significant portion of the food supply. They were replaced by a system created by a few private wartime conglomerates who turned themselves into agricultural operations, removing centuries-old regenerative practices to install the current synthesized chemical, petroleum, soy, and gmo-based practices still imposed today.

They began with blatant propaganda films (shown in theaters before the main feature, and later in general TV programming) with “farm of the future” type themes, easily influencing the dominant population into accepting and embracing a culture of chemical treatments in their small farms, communities, and home gardens.

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Result: Over 70 years after the wartime conglomerates’ campaign, industrial agriculture systems have completely degraded soil health: insecticides + herbicides have created a super-weeds epidemic at every scale and drastically reduced the pollinator population, and fertilizer + waste runoff spawned widespread aquatic dead zones.