Discover the MSU Broad Museum’s Engaging New Exhibit on Food Justice and Agriculture in Michigan

The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum has a new exhibit called “Farmland: Food, Justice, and Sovereignty,” which tackles the important topic of food justice in Michigan. This exhibition looks at the history of agriculture in the state and its effects on various communities. It raises important questions about how we produce, consume, and think about food.

This exhibit opened on January 18 and was co-curated by Teresa Fankhänel and Dalina A. Perdomo Álvarez. They aimed to make the discussion about food justice more relatable and to connect it with the history of Michigan State University, as Perdomo Álvarez explained.

Perdomo Álvarez noted that the history of who works the land is complex. Different people might have different ties to it—some are indigenous, while others might have moved here generations ago or just recently. She hopes visitors leave the exhibit with a sense of shared responsibility for the land that feeds us all.

The exhibit is divided into sections that cover farmworkers, local food knowledge, labor rights, overconsumption, and a focus on Michigan itself. To gather information, the curators visited local farms in 2023 and met with farmworker communities.

One of the pieces in the show is “Michigan Pasture with Cows,” painted by Mathias Joseph Alten in 1914. Beside it is a plaque that challenges our ideas about farming as relaxing, highlighting the hard work involved. Many farmers Perdomo Álvarez spoke to mentioned the challenges of raising cattle.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a unique table designed by Fankhänel. It combines elements of a farmhouse table and an artist’s design approach, featuring a variety of barns from the MSU Museum’s collection. Each barn serves different purposes, like storage or feeding hay.

Turkish artists Cansu Curgen and Avşar Gürpınar contributed works to the exhibit. Their pieces focus on the often confusing standards surrounding food items. Gürpınar pointed out that certain foods, like eggs, are classified differently depending on vague or unclear guidelines.

This idea of standards also extends to the broader theme of the exhibit, questioning what we view as “greed versus need.” The exhibition concludes with a dining table surrounded by photographs of farms visited during the curation process. Next to it, resources are listed for those interested in exploring food justice further in the MSU and Greater Lansing areas.

The museum is hosting panels and events to engage the local community in discussions about these important topics. If you want to check out the exhibition, it will be open until July 27.