Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
System Change Not Climate Change talks with Vermont-based author, educator, and grassroots activist Grace Gershuny about her vision for transforming the U.S. food system into one that is regenerative, just, and accessible to all.
Dawn Sherman and her colleagues are committed to growing the Tanka brand against all odds, as part of their community service, she noted. “We’re more than a brand. It’s who we are,” she said. “We’re like the buffalo. We face the storm. Eventually the storm’s going to end.”
A small group of new farmers have seeded a movement to change the local food industry. Will COVID-19’s impact on the local economy set them back? Or will it — and the growing push for social justice — help?
With the COVID-19 pandemic shuttering many food businesses temporarily or permanently, FoodLab Detroit has refocused on supporting surviving businesses that want to break the cycles of racist, exploitative, profit-first practices — such as tipping — that have long been taken for granted.
It’s been said that “with great power comes great responsibility”. It’s now time for the food sector to demonstrate how the new normal is going to go beyond statements of solidarity.
Imagine a process in which food and farming policies were designed with social justice as the central tenet. What would such a process look like? Whose voices would be heard, and whose interests would be represented? What questions would need to be asked and how would we know that social justice had been addressed?
In our work to build the Agrarian Commons, Agrarian Trust participates in this work: to confront systems and structures that have resulted in inequitable access to land, and thus impeded the most vulnerable and historically disadvantaged among us from having true control over their food supply.
Some of our most cherished sustainable farming practices – from organic agriculture to the farm cooperative – have roots in African wisdom. Yet, Black farmers experience discrimination and marginalisation worldwide. Author, activist, farmer and founder of Soul Fire Farm in New York, Leah Penniman is committed to ending racism and injustice in our food system.
When the Center for Humans and Nature set out to shape a question on farming, we asked Karen Washington and Leah Penniman if they would be willing to have a conversation about their work.
As farmer and Christian writer Wendell Berry made it clear in ‘The Pleasures of Eating’, most of us eat in great ignorance today. Faith and food have become, literally, like water and oil.
In the past eight years, City Growers has expanded their opportunities and reach, offering Summer Camp, professional development, and free workshops. However, it is the child’s newfound understanding and curiosity that truly helps measure progress.
Four food advocates from across the United States may challenge your preconceptions of today’s farmers. They shared their views recently on the challenges of providing healthy, sustainable food and ending hunger.
