March 2023: An Introduction To Food Justice

Food and justice go hand in hand. Not only is it important that food is feeding our communities fairly, but it extends beyond - it means that every community is able to grow and prepare food that is healthy and culturally appropriate. Food justice works to nourish everyone, despite one’s level of access. It means that food is a basic human right, applicable to all. 

When food justice initiatives take place, the impacts can be widely felt. Take the Free Breakfast program, which is the US Government’s largest welfare program. Free meals can look different from school to school, but often play an instrumental role in student success. The program is now more equitable as a result of justice organizations like the Committee on School Lunch Participation’s lobbying efforts and impacted by example with the Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program. More recently, New York City schools started offering Universal Free Meals to all students, rather than just those that qualify, ending the paperwork requirement and removing a level of stigma, and saw significant increases in testing scores in return. Students who are food insecure can find safety in regular meals at their place of learning and success in the classroom without a grumbling belly.

Food justice doesn’t just live in government initiatives and school lunchrooms. Farmers selling their produce at scaled pricing, organizations coordinating efforts to save food from waste bins and into the hands of pantries, community leaders generating fair wages in the food space, and individuals voting for candidates that see the value of food justice all work to create a community that supports healthful living as a basic right. 

Here at Dreaming Out Loud, we believe that food is a lens to an equitable future. From our advocacy work to our two-acre community farm space, the Farm at Kelly Miller, we believe that economic opportunity and food systems work to create strong communities from the ground up. 

Our community building includes acknowledging the work and leadership of those who have pioneered before us with food justice solutions. See our blog for our profiles of our heroes who influence our everyday efforts.