More Than Food: Dreaming Out Loud’s Vision for Equity

Food insecurity in Wards 7 and 8 of Washington, D.C. is a systemic, long-standing issue tied to race, income, and access—and organizations Us (Dreaming Out Loud) are working to address it directly.

📍 The Reality: Food Insecurity in Wards 7 & 8

Wards 7 and 8—located east of the Anacostia River—face the highest levels of food insecurity in the city.

• Food deserts are heavily concentrated here

  • About 51% of Ward 7 and 31% of Ward 8 are classified as food deserts

• Limited grocery store access

  • Only a handful of full-service grocery stores serve tens of thousands of residents

  • Ratio: about 1 grocery store per 55,000 residents east of the river vs. far better access in wealthier wards

• Transportation barriers

  • Many residents must travel long distances—often without reliable transit—to reach fresh food

• Economic and racial disparities

  • Food insecurity disproportionately impacts Black communities and low-income households in these wards

👉 The result: many residents rely on corner stores with limited healthy options, contributing to higher rates of diet-related illnesses like diabetes and heart disease

🌱 The Response: Dreaming Out Loud (DOL)

Dreaming Out Loud was founded in 2008 specifically to tackle these inequities by rebuilding the local food system.

What We Do

• Urban farming in Ward 7 (growing fresh produce locally)

• CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs delivering fresh food directly to residents

• Farmers markets & food distribution reaching tens of thousands of low-income residents

• Food Hub model connecting regional farmers to DC communities

• Workforce & entrepreneurship programs to build economic opportunity

📊 Impact highlights:

• Served 40,000+ low-income customers

• Distributed hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh food

🏪 Building Long-Term Solutions

DOL is going beyond short-term food access:

• Launching a full-service grocery store in Ward 8 to address the lack of supermarkets

• Creating jobs and economic pathways through food systems

• Framing the issue as “food apartheid”—a result of policy and systemic inequality, not natural scarcity

💡 Why It Matters

Food insecurity in Wards 7 and 8 isn’t just about food—it’s about:

• Health outcomes

• Economic opportunity

• Racial equity

• Community control of resources

Organizations like Dreaming Out Loud show that solutions must combine:
➡️ access to fresh food
➡️ local economic development
➡️ community-led systems