To our Food Connects family,
We at Food Connects are devastated by the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black Americans at the hands of the police, and we stand in solidarity with People of Color throughout our country who are demanding justice. At Food Connects, we firmly believe that food justice is racial justice, and as a White-led organization we are committed to educating ourselves and to taking action.
Last year we formed an equity team that continues to examine our communications, looking at the language we use to talk about our work in an effort to be trauma-sensitive and equity-minded in all of our messaging. We focus on amplifying voices of People of Color and other marginalized people involved in the food system and are looking at the ways that our internal policies can be more supportive of our vendors who are People of Color or from other marginalized groups. Our Farm to School team promotes Food Justice curriculum and resources, and last year we hosted a professional development workshop to showcase the powerful Food Justice curriculum developed by Springfield educators.
We recognize the value and leadership of our partners through these turbulent times, fighting for those without a voice and inspiring so many others to take bold action. We are inspired by local youth in our community who are bravely speaking up during these challenging times. We must stand together in solidarity and demand justice.
We want to share resources that our team turns to for education and inspiration, in the hopes our community will, in turn, find value in them:
Act: Register to vote
Act: Support groups and businesses that fight for Black food sovereignty
Inspire: Statement from the National Farm to School Network.
Our nation is hurting. Together, we must dismantle systemic racism in our communities to begin to heal and realize food justice.
In solidarity,
The Food Connects Team