In honor of Black History Month, I wanted to share some resources that have helped me deepen my understanding of how critical a diverse, inclusive, and equitable food system is. Last year, Countryside committed to doing more and doing better to build a more just, local food system. Yet, ironically, we lacked the tools and knowledge to even know where to start, even though one of our guiding principles is that healthy, local food should be accessible to all people. It was in our hearts, but not in our actions, even though we thought it was.
So, using the spirit of farmers, we simply planted the seed and gave it room to grow. While we wait for it to emerge, we are spending our time nurturing it, and tending to it, by listening and learning to do more and do better from those already in bloom.
Great, hard truths from great, strong women that remind us that equity is not built from well-intended bandages, but from acknowledgment and communion:
Food apartheid: the root of the problem with America’s groceries (The Guardian).
The underlying racism of America’s food system: Regina Bernard-Carreno at TEDxManhattan