Equity, Inclusion and Justice
Slow Food USA is dedicated to the development of an equitable, just, and healthy local food system that truly works for all of us. We recognize that injustices — theft of land; farmworker, fisher-harvester and other food and seafood chain worker exploitation; lack of access to land, oceans, freshwaters, and healthy foods; food apartheid neighborhoods; and diet related health problems — are rooted in race, class and gender disparities. As these injustices continue, all too often the voices of people of color, poor or low-income people and women are excluded from the mainstream food movement.
Slow Food USA is committed to listening to those most impacted by food injustice; to being honest about how white supremacy, economic exploitation, and cultural domination have fundamentally shaped the agricultural history of the U.S.; to furthering our own education on how to build a just and equitable food system and supporting our local chapters to do the same; to honoring local knowledge; and to taking appropriate action to support, deepen or create local food justice and food sovereignty efforts. We also believe that it is essential to encourage a diverse range of perspectives and experiences within our board of directors, national staff and within our local organizations so that we are making decisions that best reflect the varied needs of our entire community and that are especially inclusive of the traditionally marginalized voices of people of color.
The EIJ Manifesto
Our Manifesto aims to intentionally and forthrightly bring equity, inclusion and justice to the forefront of Slow Food USA.
Equidad, Inclusión y Justicia
Equity, Inclusion and Justice Working Group
Slow Food leaders created an Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Working Group in 2017. Slow Food Turtle Island Association, which represents Indigenous peoples of the North American continent, is a key partner. This group of over sixty leaders and activists designed and funded leader workshops, public panels, and dinners at Slow Food Nations that featured the diversity of voices represented by the Slow Food network.
Community Action
Slow Food USA Network
EIJ Action Plans
Commit to Joy + Justice
Slow Food USA is taking network-wide steps to further our commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice. We are (1) publicly commiting to enacting greater justice in our work and organizations, (2) agreeing to a code of conduct for creating safe spaces, and (3) publicly stating our next specific action steps toward greater equity and justice.
Resources
Want to Learn More?
Take advantage of our resource guide below to read, watch, and learn more about the fight for equity, inclusion and justice.
- Alkon, Alison H. and Agyeman, Julian eds., Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability MIT Press (2011)
- Berry, Wendell The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, Sierra Club Books (1977).
- Bollinger, Holly, Women of the Harvest: Inspiring Stories of Women Farmers, MBI Publishing Co. LLC (2007)
- Bowens, Natasha, The Color of Food, Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming, New Society Publishers (2015)
- Braidotti, Rosi (ed.) with Charkiewicz, Ewa (author), Hausler, Sabine (author), and Wieringa, Saskia (author), Women, the Environment and Sustainable Development: Towards a Theoretical Synthesis, Zed Books (1994)
- Desmarais, Annette (ed.), Wittman, Hannah (ed.). and Wiebe, Nettie (ed.) Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community, Fernwood Publishing (2010)
- Gottlieb, Robert and Joshi, Anupama, Food Justice, MIT Press (2010)
- Hauter, Wenonah, Foodopoly: The Battle over the Future of Food and Farming in America, New Press (2014)
- Imhoff, Daniel, Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill, Watershed Media (2012)
- Jolly, Desmond A., Outstanding in their Fields: California’s Women Farmers, UC Davis Small Farm Center (2005)
- LaDuke, Winona, Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming, Haymarket Books (2005)
- Shiva, Vandana, Violence of the Green Revolution: Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics, Zed Books (1991).
- Shiva, Vandana (ed.), Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed, South End Press (2001).
- Shiva, Vandana Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Crisis, South End Press (2008)
- Wald, Sarah D., The Nature of California, Race, Citizenship and Farming Since the Dustbowl, University of Washington Press (2016)
- An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism Present in the U.S. Food System: Fourth Edition (Michigan State University 2017)
- In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation Settlement
- Mantey, J. Ama, Beyond Access: What the Movement for Black Lives’ Policy Says About Food, Civil Eats (Nov. 1, 2016)
- Morehouse, Lisa, Farming behind barbed wire NPR (February 19, 2017)
- Pollan, Michael. An Open Letter to the Farmer in Chief. New York Times Magazine, October 9, 2008.
- Slocum, Rachel, Anti-racist Practice and the Work of Community Food Organizations, published in Antipode Journal (March 2006)
- The Black/Land Project
- Brooklyn Movement Center
- Campaign for Food and Community Justice Now
- The Catalyst Project
- Civil Eats
- Detroit Black Food Security Network
- DC Central Kitchen
- Domestic Fair Trade Association
- The Food Chain Workers Alliance
- Food First
- Food Labor Research Center
- Food Research and Action Center
- Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative
- Growing Power
- HEAL Food Alliance
- The Highlander Research and Education Center
- LA Kitchen
- National Black Food and Justice Alliance
- Oxfam
- The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
- PolicyLink: Center for Health Equity and Place
- The Poverty & Race Research Action Council
- Project South
- Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation
- Restaurant Opportunity Center
- Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, esp. their seed school!
- Seed Savers Exchange’s Community Seed
- Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance
- WhyHunger
On the invisibility and misconceptions of Native Americans, to hear from a panel of Indigenous food activists, to understand barriers, and to learn of opportunities as the food movement strives to become an ally to Native American communities.
Adrian Miller and Kevin Mitchell returned time and again to themes of joy and justice when talking about their experiences with soul food, the diversity of African American cuisines, and making healing connections through food and cooking.
Review of a panel featuring moderator Adam Dulye of the Brewers Association, Dr. J. Jackson-Beckham of Craft Beer for All, and Panelist Katie Wallace of New Belgium Beer, that explored New Belgium and the company’s commitment to focusing their product and culture on the issues of climate action, policy work, and social equity.