“One of the greatest pleasures of my life has been that I have never stopped learning about Good Cooking and Good Food.” - Edna Lewis
I have very few words this week. Like many of you, my focus is on listening. Learning and unlearning. Becoming more aware and better understanding my own role - in my daily life, in my family, and in my community, local and wide - to act on ending issues of systemic racism.
Of course, food is political. And nutrition is an important consideration in addressing racial injustices in our food systems: including food insecurity and access to healthy food, from childhood hunger to childhood obesity, food ethics, and opportunities within the food industries.
I want to highlight two actionable ways for all of us to get involved to address racial injustices in our food systems:
Food Insecurities in the US:
A child’s chance for a just future starts with getting enough food to eat. “In America, 1 in 7 children may not know where they will get their next meal.” Black households face hunger “at a rate more than twice that of white, non-Hispanic households. And getting enough to eat is a consistent struggle for 1 in 4 African-American children.” (Feedingamerica.org)
Find local organizations and non-profits in your community, and school systems, whose mission it is to provide access to nutritious food for all children and families. Educate yourself on what this means and looks like in your community. Volunteer. Support. Donate. Plant a school garden. Celebrate diverse and cultural food voices in your community.
Diversify your home kitchen:
This includes the foods and meals you cook, the ingredients you buy, the cookbooks you have on your shelves. How you think and talk about food with your children. How food stories, history and cultures, people and places, are represented at your dinner table and mealtime conversations. Which food businesses and restaurants and shops you choose to support in your community.
Just like eating is learned behavior, so are our food politics.
I hope you’re all finding ways to connect, to act, and stay safe & healthy this week.
On social media: Samin Nosrat (@ciaosamin) on Instagram is curating her feed to highlight black voices and talents in the culinary world (chefs, business owners, food writers, cookbook authors, etc.). Bon Appétit Magazine has an extensive list (continually being updated) of Black-owned restaurants nationwide, organized by city.
Additionally, there are many resources for important anti-racist reading lists, for both adults and children, and I encourage you to refer to local bookstores supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
A few more books I would recommend for your home kitchen:
Thank You, Omu!, written and illustrated by Oge Mora, about sharing and community through cooking.
Vegetable Kingdom, by food activist and author Bryant Terry, on the fundamentals of plant-based cooking with vibrant and diverse flavors.
Farming While Black, by Leah Penniman, author and farmer/owner of Soul Fire Farm in upstate NY, a guide to food justice movements within sustainable agriculture.
