The Summit was presented alongside Niman Ranch and the Broadway Green Alliance. Watch the full livestreamed event on Food Tank’s YouTube channel.

“Every farmer that we can keep on the land is another reason for a town to keep going; for a gas station to stay open; for a church to stay open; for a school to stay open,” says Ron Mardesen, a third-generation hog farmer from Elliott, Iowa, who has raised pigs with Niman Ranch for over 20 years using humane and sustainable practices. 

The evening was emceed by Academy Award-Nominated Actress Stephanie Hsu. Best known for roles in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Hsu is a longtime food advocate and self-described “nerd for soil health and rege

nerative farming practices,” she told the sold-out crowd. 

“If there’s anything I know about farmers, they can really make any magic possible with just a seed,” she says. 

First onstage was Sea Matías, a regenerative farmer and community organizer growing culturally relevant crops at Serra Vida Farm, who shared powerful lessons from their grandmother.

“My abuela María…taught me that food isn’t just sustenance—it’s dignity. It’s love,” Matías says. “Land, like love, is not meant to be owned. It’s meant to be shared.”

Not everyone will become a farmer, Matías says, but everyone has a responsibility to care for the land and for one another.

“We aren’t separate from the environment,” Matías says. “We are the environment.”

Amid a precarious political moment for immigrants, people of color, and other marginalized groups, community is more important now than ever, says Karen Washington, an Activist, Farmer at Rise & Root Farm, and Co-Founder of Black Urban Growers.

There’s a lot of chaos and a lot of fear out there, but we have to hold onto hope. At this point in time, it’s clear that we must find community,” Washington says. “You see a person not being fed, you feed them. You see a person not being housed, you house them. You see a person not being clothed, you clothe them.”

“If you’re advocating for the rights of animals and plants and seeds, then advocate for people who look like me to be part of this farming community,” she says. “When we talk about agriculture, what we have lost is culture.”

Like Matías, other young farmers also learned from previous generations and felt a pull to give back to the land that raised them. 

“Growing up as an only child, the cows and the farm were my world,” says Olivia Fuller, a fourth-generation farmer at Fuller Acres in upstate New York, raising pastured livestock and maple products on protected land to build a resilient and diversified future.

For Sabrina Servais, Assistant Herd Manager at her family’s Organic Valley member dairy farm in Wisconsin, this is exemplified by the Tears for Fears song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Onstage, Servais sang the opening: “Welcome to your life; there’s no turning back.”

“What do we sacrifice when we choose money and power over everything else, over our passions? The earth? Its people? Our food systems?” she says. “There are billions of people in this world, and if we each do one little thing we can change the world.”

After growing up on her family’s pasture pig farm, April Wilson moved to a bigger city, but pig farming was always central to her identity, she says. The family’s farm was struggling, and her father was considering selling it—so Wilson took it over. Today, she’s a third‑generation hog and chicken farmer who continues her family’s ranching legacy at Seven W Farm, partnering with Niman Ranch.

“Pigs are incredible animals, and in my book, they are worth fighting for,” Wilson says. “Today, the struggle to keep pasture pigs is ongoing, but through the work my family is doing, we’re working to make sure (our farm) stays regenerative for the next generation.”

Several farmers also shared personal experiences of transforming their own lands into regenerative farms. Trained as a conventional wheat farmer in Montana, Bob Quinn was inspired nearly four decades ago to rethink his approach and embrace organics—“going from something that was becoming more dead to something that was becoming more alive.”

“If I look positively to the future, I see one filled with good food choices and good health, and that starts with how the farmers grow our food,” Quinn says, wearing a hat with a sprig of kamut, an ancient grain whose revitalization he pioneered. “We should be growing food that heals. Regenerative organic, minimally processed food is our best medicine. And farmers should be paid like pharmacists when they grow food that heals.” 

Brian Mattingly is Director of Star Hill Farm Operations for Maker’s Mark, where he manages 1,100 acres of regenerative farmland in Kentucky. For him, learning that agriculture is more than planting and harvesting—that the future of farming was not just maintaining the status quo but regenerating soils to be healthier than you found them—was a revelation.

“Healthy souls produce the most nutrient dense foods, not to mention the most flavorful whisky,” he says. “We’re never going to make a big difference if we don’t first make a small one.”

Farmers also must rely on one another to build a more nourishing future. In County Kerry, Ireland, dairy farmer William Dennehy is pushing back against the isolation of farming by building a multigenerational community of farmers to share experiences and expertise, including nature-based solutions to build back biodiversity. 

At the Samad Gardens Initiative in Connecticut, Azeem Zakir Kareem brings people together not only around food but also music, as a rapper who’s performed with Public Enemy and is a Wu Tang affiliate.

Building a community of regenerative farmers requires support, income, and consumer education, says Patrick Holden, farmer and Founding Director of the Sustainable Food Trust, whose 300-acre farm is the longest-running organic dairy farm in Wales. Over the past five years, he’s built up part of the farm into an educational platform to help people of all ages understand regenerative agriculture. 

In farming, there’s no such thing as being self-sufficient, says Caroline Radice, co-owner of Black Dog Farm & Catering in Northern California and co-founder of the Good Farm Fund, supporting small farmers with microgrants and EBT access.

“Farming and running a small business still feels completely magical, audacious, and revolutionary,” Radice says. “I hope you grow a garden. I hope you share a meal with your neighbor. I hope you find joy and laughter even in the face of great challenges.”

The post “We Are The Environment”: For Farmers, Stories Of Regenerative Food Systems Are Deeply Personal appeared first on Food Tank.

Brazil made headlines earlier this year by lifting 40 million people out of food insecurity in two years, representing one of the fastest recorded improvements in the world. The country was removed from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Hunger Map, thanks in large part to policies including local and agroecological school meals, raised minimum wages, legal recognition of a right to food, and support for smallholder and Indigenous farmers.

First Lady da Silva says her husband, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is making agriculture and strong rural communities central to the government’s approaches to a variety of policy priorities.

“It has everything to do with public policy, and it all sums up to political will,” First Lady da Silva says, speaking in Portuguese with an English translator. “There has to be the will to do things, and this is the way that we are going to be able to fight hunger and have food security.”

The panel discussion was organized with support from Merijn Dols, Valeria Nicolini, and Aya Okawa of NOW Partners.

Building political will and addressing complex modern challenges means changing the ways we think about who’s involved in creating solutions, First Lady da Silva says.

“I try to do things differently. From the standpoint of my professional life, with my knowledge and wisdom, I try to not fit into a regular box,” she says.

Too often, she says, decision-making spaces and negotiation tables are filled with “white men in ties”—not women, who are frequently the ones most affected by extreme climate events like recent flooding in the southern portion of the country and drought conditions in the Amazon.

“These women are the ones suffering the violence,” First Lady da Silva says. “And they showed great resilience. They were able to reinvent themselves. This is very beautiful to see how they resist and transform; not just the farm women, but the water women, the forest women.”

To achieve that goal, the Brazilian government is about to launch guidelines requiring that companies, in order to be considered sustainable, will have to reach equity on gender and race.

“Since we have this potential to be a great leader on the topic of sustainability, we wanted to make it very clear that for us it’s not only about environmental and climate dimensions,” says Cristina Fróes de Borja Reis, Deputy Secretary for Sustainable Economic Development at the Brazil Ministry of Finance, during the panel discussion with First Lady da Silva. “Sustainability is also about economic and social dimensions. We have to grow and develop while we reduce inequalities.”

The country’s approach to COP30 is grounded in a philosophy of “mutirão,” an Indigenous word referring to shared work toward a collective goal. Sustainability discussions in Brazil also invoke the curupira, a forest spirit in Brazilian folk culture that guards rainforests and punishes humans for environmental destruction, de Borja Reis says.

“The message we want to pass on is that all people should protect forests and the biome and nature, for nowadays and future generations,” says de Borja Reis.

But as First Lady da Silva says, we cannot expect COP30 to end climate change altogether within the 12 days of the conference—just as, like Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg said during the conversation with First Lady da Silva, commitments to sustainable action have to go beyond Climate Week NYC.

“COP is not just happening in Belem,” First Lady da Silva says. “COP has to be embedded in all of us, inside of us and in our territories around the world. It has to be embedded in everything that we do.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo by Ryan Rose for Food Tank.

The post “I Try To Do Things Differently”: A Climate Week Conversation With Brazil’s First Lady ‘Janja’ da Silva appeared first on Food Tank.

“As a theater-maker, I’m sold on the power of storytelling, but to be hearing from voices we never hear from—farmers doing vital work to ensure we’ll be able to feed our grandchildren—well, that’s going to make for storytelling flavored with a special sauce of compelling importance and captivating entertainment,” says Anika Larsen, Tony Award Nominee and Broadway Green Alliance Board Member. “And at the Broadway Green Alliance, we know that when stories like these are lifted up, they don’t just entertain—they inspire action for a more sustainable future.”

Ron Mardesen, a third-generation hog farmer from Elliott, Iowa, who has raised pigs for specialty meat company Niman Ranch for over 20 years, emphasizes the weight of each farmer’s story—and why it’s important to listen.

“When a farmer shares a story, their story is wrapped in life. The listener feels the struggles of the farmer. The listener hears the emotion in the farmer’s voice. And ultimately, the listener sees the vision that has moved the farmer to where they are right now,” says Mardesen. “When a farmer shares a story, their story, they are exposing a part of themselves that most of us are uncomfortable to do. It’s hard to bear it all. We’ve all had successes, and we’ve all had failures. But the bottom line is we’ve all learned from our experiences.”

The audience will hear from a diverse group of farmers about why they farm, how they farm, and the impact their work has on their communities and the planet. But above all, Mardesen says, these stories are threaded with one powerful theme: hope. Hope for the land, future generations, and a food system rooted in care.

“We are making a difference. We can help solve the problem. We are leaving this land better than we found it,” says Mardesen.

The event will kick off at the Greene Space at WNYC-NPR Studios at 7pm with food, drink, and live musical performances. The program will run from 7:30pm to 9:30pm, with a reception until 10pm.

Academy Award Nominee Stephanie Hsu will serve as Celebrity Guest Emcee at the event. Known for her acclaimed performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Hsu has also earned recognition for her Emmy-nominated role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and standout performances on Broadway in Be More Chill and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.

Confirmed farmer voices include: Karen Washington, a farmer, activist, and co-founder of Black Urban Growers, working to uplift food justice and community farming in the Bronx and beyond; Patrick Holden, farmer and founding director of the Sustainable Food Trust; Bob Quinn, organic farmer and plant geneticist from Montana, who revived ancient grains and promotes sustainable agriculture; Ron Mardesen, a third-generation hog farmer from Elliott, Iowa, who has raised pigs for Niman Ranch for over 20 years using humane and sustainable practices; Sabrina Servais, a passionate young dairy farmer and Assistant Herd Manager at her family’s Organic Valley member farm in Wisconsin; Sea Matias, a regenerative farmer and community organizer growing culturally relevant crops and advancing food sovereignty through mutual aid; Brian Mattingly, Director of Star Hill Farm Operations for Maker’s Mark, who manages 1,100 acres of regenerative farmland in Kentucky, integrating crops and livestock for resilient agriculture; Olivia Fuller, a fourth-generation farmer at Fuller Acres in upstate New York, raising pastured livestock and maple products on protected land to build a resilient and diversified future; William Dennehy, a dairy farmer from County Kerry, Ireland, managing 85 acres of heavy pastureland and over 85 cows with a focus on improving soil health and efficient grazing; Azeem Zakir Kareem, who partners with his wife in running Samad Gardens Initiative, leading efforts in regenerative herbal and vegetable farming, education, and advocacy for farmers; Caroline Radice, co-owner of Black Dog Farm & Catering in Northern California and co-founder of the Good Farm Fund, supporting small farmers with microgrants and EBT access; and April Wilson, a third-generation hog and chicken farmer who continues her family’s ranching legacy at Seven W Farm, established by her grandfather in 1959.

“A Night Honoring Our Farmers” will feature a special musical performance by Joey Contreras, award-winning songwriter of the viral musical In Pieces. He will be joined by guitarist Nick Potocki (Dead Outlaw) and Hannah Verdi, who is featured on the In Pieces: Highlights Deluxe album released by Broadway Records.

This summit will be streamed live on FoodTank.com and Food Tank’s YouTube Channel, here. Join the Food Tank newsletter list for reminders, and click here for Food Tank’s full lineup of events at Climate Week NYC 2025.

The post Celebrating the Farmers Feeding Our Future at Climate Week NYC appeared first on Food Tank.

Born on February 4, 1935, during the Great Depression and the worst drought in United States history, Kirschenmann grew up on his family’s farm in Medina, North Dakota.

Kirschenmann earned degrees from Yankton College in South Dakota, Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago. He began his academic career as the first Chair of the Department of Religion at Yankton College and later served as Dean of the College at Curry College in Boston.

In 1976, inspired by a student who introduced him to organic farming, Kirschenmann converted his family’s 2,600-acre farm to a certified organic operation. Through diverse crop rotations and a focus on soil health, the farm became a model of resilience and sustainability, featured in publications including National Geographic and Audubon, and the award-winning documentary My Father’s Garden.

Kirschenmann later served as the Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University (ISU), a role in which he emphasized soil health as the cornerstone of sustainable farming and fostered research and collaboration on resilient food systems. Following his directorship, he became Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center, continuing to advocate for innovative solutions to agricultural challenges. He also held roles as a Professor in ISU’s Department of Religion and Philosophy and as President of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in New York.

A prolific writer and thinker, Kirschenmann authored numerous essays, articles, and publications, including Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher, a collection tracing the evolution of his philosophy and chronicling decades of insights into the intersections of farming, ethics, and ecology. According to Michael Pollan, “these essays make clear to all what some of us have long known: that Fred is one of the wisest, sanest, most practical, and most trusted voices in the movement to reform the American food system.”

His speeches and lectures offered inspiration and practical solutions, often emphasizing that soil is not just dirt, it is a living substance. “The most important inheritance we can leave for our children,” Kirschenmann argued, “is biologically healthy soil.” Tom Philpott describes that “you leave Fred’s talks awed at the vastness of the task ahead of us—yet hopeful in the knowledge that change is afoot.”

Kirschenmann’s leadership extended to national and international advisory roles, including appointments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board and Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. His work also earned numerous accolades: Kirschenmann received the One World Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Sustainable Agriculture Achievement Award from Practical Farmers of Iowa and he was among the first ten recipients of the James Beard Foundation (JBF) Leadership Award. When presenting Kirschenmann with the JBF Leadership Award, Dan Barber described Kirschenmann as a great man with incomparable intellect and humility, who has done “more to affect farming and good flavor than just about anybody else.”

Throughout his life, Kirschenmann championed a vision of agriculture rooted in harmony with natural systems. He believed in the power of soil as a vibrant, living community essential for producing food, sustaining ecosystems, and securing the future of farming.

“Fred was a mentor and friend to so many of us who work in food and agriculture. I am honored to have known him,” says Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg.

An intellectual mentor for the broader sustainable food movement, as described by Grist, Kirschenmann highlighted the importance of doing “everything we can to enable this new generation of young people to actually become farmers.”

He advocated for “revolutionizing the way we do agriculture” and emphasized the need to transition to a future defined by what he called the “three R’s“—a framework of regeneration, resilience, and relationships.

Kirschenmann is survived by his wife, Carolyn Raffensperger, and his children, Ann Marie and Damon Frederick.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

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Gussow was widely hailed as what the New York Times called the “matriarch of the eat-locally-think-globally food movement.” She was a trailblazer in nutrition education and a staunch critic of the industrialized food system, one of the first to emphasize the link between health and methods of food production.

Nutritionist and food policy expert Marion Nestle says that Gussow was “enormously ahead of her time,” adding, “Every time I thought I was on to something and breaking new ground and seeing something no one had seen before, I’d find out that Joan had written about it 10 years earlier.”

Gussow’s work, including her seminal 1978 manifesto ‘The Feeding Web: Issues in Nutritional Ecology’ influenced prominent food thinkers like Michael Pollan, author of ‘In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto’ and ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma.’ “She has been a powerful influence on the food movement,” Pollan told the New York Times, “We all know nutrients are important, but Joan says, ‘Eat food.’ That’s the kernel of ‘In Defense of Food.’”

Later in life, Gussow resisted labeling herself as a nutritionist. She said so in her 2009 address to Columbia University’s Teachers College, where she served as chair of the Nutrition Education Program and taught for over half a decade.

“What people feel is not nutrients. It’s eggplants and peaches,” Gussow said. It was part and parcel of her whole-systems approach to health and food systems, one that valued connection to the origin of food. In her 1985 contribution to ‘Farm Aid, a Song for America,’ Gussow wrote of a vision for “a different [food] system, one where vibrant local economies are based on thriving family farms, small-scale business enterprises, and markets featuring fresh local food year-round.”

Gussow was born in Alhambra, California in 1928. After graduating from Pomona College in 1950, she moved to New York City and worked as a researcher for Time Magazine. She received her doctorate in nutrition from Columbia University in 1969, and began growing her own backyard produce around the same time.

In 1995, Gussow moved to Piermont with her husband, artist Alan Gussow. There she established another backyard garden to meet their fruit and vegetable needs. “The only thing I ever have to buy is onions,” Gussow told ValleyTable in 2016.

Alan Gussow died in 1997. Joan Gussow is survived by two sons and a grandson.

Gussow will also be remembered as someone who was unafraid to speak her mind. Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg says, “I enjoyed receiving emails from Joan over the years. She would point out my mistakes in the kindest way possible. I will always be grateful for her wisdom.”

In a 2011 interview with Civil Eats, Gussow said of her legacy: “I would like to be remembered as having tried to tell the truth.”

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Photo courtesy of Rockland/Westchester Journal News

The post Remembering Joan Dye Gussow: Pioneer of Local Food Movement appeared first on Food Tank.

“Agriculture is a powerful tool for personal healing and community building,” the farm’s co-founder Emily Emmons tells Food Tank.

When Emily’s husband and Hoʻōla Farms co-founder John Emmons returned from service, he struggled to reintegrate into civilian life while dealing with physical pain and PTSD. After starting a backyard garden with his family, he found that connecting with the land also fostered connections with his wife and children.

“We started experimenting and became more aware of how food could transform our lives—not only physically… but also by providing a renewed sense of purpose,” John tells Food Tank. This experience inspired the couple to found Hoʻōla Farms on Hawaiʻi Island, hoping to share the transformative power of agriculture through therapeutic gardens, veteran farmer training programs, and efforts to strengthen the local food system.

One of Hoʻōla Farms’ first initiatives, the Victory Garden for Veterans program, brings the restorative power of gardening directly into veterans’ backyards. Through the program, participants receive a complete garden kit—including a raised bed, soil, plant starts, and care instructions. Delivered and set up by the Hoʻōla team, the gardens are designed not just to provide food, but to help veterans reconnect with their families, rediscover a sense of purpose, and experience emotional healing through agriculture.

Emily says the initiative is transformative, especially for veterans struggling to find their footing after returning to civilian life. “For many, this program has provided the invaluable experience of being seen, valued, and appreciated for the first time in a long time—a seed planted at the start of their journey back to community and purpose through agriculture.”

According to Emily, farming offers veterans transitioning from military service more than just a career—it provides a renewed sense of purpose and an opportunity to continue serving their communities. “We rarely pause to consider what it truly means to transition back to civilian life after service, and agriculture is a meaningful way to do that,” Emily adds.

With the United States facing a shortage of producers as the median age of farmers climbs to 58, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, John and Emily envision using veteran agriculture programs to address the need for a new generation of farmers. Farming becomes another form of public service, where veterans can continue their commitment to their country by nurturing the land and feeding communities. “Farming aligns with the skills, service mindset, and resilience they bring, especially since about 60 percent of active-duty personnel come from rural communities,” Emily explains.

Hoʻōla runs a four-week training program called Groundwork to Grow, which offers veterans and aspiring farmers hands-on workshops in areas including agribusiness, beekeeping, greenhouse management, livestock care, and agroforestry. Participants come away with practical skills and the knowledge to start their own small-scale agricultural ventures. The workshops focus on developing technical expertise while prioritizing self-care, which Emily identifies as key to achieving long-term success in farming.

To connect Hawaiʻi’s small farmers with commercial kitchen facilities, Hoʻōla Farms operates the Hilo Food Hub. They also run Hawaiʻi Farm-to-Car, an online farmers market that makes local food available to residents with just a few clicks. By accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Double Up Food Bucks, the initiative allows low-income residents to support local agriculture and helps keep more money within the community.

Hoʻōla Farms aims to expand its programs in the coming years, envisioning a future where veteran-led agriculture plays a critical role in Hawaiʻi’s food security and acts as a model for national food system change.

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Photo courtesy of Andrew Richard Hara

The post From Service to Soil: Hawaiʻi’s Veteran Farmers appeared first on Food Tank.

Around 200,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022, with approximately 61,000 seeking asylum in city-funded shelters, according to the New York City Comptroller. Under its right-to-shelter directive, New York City is required to provide shelter to anyone who has no safe place to sleep and cannot afford permanent housing.

State law requires that family shelter operators ensure residents can conveniently obtain three well-balanced meals daily—whether prepared at the shelter or externally by a vendor—and that dietary, nutritional, or religious restrictions are accommodated.

But in an effort to offer the necessary shelter, the city is turning to spaces that often lack cooking facilities, including offices, large tents, and warehouses. And a vendor contracted by the city to provide food to asylum seekers reportedly wasted 70,000 meals in under three weeks, with some recipients complaining of poor quality food.

Asylum seekers describe being served greasy pasta with raw or frozen meatballs, and meals that have visible mold. In a Documented survey of asylum seekers in 15 shelters across the city, all 58 individuals interviewed describe getting sick after eating shelter-provided meals, often resulting in stomachaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and occasionally, visits to the emergency room.

Mayor Eric Adams says that the city is unable to account for varying cultural food tastes. “We’re going to provide food for people,” Adams said when addressing complaints about shelter-provided meals. “People may have different cultural tastes for certain foods. We can’t do that.”

But organizations around the city believe that these communities should have access to meals that are nutritious, comforting, safe, and culturally appropriate, and are stepping up to make sure that’s the case.

“The recent increase in migrants seeking our assistance has been unprecedented,” Racquel Peters, Chief Development Officer of The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH), tells Food Tank. The organization is facing increasing demand but, according to Founder and CEO Dr. Melony Samuels, has lost approximately half of its donors.

TCAH has distributed food to an average of 14,000 families weekly using the funds available, Samuels says.

Some organizations such as EVLovesNYC, a volunteer-run nonprofit, are adjusting their food services to meet the varying needs of their new neighbors. The organization has always offered vegan and vegetarian options. But recently, EVLovesNYC, which is located near the city’s first reticketing center—a place where asylum seekers can be processed into a new shelter after their stay in another one runs out—recognized the demand for additional meal options.

“We saw the need and we stepped up.” Ann Shields, Communications Director at EVLovesNYC tells Food Tank. Halal meals have recently become a big part of their weekly distribution, according to Shields. “Half of the meals we served this week were Halal.”

Flexibility is similarly central to RaisingHealth’s food service program, which provides foods that are specific to the populations they serve, says Hewett Chiu, President and CEO of RaisingHealth. “The way we design and put together the food itself is tailored to dietary requirements, but also the familiarity of these populations,” Chiu tells Food Tank.

To incorporate the cultural background and personal experiences into their services, these organizations must listen to the individuals they serve, Chiu says.

“We talk to them,” he tells Food Tank. “The organization takes time to engage in conversation and dialogue with our new community members. The organization learns a bit about their background, their story, some of their ongoing stressors, how they’re getting food and how they’re eating.”

These conversations help organizations learn about guests’ native dishes, favorite foods, or allergies, Power Malu, Founder of Artists Athletes Activists (AAA), tells Food Tank. “This is how we ensure the cultural preferences and dietary needs of our guests are met as well as making sure the food is edible for all. Something that is not taken into consideration at the city shelters.”

Recognizing the breadth of asylum seekers’ needs, organizations are also combining their food programs with other essential services and benefits.

RaisingHealth incorporates their food distribution into their weekly nutrition education workshops, mental health services, and other broader health services, Chiu says. TCAH offers financial workshops and helps eligible families enroll in SNAP benefits. And Shields says that EVLovesNYC supplies food to East Village Neighbors Who Care’s free clothing distribution and to ESL classes around the city.

“It’s a humbling experience to witness mothers, fathers, and young noncitizen migrants joining the food line daily,” Peters tells Food Tank. “We are dedicated to supporting them.”

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Photo courtesy of Joel Muniz, Unsplash

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Kate Meier, the Founder of Project Black and Blue, tells Food Tank that her four children, who work in the service industry, inspired her to start the initiative. Realizing that her own son was struggling to pay for medical treatment despite holding a steady job, Meier wanted to find a way to support others facing a similar situation.

“We know this industry so well that we know that they don’t want to ask for help or get support,” Meier tells Food Tank. “So, we wanted it to be a place where they felt comfortable and confident to reach out and get access to it.” 

The project raises funding from a line of products sold through her company BA Craftmade Aprons and from fundraising events. People then nominate themselves or others in the service industry to access that funding to pay for mental and physical health needs or other emergencies. Meier says from the beginning, the goal was to create a fund built and managed by the community. 

The project’s name references the mental and physical bruising workers in the service industry face every day, Meier explains. The fund helps people facing challenges including physical and mental health emergencies, fires, and substance abuse. According to a report by Black Box Intelligence and Snagajob, 62 percent of restaurant workers reported experiencing emotional abuse or disrespect from customers, 49 percent reported emotional abuse from managers and 15 percent reported sexual harassment from customers and managers or co-workers.

“Just the loss of income sometimes is enough to set someone back to where they can be facing eviction, and you never know when that terrible day might happen where you have a challenge,” Meier tells Food Tank.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median hourly wage for food service workers is US$13.52. But MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimates that the average living wage—defined as the income necessary to meet a family’s needs without public assistance—in the United States is US$25.02 per hour.  For this reason, Meier says members of the food service industry often don’t have excess funding to support themselves or their families during an emergency.

The power of conversation and community is especially important to Project Black and Blue, Meier says. She explains that one of their goals is to raise awareness of what people in the restaurant and service industry experience. She says the galas and events they put on are an important part of this because they attract people who may not otherwise engage with the Project.

“It’s really eye opening too because I don’t think they realize what’s going on in the back of house,” Meier tells Food Tank. “They know it’s maybe hard work, but I don’t think they realize the pay challenges, lack of insurance, substance abuse, and that a lot of these people may not have resources—meaning family—that is there to support them.”

According to American Addiction Centers (ADC), 10 percent of service industry workers reported being under the influence of drugs while working a majority of the time.

Meier says she has a long-term goal of creating treatment and wellness centers around the country for food service workers. Currently her goals are to promote discussion of mental health and access to preventative care for service workers.

“Let’s make that the norm, that getting help is a good thing and it’s okay,” Meier tells Food Tank.

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Photo courtesy of Sheldon Powell

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Launched in 2011, the Healthy Corners program is designed to increase accessibility to healthier food options in areas without grocery stores, particularly neighborhoods affected by food apartheid. The $US890,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) will help DCCK scale the program at a time when eaters are grappling with elevated food prices.

“Healthy Corners is the ultimate myth busting food access program. There is proof that small businesses want to be part of a healthier, more sustainable community and that low-income consumers are interested and want to put healthy food on the table for themselves and their families,” Alexander Moore, Chief Development Officer at DCCK tells Food Tank.

To promote affordable alternatives, the program offers store owners produce at wholesale prices and delivers fresh and frozen vegetables in smaller quantities than traditional distributors typically offer. The Healthy Corners program works with 54 participating corner stores, providing distribution and technical assistance.

DCCK aims to utilize the funding to purchase and transport more products from local farmers while involving more community members through outreach and nutrition education initiatives.

At 33 of the participating stores, produce incentives are offered through the SNAP Match initiative, launched by Healthy Corners in 2018. Customers who purchase one piece of produce included in their initial SNAP-eligible transaction, receive $US5.00 coupons for fresh and frozen produce. DCCK reports that the incentive program has been a success since the beginning, spurring a 162 percent increase in sales.

DCCK will distribute the funds from the grant directly to SNAP customers through the SNAP Match initiative, supporting the organization in its mission to reach and serve 20,000 food insecure households annually.

“What we’re doing is putting money right in the hands of consumers to make a market-based choice,” Moore tells Food Tank. “This grant and this model of nutrition incentive programming, allows us to provide additional resources to people who want to make a healthy choice, but don’t have the financial flexibility to do so.”

In the last year, Healthy Corners achieved rapid growth, with a 16 percent increase in overall sales. In addition, they saw a 70 percent boost in local produce and products sales because of strong partnerships with regional farmers and food organizations.

According to Moore, Healthy Corners also goes beyond accessibility gaps, working to reduce as many challenges for store owners as possible. “The program has been trying to move with our community to help us understand what products are going to sell, how do we present them in a way that’s going to be appealing, culturally relevant, and provide recipe options that are rooted in what people want to eat and can actually access from their corner store.”

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Photo courtesy of DC Central Kitchen

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Noosa Youth Advocacy Group (NYAG) is a collective of young individuals who are working to further embed concepts of sustainability and cultural viewpoints into school curricula. Their 2024 Custodians of Place – Youth Climate Conference will focus on the climate crisis and sustainability for students of all ages.

Students will have the opportunity to share ideas, present, and celebrate the actions they have taken in their schools and communities. This summit will serve as a follow-up to the first youth-led climate summit held by the Noosa EEHub in 2021.

“This upcoming conference is shaping up to be a day full of education, collaboration, inspiration, and celebration; as the outcomes of the 2021 conference, in combination with the progress being made in schools and the community, are brought together,” Ashley Sinclair, Youth NYAG Member, tells Food Tank.

During the 2021 summit, attendees had the ability to create target actions to reach zero net emissions, zero emissions transport, nature based solutions, and zero waste.

“The solutions-based approach gives young people hope that there are things we can do within our power and that collectively these make a big difference,” Dalia Mikhail, Managing Director at the Noosa Environmental Education Hub, tells Food Tank. “They are embracing the ideas and connecting the dots around Reconciliation and Climate Action and influencing their school communities to make meaningful change.”

Sinclair says that “the outcomes of projects, Noosa Youth Advocacy Group meetings, and the 2021 conference are helping us to identify what is most needed in these youth climate conversations and what has and needs to be prioritized in our community.”

The Noosa EEHub delivers immersive and community relevant environmental education programs, engaging students in real-life projects tailored to the local ecosystem. In 2021, these programs were honored with the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation Award for People & Economy. They provide students with opportunities for hands-on learning, and empower students to meet curriculum requirements while making a positive impact on their community and environment.

“Having a space to meet like-minded youth, discuss our aspirational visions, concerns, and projects, and have opportunities to bring a youth perspective into other groups such as the Noosa Council, has made me feel less alone, less anxious about the state of the world, and more hopeful than ever,” says Sinclair.

As the conference takes shape, the organization hopes to establish it as an annual event and “build on our previous work till we reach net zero emissions, reduce waste and improve biodiversity across our region,” Mikhail tells Food Tank. “We are working to bring the community values in line with the tourism expectation that Noosa is a green and environmentally valued location.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Dalia Mikhail

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Falcon was a widely recognized and sought-after consultant to governments and food-related international organizations including the Agricultural Development Council, the International Rice Research Institute, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. In his 50 years at Stanford University, Falcon held leadership roles in esteemed institutions, including the Food Research Institute and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He also played a pivotal role in establishing the Center for Environmental Science and Policy. Throughout his lifetime, Falcon wrote and co-authored more than 60 papers and 25 books and book chapters, including Food Policy Analysis. In his later years, Falcon continued to advocate for technological innovation spanning land, water, and energy resources, as well as increased funding for future research.

Two Food Tank Board Members who knew Wally well have written tributes in his honor. The first statement is written by William Burke, a Professor of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University and the second by Brian Halweil, the Commercial Director for Belltown Farms and a Strategic Associate at Astanor Ventures.

From William Burke:

I hardly feel qualified to say anything about Wally. By the time I met him in his office in Encina Hall in 2011, he was already a legend in my world. When I was an undergraduate studying economics 15 years earlier, I was reading work he had written before I was born. And yet, somehow, here I was, invited to speak at the Stanford Center on Food Security and the Environment, which, among his myriad other accomplishments, he had helped to found. Dazed from a 30-hour trip from Zambia the day before, I could barely think straight, let alone try to hold my own in a conversation with this icon. It must have gone well, though, because by the end of my visit he, Roz Naylor (then the Director of FSE) and I were talking about when I could start. A few months later I was going to work in an office across the hall from Wally, and I stayed there for 4 years. In that time, and after, he became a good friend and valued mentor. We talked a lot about economics and politics, as one might expect, but also baseball, football (college and the NFL), wine, food, family, and life in general.

I was traveling when I learned he had passed. I knew he hadn’t been well, so I searched for news before sending him a message. It was going to be a selfie with a Malawian landscape in the background and a caption that read “smelling the roses.” The first time I went to Malawi a decade or so earlier, Wally stopped by my office before I left for the airport to wish me a good journey. We talked about objectives, places I would visit and people I would see. Then, he stopped at the door on his way out and said, “While you’re there, make sure you stop to smell the roses. This kind of work you’re doing won’t last forever, and most people don’t get to do it at all. Whenever you find an opportunity to appreciate your life, I advise you to take it.” That was not the only sage advice he ever gave me, but it is emblematic of the kind of wisdom he could share so casually. In the 12 years I was lucky enough to know him, mostly crammed into those 4 years when he was across the hall, Wally helped me appreciate many good times and, it is not hyperbolic to say, survive some difficult ones.

I once asked Wally for advice because someone asked me to write them a letter of recommendation to a promotion committee. I held the person I was recommending in very high esteem, and I wanted it to show. Having written, I would guess, thousands of recommendations in his lifetime, Wally had great tips on how to articulate your respect for someone. I thought about that conversation when I decided to write this small tribute to him. One of the things he said was, “think of people you know the committee respects and explain why the person you’re describing fits into the same category.” That was good advice (the promotion did come through), but it does not work here. I honestly cannot think of anyone comparable to Walter Falcon. The man’s professional accomplishments speak for themselves, but the person I knew was more impressive. Wally had every right to think he was the most knowledgeable person in just about any room, and while he was not shy about giving his thoughts, he was also always inquisitive and never condescending. He did not strike me as a man who made you earn his respect; he gave it away by default, and rarely rescinded it. He was an uncommon combination of hard-earned confidence, empathy, courage and humility. I have known a great many people I like. Wally was among the very few that I want to be like. I am happy to say I told him all of this in the years after I left Stanford, as the weight of what I gained from knowing him became more apparent to me. Although our conversations had grown too rare in recent years, I will miss him, but I will also take the occasional opportunity to appreciate the time I spent with him.

From Brian Halweil:

When I was a college student and my interest turned to the global food system, I was lucky enough to be at a university where Wally Falcon was the head of the university’s food research institute. I immediately sought him out. He was always curious and encouraging. We certainly did not see eye to eye on topics such as organic farming, the use of biotechnology, and corporate influence over the food system. but Wally, no matter the difference of opinion, pushed me to support my thinking with research from the field, long-term data sets, and as much ecological science as we could bring to it. Eventually, Wally agreed to be my advisor for my honors thesis research about Mexico’s national program to encourage family gardens or huertos familiares. The trip took me to all corners of Mexico over six months and solidified my interest in knowing and having an impact on what we eat, and how we farm. I am grateful to have known Wally and for the generosity and wisdom he showed to me, and so many others. We stayed in touch over the past few decades. He was delighted to hear of a student who was still working in the food and agriculture field.

Wally is survived and lovingly remembered by his wife of 67 years, Laura; two children, Lesley (Daryl Harney) Falcon-Harney of Grand Island, Nebraska, and Andrew (Mary) Falcon of Stanford, California; and two grandchildren, Hallett and Andrew.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the family in care of Murdoch Funeral Home in Marion.

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These 23 books will encourage readers to explore new flavors, deepen community-based knowledge, and vitalize change within the food system. 

1. Appalachia on the Table: Representing Mountain Food and People by Erica Abrams Locklear

Appalachia on the Table unpacks the conception of Appalachia as a distinctly separate region from the rest of the South through the lens of food. After encountering the surprises within her grandmother’s cookbook, Erica Abrams Locklear sets out to understand where her own notions of Appalachian food traditions originated and why theories about the region’s lower culinary status have multiplied over time. 

2. The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States by Giselle Kennedy Lord and David S. Shields

Created by Slow Food USA, The Ark of Taste serves as a catalog of the nation’s food heritage and a movement to preserve the culinary legacies handed down between generations. Readers can learn about the foods that distinguish the culinary landscape of the United States in this visual encyclopedia tailored for both consumers and food producers. 

3. At the Table by Katherine Miller

At the Table considers how chefs and other leaders in the restaurant industry can be some of the most powerful agents of advocacy and change in the food system. Katherine Miller recounts the techniques she developed for the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change and shares the stories of chefs who used these skills to foster impact.

4. Beyond the Kitchen Table Edited by Priscilla McCutcheon, Latrica Best, and Theresa Ann Rajack-Talley 

Beyond the Kitchen Table is a deep analysis into Black women’s roles in food and agriculture systems in the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States. Through examining matrilineal food-based education and Black women’s social, cultural, and families’ networks, the authors address the ways in which Black women, both now and in the past, have used food to build community. 

5. The Core of an Onion: Peeling the Rarest Common Food by Mark Kurlansky (Forthcoming November 2023)

In The Core of an Onion, Mark Kurlansky dives into the science and history of the only sulfuric acid–spewing plant, exploring the onion’s twenty varieties and the cultures built around them. Including a recipe section featuring more than 100 dishes from around the world, Kurlansky celebrates the onion in all its forms, from a base for stews and sauces to metaphors and folklore. 

6. Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World by Steven Hawley

Steven Hawley examines the history of damming rivers to identify the short- and long-term impacts of leveraging the power of water for urban and agricultural growth. Cracked gives technical context of water scarcity in the American West, leaving readers with a sense of urgency to protect rivers, the biodiversity they sustain, and communities they feed. 

7. Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant a memoir by Curtis Chin 

In this memoir, Curtis Chin shares how he learned to embrace his gay, American-born Chinese identity in the safe haven of Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine. Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant highlights the challenges of life in Detroit in the 1980’s, and reveals how Chinese restaurants, both then and now, present an opportunity to engage in important conversations with people from different racial, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds. 

8. Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods by Sarah Lohman 

Sarah Lohman sheds light on the urgency of safeguarding Indigenous culinary customs through her tales of traversing America in search of endangered foods. In Endangered Eating she highlights the influence of colonization upon foodways, and also advocates for the localization of food systems and greater support for food producers and community organizations. 

9. Feeding Each Other: Shaping Change in Food Systems through Relationship by Nicole Civita and Michelle Auerbach

Feeding Each Other argues that current solutions to feed the world are only accelerating the collapse of environmental, economic, and social structures. Authors Nicole Civita and Michelle Auerbach use a blend of research, insights from diverse thinkers, and their own lived experiences to encourage us to focus on ‘feeding each other.’ 

10. Junk Food Politics: How Beverage and Fast Food Industries Are Reshaping Emerging Economies by Eduardo J. Gómez

Junk Food Politics reveals a two-way street where industry and political leaders work together to launch well-meaning social programs—but also work around regulations that might harm industry profits. According to Eduardo J. Gómez, this has led to a world in which beverage and fast-food industries thrive in low resource countries, causing long-term health problems for low income communities. 

11. Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas by Karen Pinchin

Kings of Their Own Ocean is an urgent investigation into how human obsession with bluefin tuna has transformed a cottage industry into a global dilemma. Karen Pinchin explores the story of one Atlantic bluefish tuna as a symbol for the ongoing fight between a booming tuna industry and desperate conservation efforts. 

12. Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

This dystopian novel by C Pam Zhang centers on a young chef who is trying to survive in the wake of an environmental catastrophe that devastated earth’s biodiversity. Imagining how fine dining might persist after food systems collapse, Land of Milk and Honey celebrates the joys of food while also addressing its inherent disparities and our complex relationship with nature. 

13. The Last Supper Club: A Waiter’s Requiem by Matthew Batt

This memoir shares the story of how Matthew Batt, a professor on sabbatical, found himself returning to a job waiting tables, and loving it. Detailing the challenges and satisfactions of meeting the demands of fine dining, The Last Supper Club is an ode to working in restaurants and the relationships you build along the way. 

14. The Lost Supper: Searching for the Future of Food in the Flavors of the Past by Taras Grescoe 

The Lost Supper introduces readers to the surprising and forgotten flavors whose revival is attracting food lovers across the globe. Taras Grescoe argues that the key to healthy and sustainable eating lies not in looking forward, but in looking back to the foods that have sustained the global population for millions of years. 

15. The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García by Laura Tillman

The Migrant Chef encapsulates Mexico City-based journalist Laura Tillman’s five year immersion into Lalo Garcia’s story. As Tillman follows Lalo across the globe, she touches on themes including the history of Mexican food, farmworker conditions in the United States, Mexican politics and earthquakes, and the inequities and challenges of restaurant business. 

16. The New Fish: The Truth about Farmed Salmon and the Consequences We Can No Longer Ignore by Simen Sætre and Kjetil Østli

The New Fish delves into the origins of salmon farming, tracing its expansion from coastal Norway to the United States and the many countries in between. Following a prizewinning five-year investigation, journalists Simen Sætre and Kjetil Østli discuss the adverse effects of sea farming and the unintended consequences of attempts to address global food needs. 

17. No Meat Required: The Cultural History & Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating by Alicia Kennedy

No Meat Required is a culinary and cultural history of plant-based eating in the United States that digs into the subcultures and politics that define alternative foods among a new generation. From the early experiments in tempeh production in the 1970s to the vegan cafes of the 1990s, Alicia Kennedy brings depth and context to vegan and vegetarian cuisine. 

18. The Nourishing Asian Kitchen: Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Health and Healing by Sophia Nguyen Eng (Forthcoming November 2023)

The Nourishing Asian Kitchen is inspired by the nexus of nutritional research, regenerative farming practices, and cultural food tradition. Reflecting on the Asian recipes that have been passed down through her family for generations, Sophia Nguyen Eng recreates her favorite dishes with an emphasis on food quality, ingredient sourcing, and seasonality. 

19. Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking by Margaret Li and Irene Li

Perfectly Good Food is a cookbook on a mission to eliminate food waste. With 80 recipes and150 ideas to transform fridge leftovers, chef-sisters Margaret and Irene Li celebrate the joys of saving food, reducing grocery expenses, and mastering the art of resourceful cooking. 

20. Resilient Kitchens: American Immigrant Cooking in a Time of Crisis Edited by Philip Gleissner and Harry Eli Kashdan

Resilient Kitchens is a collection of essays about the lives of immigrants in the United States before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, told through the lens of food. The book brings together stories and recipes from professional food writers, scholars, restaurateurs, and activists to discuss the hardship and resilience of racism in the American food system. 

21. The Salmon Sisters: Harvest & Heritage by Emma Teal Laukitis and Claire Neaton

The Salmon Sisters: Harvest & Heritage celebrates the seasons of Alaskan food and rituals through photography, illustrations, recipes, and traditions. Emma Teal Laukitis and Claire Neaton reflect on their values and visions inspired by their upbringing and summers spent fishing on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. 

22. Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm by David Mas Masumoto

Secret Harvests tells the story of a Japanese American family’s reunion after 70 years of being separated by racism and the discrimination of people with developmental disabilities. As David Mas Masumoto accounts the discovery of his lost aunt, he uncovers themes of resilience, identity, and family among farmers who forge forward in a land that historically did not want them. 

23. White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation by Naa Oyo A. Kwate

White Burgers, Black Cash traces the evolution of fast food, uncovering its long history of racist exclusion to its current exploitation of urban Black communities. Naa Oyo A. Kwate contends that both sides of fast food’s racial spectrum—from exclusion to exploitation—underscore the deeply rooted presence of anti-Blackness within the industry.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

The post 23 Must-Read Books that Will Transform How You Think about Food and the World appeared first on Food Tank.

After a logging company destroyed much of their jungle’s ecosystem in the 1980s, Hin Lad Nai community members banded together immediately after the forest was ravaged to begin restoring their home. The base of the restoration work is in their rotational farming system, also called the fallow system or swidden agriculture.

Hin Lad Nai habitants communally clear a section of the forest by cutting down trees (but leaving large stumps to encourage regeneration) and applying controlled burning. A farmer then cultivates that plot of land before leaving it fallow for seven-to-ten-year cycles. Transition periods between active to fallow land are also accompanied by spiritual rituals.

The type of rotational farming that Hin Lad Nai engages in, which includes what is sometimes known as slashing and burning, did not originally fit with the Thai government’s conservation strategy.

“The discourse on rotational farming is that it is the cause of deforestation. But Hin Lad Nai has proved through scientific research that rotational farming is not causing climate change, but the opposite,” says Karen researcher Dr. Prasert Trakansuphakon to Food Tank. Trakansuphakon has advocated for Hin Lad Nai and Indigenous rights for decades, speaking at the United Nations (UN) and other international forums.

Hin Lad Nai partnered with Thai researcher Prayong Doklamyai and the organization Oxfam International to study the community’s carbon footprint. They report that while rotational farming releases about 480 tons of carbon per year through controlled burning, the regenerative fallow system stores 17,000 tons in the same time period.

And through another partnership with SwedBio, a program at the Stockholm Resilience Center, Hin Lad Nai co-authored a report which explains the spiritual significance of the rotational farming system, while also providing statistical evidence of its value for biodiversity. Their co-created research found that on some farms, the rotational fallow system led to greater agrobiodiversity, greater production, more reliable production, and richer soil.

Pernilla Malmer, Senior Advisor at SwedBio, tells Food Tank about the “multiple-evidence base approach”, which shows that “traditional knowledge of local communities is equally valid to science and brings critical value for complying with international environmental agreements.”

In three decades, Hin Lad Nai has restored 80 percent of their previously destroyed forest and revitalized populations of many animal species, some endangered. According to the Swedbio report, there are some 207 food crops cultivated in the rotational farming system used by Hin Lad Nai. “They earn income from forest products and beekeeping. That’s why they don’t have to do cash cropping and why they prohibit chemicals in the area,” Trakansuphakon tells Food Tank.

Hin Lad Nai uses their agricultural and spiritual system to feed themselves, keep their forest healthy and biodiverse, and earn a sustainable income. Convincing the Thai government of these benefits took time, but partnerships with researchers helped them secure their rights to the forest.

Hin Lad Nai has also leveraged awards from agenda-setting organizations including the United Nations to prove the value of their agricultural practices. A Hin Lad Nai community leader won the U.N.’s Forest Hero Award, their village was established as a Special Cultural Zone by the Thai Ministry of Culture, and the UN now recognizes rotational farming as a protected cultural heritage.

But Hin Lad Nai’s success is not shared by all Indigenous communities across the country. In 2021, the Thai government came under the international spotlight for burning Karen peoples’ homes, arresting women and children, and forcibly evicting Karen people from their ancestral lands in order to expand Kaeng Krachan National Park.

One of the GBF’s targets is to designate 30 percent of Earth’s land and sea as protected by 2030. And it emphasizes the importance of upholding Indigenous people’s rights to achieve these goals.

In response to the new GBF, Alice Matthew of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity tells Food Tank: “We hope that states will be more open to working with Indigenous Peoples and will focus on ending their suffering caused by ‘conservation.’”

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Photo courtesy of Pernilla Malmer

The post Indigenous People, Western Science, and Conservation in Thailand appeared first on Food Tank.

ALAS, a Latino centered nonprofit in Half Moon Bay, California, began in 2011. The organization seeks to help children and families feel proud of their culture and identity, and has become a communal space for support. Volunteers, families, board, and staff are creating programs including culturally-centered mental health services, wrap-around case management, immigration, education, and social justice advocacy initiatives.

2023 has brought record levels of precipitation in California that have triggered destructive floods across communities and agricultural landscapes. When the first wave of floods hit the state earlier in the year, ALAS was among the first organizations to respond.

“The sooner we can mobilize and organize and be there to help, the better the families are to endure this,” Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, Executive Director for ALAS tells Food Tank. “Sometimes we can’t wait for the bureaucracy of other organizations to organize, we must be ready. ALAS is ready. We know how to mobilize with the community and get the word out.”

ALAS has found that one of the biggest impacts of the flooding is the barriers the destruction imposes on accessing food. The organization’s crisis food pantry, which was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, is serving its highest numbers of people ever, according to Hernandez-Arriaga.

While the food pantries relieve a financial burden on families, Hernandez-Arriaga discusses how money isn’t the only barrier.

“One of the things we have to prepare as organizations is how we are mobilizing to support farm worker communities who might be in more remote areas,” says Hernandez-Arriaga.

She shares how the flooding has caused extensive damage to roads, preventing farm workers from being able to drive away from their homes or work areas. In response, ALAS has developed programs to meet farm workers where they are.

ALAS brings gallons of water to Coastside farms once a week and collaborates with several organizations, such as Coastside Hope and Second Harvest Food Bank, to regularly distribute groceries. ALAS also coordinates Farmworker Friday, an initiative which brings lunch to farmworkers on rotating Fridays. Each lunch is sponsored by different organizations seeking to support their local farm workers.

At the end of 2022, ALAS launched the Farmworker Equity Express Bus, a mobile center that brings resources to farm workers on the Coast.

“We really need to go where farmworkers are,” says Hernandez-Arriaga. “We have seen the isolation and the limitation they have because of their work hours and the type of work they are doing.”

The Bus is equipped with Wifi laptops, teleteaching resources, telehealth, mental health commissions, and education and arts resources.

The organization emphasizes how the effects of flooding are ongoing, economically impacting farm worker families long after the water dissipates. As ALAS continues to provide crisis relief to farm workers from the flooding earlier this year, they are simultaneously preparing these communities for the floods to come.

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Photo Courtesy of Tim Mossholder

The post Ayudando Latinos A Soñar: Creating Support and Resilience Amidst Devastating Floods in California appeared first on Food Tank.

Since the 1960s, Cummins has used his voice to advocate for better food and farming systems. An author, he published several books including Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers as well as a series for young readers known as Children of the World. One of his latest works, Grassroots Rising: A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal, was described by scholar and activist Vindana Shiva, as one that “should be in the hands of every activist working on food and farming, climate change, and the Green New Deal.”

In 1998, he and his wife Rose Welch Founded OCA to safeguard organic standards and promote healthier, more just, and more regenerative food and agriculture systems. Today, the organization’s education campaigns, which promote health, justice, and climate sustainability, reach an estimated 2 million consumers. 

Cummins was also the Co-Founder of the Mexican affiliate of OCA, Via Organica, which serves as a network of organic consumers and farmers based in Mexico City. And in 2015 he co-founded Regeneration International, a global network dedicated to mitigating and reversing climate change through regenerative food, farming, and land use.  

Cummins encouraged others to “move beyond the gloom and doom and focus on the positives.” And at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he told Food Tank that he was confident the world would emerge stronger and more resilient. But, he said, “it’s going to require economic justice as well as an expansion of regenerative and organic farming.”

Cummins is survived by his wife, Rose, and son, Adrian.

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The post Remembering Ronnie Cummins: Advocate of Regenerative Farming Systems appeared first on Food Tank.

Little Dog is part of a small chain of coffee shops in New Hampshire and Maine owned by Larry and Diane Flaherty. Little Dog has been a staple in the Brunswick community since 2005. Since then, the café has changed ownership twice – once in January 2019 and again in July 2022, when the Flaherty’s purchased the café and changed the name to Little Dog by The Met.

Union member Jessica Czarnecki, 26 tells Food Tank that the bargaining unit has been working on a long list of negotiations for several months, including a living wage, contracted workplace safety standards, a better training program, and more.

“I feel very connected to people trying to build community and make their work environment better,” Little Dog bargaining unit member Laurentz Locke, 25 tells Food Tank. “I feel that marginalized people need to organize their respective workplaces for the protection it offers the workers, and the sense of knowing that you have support from more than just yourself. Being a black man, it’s important to me to feel like I have support and people behind me.”

At Little Dog, all 12 union members are under 26 years, and the youngest member is 16. This reflects a larger trend of young workers who are at the forefront of union organizing around the country, including at Starbucks, Chipotle, and other chains.

Little Dog workers began talking seriously about forming a union in August. Throughout the formal organizing process, they worked with Workers United, a national organization that advocates for better pay, better pensions, better health insurance, and better respect and dignity in the workplace.

Union member Sophie Creamer, 22 tells Food Tank that the Workers United union representative was helpful in answering questions and giving advice. “I have learned so much, like basic labor laws, our rights as workers, and how to get ideas for negotiating,” she says.

In the Fall, the Little Dog bargaining unit approached their employer and announced their decision to unionize. Flaherty tells Food Tank that at the time, he had only owned Little Dog for two months. “Honestly, I had no idea what that all meant because I never dealt with it,” he says. After speaking with his lawyer, Flaherty decided “the fairest way [was] just to have everyone vote their conscience and go from there.”

According to Flaherty, “since the whole process started, the union has not communicated with me at all on what they’re looking for.”

But Czarnecki tells Food Tank that the bargaining unit’s lawyer and union representative spoke with Larry on behalf of workers throughout the organizing process. “We didn’t want to go to him directly because that would have been unintelligent,” they say. The bargaining unit was aware that information they shared with Flaherty could have been used against workers.

A couple weeks after the bargaining unit approached Flaherty, two managers at Little Dog were fired.

These firings are consistent with a statewide and nationwide trend of retaliation against workers and their organizing efforts. Across the country, over 100 union organizers have been fired by Starbucks during the unionization wave that began in late 2021, and 350 Unfair Labor Practice complaints have been filed with the NLRB, according to Maine AFL-CIO.

Workers at a Starbucks location in downtown Portland, ME faced similar retaliation after unionizing in mid-October. Just one month after workers won their election, Starbucks decided to close the store on December 23 for renovations, as reported by the Portland Press Herald.

“Starbucks’ decision to close one of its busiest stores in Portland less than a month after workers formed a union appears to be a brazen violation of the National Labor Relations Act,” State representative Chellie Pingree wrote in a statement on social media.

Despite corporate and employer retaliation, many community members have been supportive of workers’ organizing efforts. Residents of Brunswick and students at nearby Bowdoin College came to Little Dog to share words of encouragement throughout the organizing process. And the Maine chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organized several “sip ins” and established a solidarity fund to provide financial support to the two employees who were fired – and to help cover costs of supplies for the union drive.

“When you love the job you have and are proud of the work you put in…it’s more than okay to want your workplace to be a safe place for not only yourself and your coworkers. It’s okay to ask for reasonable wages and fair treatment” union member Pam Monto, 23 tells Food Tank. “At the end of the day,” she continues, “you just want to know that when you go into work, you’re heard and your voice is valued. The working class doesn’t realize the actual power they have–it’s about time we do.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Czarnecki

The post Coffee Shop Workers in Maine Form a Union, Reflecting Nationwide Movement appeared first on Food Tank.

Entitled We Feed People, the film focuses on the evolution of WCK, from its inception in 2010 following a devastating earthquake in Haiti to its current relief efforts. The nonprofit provides meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. Andrés notes on WCK’s website that food relief “is not just a meal that keeps hunger away. It’s a plate of hope.” The meals provided by WCK reflect the cuisine of the region, in addition to being nutritious and comforting.

WCK’s work meets at the intersection of food policy transformation, climate justice, immigration reform, and community building. By sourcing food from local farmers to cook and distribute meals, WCK puts money back into the communities it serves. Serving local food prepared by local chefs, WCK seeks to recognize the humanity of the people it serves, rather than prioritizing quantity or calories.

Most recently, in response to the war in Ukraine, WCK served over 27 million meals across eight countries. And in Buffalo, New York, WCK provided 18,000 meals and fresh produce to food insecure residents impacted by a tragic shooting at a local supermarket.

Andrés is also the owner of ThinkFoodGroup, and is a proponent of building partnerships to help move food issues forward. “We are all immigrants in a way, and food is an amazing way to bring us all together to the table where we can have real conversations about moving America forward,” Andrés told an audience as part of his keynote address at the 2017 Food Tank Summit.

WCK, Andrés, and Howard invite the online community to gather and watch the movie together. To participate in the conversation, guests are invited to follow WCK (@WCKitchen) on Twitter and share their thoughts on the documentary using the hashtag #WeFeedPeople.

The documentary will premiere on May 27, 2022, at 8:00PM EDT on Disney+.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo Courtesy of World Central Kitchen

The post World Central Kitchen Documentary Shines a Spotlight on Chef José Andrés appeared first on Food Tank.

Krimsky taught Humanities and Social Sciences in Tuft’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning for 47 years. During his career, he served as a member of the National Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health. Kaminsky was also chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility and was on the editorial boards of several scientific journals.

Krimsky researched the intersection of science, technology, and ethics. He published over 235 articles and 17 books including Biotechnics and Society, Science in the Private Interest, and Environmental Hazards and Agricultural Biotechnology and the Environment.

Krimsky’s latest research delves into the public health impact of glyphosate-based herbicides and corruption in academic research. Krimsky uncovered how universities undermine their integrity by accepting grants from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

“One of the core values of science is ‘organized skepticism’. When claims are made, you have to start with skepticism until the evidence is so strong that your skepticism disappears. You don’t in science start by saying ‘Yes, I like this hypothesis and it must be true,” Krimsky told GMWatch.

Since his passing, Krimsky’s family, friends, colleagues, and students have shared their memories on a memorial website.

One of Krimsky’s students writes, “It was one of the best classes I ever took in college. And if I hadn’t taken it, I likely would not have dedicated my career to environmental issues. His brilliant and unique insights on the history of science—especially GMOs – also had a profound impact on me. When I saw him a few years [ago], I was reminded of his decency, humbleness and activist spirit.”

According to Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg, Krimsky was important in shaping her career. “Dr. Krimsky was extraordinary, and he pushed his students to be better thinkers and doers. I’m so honored that he was my professor.”

In an announcement to the Tufts community, James Glaser, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said Krimsky was “fiercely loyal, kind, and supportive to family and friends, he was thoroughly devoted to teaching and to his students.”

In lieu of flowers, Krimsky’s family asks that community members donate to the newly-established Sheldon Krimsky Fund for Environmental Ethics and Values.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

The post Remembering Sheldon Krimsky, Leading Scholar of Environmental Ethics appeared first on Food Tank.

The event will take place on Wednesday April 6 at 7PM EDT and is completely free for all. Please register HERE.

The incredible lineup of change-makers includes Kate MacKenzie, Director, Mayor’s Office of Food Policy; Naama Tamir, Co-Owner, Lighthouse Restaurant; Marcel Van Ooyen, President/CEO, GrowNYC; Keith Carr, Senior Policy and Government Relations Manager, City Harvest, and more. Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg will moderate.

Day after day, these leaders are influencing legislation, preparing meals, saving food, and more. For example, chef Naama Tamir—an immigrant from the Middle East—created a restaurant rooted in community and climate consciousness that prioritizes not only people but also environmental resources. And this year alone, City Harvest will rescue 111 million pounds of food and deliver it free to those in NYC who need it.

Hear how these leaders are driving change in New York and you are certain to come away feeling invigorated and inspired. Register to be part of it for free by clicking HERE.

The post An Unspoken Truth About Sustainable Food Systems appeared first on Food Tank.