FSLN Network Weavers Talk Anti-Racism in the Food Movement
Centering Equity & Anti-Racism in the Food Movement: A Reflective Conversation Amongst Food Systems Leaders
In 2020, the Food Systems Leadership Network partnered with five FSLN members as Network Weavers to build connections between members and strengthen the network’s impact towards advancing systems change.
During our time together, Weavers hosted network-wide calls, a social ecosystem mapping workshop, a restorative virtual yoga session, and contributed to the refinement of the network’s overall mission and purpose. While these network activities and conversations were taking place, the dominant culture in the United States was being called to reckon with its racist past and present, and acknowledge the pervasiveness of white supremacy in all facets of its institutions and systems.
As advocates for food systems change, understanding and exploring how the “good food movement” might mobilize to create a more equitable and explicitly anti-racist food system is important and timely. While conversations like this can seem uncomfortable and difficult, we need open dialogue and action to create the world we want to live in.
Recognizing this, the FSLN Network Weavers proposed hosting a conversation to explore why it’s important that the “good food movement” be equitable and anti-racist, and the actions we can take to move forward together. Through this dialogue, Weavers hope to model a cross-racial conversation about anti-racism and equity work, and showcase what it might look like to build trust with people who may not share a deep history.
We hope you’ll listen in on this unedited and reflective conversation between FSLN Network Weavers and the Wallace Center’s Co-Director, Susan Schempf, and consider where we, as individuals and as a collective of people working towards more equitable food systems, might go from here.
Share your comments below or join the Racial Equity Discussion Group to engage in deeper conversation with your peers and access racial equity resources to help you advance your work.
Thank you to the 2020 cohort of FSLN Network Weavers who shared their hearts and minds for this conversation:
Lindsey Lunsford, Tuskegee University
Rachael Reichenbach, Resist Reimagine
Marcus Coleman, Louisiana State University
Winona Bynum, Detroit Food Policy Council
Shelley Dyer, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation
Responses