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.”

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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

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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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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

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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

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