Essays
At Feed Black Futures our mission is to nourish communities, advance climate resilience, and build black food economies as a means of addressing historical harms caused by incarceration and land dispossession.
IT IS TIME TO FIND OUR POLITICAL HOMES!
We don't have to have the images of our liberation perfected: perfection is white supremacy's lie to keep us from getting started. Audre Lorde knew this when she wrote, "there is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives." Our work for food justice cannot be separated from prison abolition, from indigenous land back movements, from the fight against empire. They are one struggle, woven together by the understanding that all our freedoms are bound up in each other.
And I would rather start here, imperfect and anxious, than never start at all…
Food Apartheid vs. Food Deserts: Reframing the Conversation
In some neighborhoods, it’s easier to buy a gun than an apple. Corner stores line the blocks, packed with chips, liquor, and cigarettes—but no fresh produce in sight. Meanwhile, families travel miles just to find a grocery store, carrying bags of food on long bus rides back home. When we imagine deserts, we typically envision vast, resilient ecosystems—harsh yet full of life. These places, rich in biodiversity, adapt continuously to sustain life despite scarcity (Mabhaudhi et al., 2019). Why then do we label urban neighborhoods as "food deserts," as if food scarcity in these areas is natural or inevitable? The term “food desert” disguises the real and intentional policies of disinvestment that lead to food insecurity. To truly address systemic inequalities, we must reframe the conversation and recognize this crisis for what it is: food apartheid.
Getting to know the movement: Food Sovereignty
Food sovereignty efforts feed the revolution and lead from the heart.
Impactful work from organizations and communities, like our own and our partners and comrades, seeks to:
Ensure food security
Promote self determination, social equity, and ecological sustainability
Heal our communities and provide nourishment for our health