I spend a lot of time thinking about how to be a citizen eater.
A citizen eater is engaged in food systems, active in pushing policy forward, and focused on building policies where everyone is nourished and can access and afford healthful food. So many of the local food system wins we’re tracking at Food Tank are made possible thanks to tireless advocates working in the communities where they live.
Just as one example, let’s highlight the city of Atlanta—where we’ll be next week for a Summit on Sunday, April 14, starting at 1:30PM, in partnership with Emory University and Spelman College and in consultation with the CDC Foundation, in support of the Biden-Harris Administration National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. And please feel free to forward this message to your networks in Atlanta! It’ll be an unforgettable afternoon.
There, many leaders and organizations are working hard to support local food producers and food economies, provide educational resources and agricultural training, and—at the heart of it all—make sure their neighbors are nourished.
Open Hand Atlanta, for example, delivers meals free of charge to folks in Atlanta and around the state with the goal of eliminating diet-related chronic illnesses, and they operate a teaching kitchen to offer nutrition support. Mariposas Rebeldes focuses on building access to ecology and community gardening for queer folks, and The Grocery Spot exemplifies a sustainable, community-first model for a nonprofit grocery store.
There are many inspiring organizations working across Atlanta, so I hope you’ll read the full list HERE. So many citizen eaters, stepping up as changemakers!
The Acres of Ancestry Initiative and Black Agrarian Fund work to restore land ownership by boosting food and fiber economies across the South and connecting people with financial resources through the Black Belt Justice Center—and Tracy Lloyd McCurty, the center’s Executive Director, will be at our Summit.
Wholesome Wave Georgia works to increase access to nutritious food options and help folks enroll in assistance programs—and Will Sellers, their Executive Director, will be at our Summit. Save Our Legacy Ourself, or SOLO, works to uplift heirloom crops and preserve the heritage of the Saltwater Geechee people—and Maurice Bailey, the organization’s President, will be at our Summit. Diversity Dietetics fosters collaborations to build a more diverse field of nutritionists and dietitians—and the Co-Founder and Executive Director, Tamara Melton, RDN, will be at our Summit.
And many of the most amazing food system leaders, farmers, researchers, scientists, journalists, lawmakers, food bank leaders, and others are joining us at the Empowering Eaters Summit next Sunday, April 14.
I hope you’ll join us, too. The event is completely free and open to the public, whether in-person or via livestream! So please CLICK HERE to secure your spot at the event.
Here’s a partial list of speakers, which you definitely won’t want to miss: Maurice Bailey, SOLO; Fedele Bauccio, Bon Appétit Management Company; Ravi Bellamkonda, Emory University; Kelliann Blazek, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture and Rural Policy; Caree Cotwright, USDA; Andre Dickens, Mayor, City of Atlanta (via video); Rachel Ferencik, CDC Foundation; Diane Harris, Centers for Disease Control; Dr. Nik Heynen, University of Georgia; Kevin Holt, H&H Hospitality ; Dr. Kimberly Jackson, Spelman College; Steven Jennings, Ahold Delhaize USA; Sabrina Li, Emory University; Tracy Lloyd McCurty, Black Belt Justice Center; U.S. Congresswoman Lucy McBath (GA-07); Will McIntee, The White House; Beth McKibben, RoughDraft Atlanta; Tamara S. Melton, Diversify Dietetics; Alastair Pullen, Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School; Karuna Rawal, Nature’s Fynd; Tambra Raye Stevenson, Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture (WANDA); Rose Scott, NPR-Atlanta; Pamela Scott-Johnson, Spelman College; Kashi Sehgal, Rataaza; Will Sellers, Wholesome Wave Georgia; Arthur Tripp, USDA Farm Service Agency; Kyle Waide, The Atlanta Community Food Bank; and Raphaela Ysrael, Atlanta Harvest, and many more! More info is HERE.
We will also have breakout sessions, where discussions will inform a policy report submitted directly to the White House, and an amazing reception with our food and beverage partners.
As I mentioned: Progress in the food system comes down to empowering eaters, today and for generations to come.
That idea is at the core of discussions at the Summit around food and land justice, healthier school foods, food is medicine, procurement and business solutions, student best practices, and so much more.
HERE’s that registration link, so we know you’ll be joining us.
I look forward to seeing you next weekend! And, as always, my inbox at danielle@foodtank.com is open to Food Tankers around the world—send me the questions and concerns on your mind, and let’s keep the conversation going.
One last note: What’s amazing about the food movement is that every city in the world has so many amazing projects we can learn from! This week, we highlighted these fantastic 20 organizations just in and around Atlanta, including Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund; Atlanta Community Food Bank; Community Farmers Markets (CFM); Diversity Dietetics; Friends of the Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill; Food Well Alliance; Georgia Foundation for Agriculture; Georgia Organics; Giving Kitchen; Global Growers Network (GGN); Mariposas Rebeldes; Open Hand Atlanta; Recovery Eco Agriculture Project; Save Our Legacy Ourself (SOLO); Slow Food Atlanta; The Common Market; The Grocery Spot; Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture (TLW); Umi Feeds; and Wholesome Wave Georgia. I hope you’ll read more HERE about the many best practices and replicable models in Atlanta.
And at the same time, I hope you’ll find some organizations carrying out these best practices in your community! We can’t take these local organizations for granted—it was not always the case that our cities had thriving food networks, so let’s celebrate empowered eaters!
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Photo courtesy of Markus Spiske, Unsplash
