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All the work we do at Food Tank, from highlighting success stories in online articles to bringing food system leaders together in conversation at Summits, is rooted in optimism. I do this work because I know, genuinely, that we all have what it takes to build a better world if we come together and fight for it.
But let me pull back the curtain a bit: This optimism is not like a light switch we can simply flip on. Cultivating hopefulness within ourselves, like bringing meaningful change to our communities, takes dedicated effort! It’s a muscle we have to continually work to strengthen.
I’ll be the first to admit that this might feel daunting. It can seem all too easy—especially these days, as we face a barrage of complex news every day—to let ourselves slip into hopelessness and helplessness. But I’m deeply serious when I say that we owe it to ourselves, our communities, and the next generations to push back against that destructive fear and strengthen our sense of hope!
Across food and agriculture systems, there are countless resources that can empower us to take action. So let this be our field guide to finding our voices and raising them collectively for food systems change.
Step One: Let’s get better at clearly articulating the challenges we’re aiming to solve.
Marion Nestle, one of my personal food heroines, recently praised the book “Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for Activists” as “the best thing I’ve ever read” about making our advocacy efforts more effective at identifying and addressing the problems we face.
Step Two: Let’s make sure our movements are well-organized and strong from the inside out.
A wonderful place to start is the book “Tools to Save Our Home Planet: A Changemaker’s Guidebook,” which comes out in paperback on April 22. It includes contributions from 40+ inspirational folks who help both new advocates and seasoned activists clearly articulate their cause, shore up the internal logistics of their organizing efforts, and ultimately mobilize through policy, partnerships, legal avenues, and more.
Leah Penniman’s book “Farming While Black,” probably one of the most impactful food and agriculture books in recent years, also provides invaluable resources around movement-building through education, direct action, and policy change.
This also means educating ourselves about key issues in the food system, like regenerative agriculture. If you have not seen films like “Kiss The Ground” and “Common Ground,” those are good places to start—they’re streaming on Amazon Prime starting April 22, Earth Day. Kiss the Ground also offers an on-demand virtual course to help anyone from advocates to educators to gardeners to citizen eaters more deeply understand topics like soil, water, and the future of climate and nourishing foods.
Step Three: Let’s use data to help target specific solutions that have the most impact.
Through Project Drawdown’s climate-focused solutions library, you can filter sector-specific practices and technologies that can reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere, are scalable and financially viable, and have a net positive impact across a variety of scenarios. Of course, many of the solutions that are most effective at reducing emissions and mitigating the climate crisis are tied to food and agriculture systems!
The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) does amazing work to improve the well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the U.S., and their resource library includes interactive data tools and toolkits to support more healthful and nourishing policies. The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas analyzes policy recommendations in countries around the world to reduce food waste and tackle hunger. ReFED’s Insights Engine offers deep dives into 40+ food waste reduction solutions.
Step Four: Let’s boost relationships with policymakers, community leaders, and other potential changemakers to push for the progress we need to see.
Our elected officials are meant to represent us, so we need to be vocal in communicating the issues we care about. There are plenty of guides, like this one from the University of California, that’ll help you call legislators at all levels of government. The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA) has resources to help identify local officials to contact with the goal of challenging the root causes of unjust food systems, and you can join their Policy Action Network for more ways to take action.
Social media can be a great tool for advocacy, too. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), a grassroots alliance that advocates for policy reform centered around sustainable rural communities and food systems, has great tips for social media advocacy and other opportunities to encourage legislators to support farmers and ranchers.
Step Five: Let’s commit to the meaningful steps we can take as individuals—and recognize where we have to prioritize collective action to stand up for our neighbors.
As citizen eaters, we have power. We can diversify our diets with often-overlooked opportunity crops like amaranth, yambeans, millets, fonio, and other vegetables. We can make sure to support local, self-reliant economies by saving our money in local banks and credit unions. We can buy from farms and stores that provide unionized, safe workplaces and proper compensation.
But as author and advocate Raj Patel told us during SXSW, “the scale of change required has to go beyond the shopping cart.”
“We need to do more than make phone calls,” he told us. “We need to protect communities of undocumented people, we need to protect communities of the working class. And that’s not something you can do by yourself. But you can do it together.”
This is absolutely right. Many people across the world are in precarious political and economic situations right now, and we all need to stand up for one another’s well-being. Building community networks takes time and dedication—just like working a muscle.
When we collaborate to share our goals, organize strong movements, and fight the good fight, we not only build a better food movement—we build hope and optimism, too!
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Photo courtesy of Anita Austvika, Unsplash
