Regional & National Events

Food systems management takes place in diverse sectors and at different scales. This can include: kitchen management by culinary professionals and chefs; management of food businesses, cooperatives, and organizations; farm management; and labor management – whether worker-led or proprietor-driven. Meanwhile, food justice – as a movement, concept, and field of academic scholarship – insists that inequities in the food system are grounded in social structures such as structural racism, gender-based disparities, and intergenerational wealth and economic inequalities. There are many ways in which a food justice approach is important to supporting socially just and sustainable food systems management, touching upon diverse, but interconnected issues including wage disparity, uneven enforcement of regulations, and inequitable access to start-up capital for sustainable food businesses.

This panel discussion explores these themes from the perspectives of food entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders in non-profit, government, and business sectors. Panelist comments will be followed by audience questions and participatory discussion.

What if we owned it? In this Remaking the Economy webinar, leaders in the movement for Black food sovereignty will discuss how that movement is being built, rooted in the gifts and talents from within the Black community, and anchored in a community vision. Our panelists are:

Darnell Adams is a worker-owner of the Boston-based Firebrand Consulting Cooperative, which provides consulting support to nonprofit, for-profit, and cooperative business—and a member of the Food Co-op Initiative board.
Dr. Jasmine Ratliff, based in New Orleans, is co-executive director of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, a coalition of Black-led groups that builds Black leadership and institutions for food sovereignty and liberation.
Malik Yakini is cofounder and executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), which manages a 7-acre D-Town Farm, and is a board member of the Detroit People’s Food Co-op.