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.

What is “network” for social change? Why do we at Beatufiul Ventures identify as a “Network”? In the 21st century, organizations are reaching their limits of effectiveness. The challenges we face as Black people can no longer be solved by larger and more sophisticated organizations. Networks, webs of connected individuals and organizations, are perfectly suited to address the sticky, complex problems and meet the opportunities of our times. As a collective of Black creatives and change makers, we will explore the concepts and practices of thinking and moving like a network from a Black liberation perspective.

Dr. Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate at Tufts University, is one of the leading thinkers in environmental justice and food justice. In this talk, Julian will outline the concept of just sustainabilities as a response to the ‘equity deficit’ of much sustainability thinking and practice. He will explore his contention that who can belong in our cities will ultimately determine what our cities can become. He will illustrate his ideas with examples from urban planning and design, the ‘Minneapolis Paradox’ and food justice.

This keynote presentation and Q&A will be moderated by Dr. Kristin Reynolds, Chair of Food Studies in the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students within the Schools of Public Engagement.
Presented by the the Food Studies in the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students, the Environmental Studies and Urban Studies programs in the Global-Urban-Environmental Studies Program (GLUE) within the Schools of Public Engagement, and the university-wide Tishman Environment and Design Center.