David Allen

41 posts
David works as a Project Manager in the Come to the Table Program. David was born and raised in Shelby, North Carolina and holds a Bachelor’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School. Prior to joining RAFI-USA, David worked in a variety of fields including journalism, education, and parish ministry. For fun, David loves cheering on his beloved North Carolina Tar Heels, listening to live music, and hanging out with his wife and two cats.

Fostering Opportunity For Connection and Creativity 

October 13, 2025
As part of a year of programming under the theme Food &, Come to the Table hosted a pair of retreats for food and faith leaders to gather for two days of training, networking, and reflection. These groups of 30 - 40 participants engaged in a variety of learning opportunities, including small group conversations, individual reflection, and topical presentations.
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Food & Control: A Q&A With RAFI's Melanie Canales

June 10, 2025
Learn from RAFI's Melanie Canales on how corporate consolidation in the U.S. grocery industry impacts food access, food prices, and food security. Utilizing the Grocery Gap Atlas to map grocery consolidation, Canales shows how corporate dominance manipulates our food systems.
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Food & Dignity: A Q&A With Dr. Rebecca de Souza

March 17, 2025
The food and hunger crisis in the U.S. draws many diligent and faithful individuals and organizations to fill the gap. All throughout the country, non-profits, churches, and other organizations are engaged  in food assistance to try and help our neighbors who might otherwise go without. The question that comes up for many is, “how do we do this well?” 
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Register Now For Come to the Table's 2024 Regional Events

December 14, 2023
The Come to the Table program is partnering with Dr. Fatimah Salleh, Executive Director of Curanopy, to bring events to three North Carolina locations -- Canton, Hillsborough, and Greenville. Each event will tackle the power of listening and sharing stories as a sacred practice for faith communities by both practicing storytelling exercises and employing participants with the skills, resources, and experience to empower their own communities.
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Food Insecurity on the Rise

November 8, 2023
On October 25, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its "Household Food Security" report for 2022, featuring the latest data on food (in)security in the U.S. Chief among its relevant findings for faith communities working to address food insecurity and food access is the sharp uptick in food insecurity from 2021 to 2022.
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SFJFS Session 1 Storytelling Insights

November 2, 2023
Come to the Table’s School for Food Justice, Faith, and Storytelling (SFJFS) kicked off on September 28 with a session entitled, “The Power of Storytelling,” featuring a mini-workshop from New York Times bestselling author Mark Yaconelli.
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Meet the Fall 2023 SFJFS Cohort

October 26, 2023
For the first time, Come to the Table opened up its food and faith cohort to a national audience of leaders. The cohort features members from 19 states across the country who work at the intersection of food justice and faith, at churches, non-profits, farms, and a host of other great organizations.
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Harvesting Hope

September 15, 2023
What would it look like for faith communities to be in sustainable, mutually beneficial, and practical relationships with farmers? RAFI's Farm and Faith Partnerships Project pairs churches with local farmers of color to create community supported agriculture programs aimed at strengthening local food systems.
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