Food Justice Toolkit

The Food Justice Toolkit is a collection of resources that the Come to the Table program has assembled for advocates to inform current and future food access projects. Included are studies from non-profit and research entities, policy briefs and recommendations, personal accounts, and academic explorations on inequality in the food system. These resources represent an interdisciplinary approach to understanding issues of food production and access, and reflect Beyond Hunger Relief’s mission to expand sustainable solutions to food insecurity that also work to strengthen just and sustainable agriculture. A collection of some our favorite resources from other organizations.

• Annotated Bibliography on structural racism in the U.S. food system, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems

This resource provides a broad look at current research on structural racism in the U.S. food system. 

• Shining a Light in Dark Places: Raising up the Work of Southern Women of Color in the Food System

This policy brief grounds food systems policy recommendations in personal narrative from Southern food access advocates.

• Building the Case For Racial Equity in the Food System Report by the Center for Social Inclusion, 2014

A more in-depth complement to “Shining a Light in Dark Places,” this report explains structural inequality in the food system, with opportunities for policies and best practices.

• Race Forward Food Justice Report (Fill out form to download report.)

A comprehensive examination of racial inequity in the food system—from production and distribution to consumption. Through research and data, outlines current challenges and opportunities.

• Communicating for Health Justice: A Communications Strategy Curriculum for Advancing Health Issues, Praxis Project

This curriculum provides tools and information for health advocates—those interested in healthy food—to communicate in ways that are culturally sensitive and acknowledge systematic inequality.

• “If They Only Knew”: Color Blindness and Universalism in California Alternative Food Institutions, Julie Guthman UC Santa Cruz, 2008

Guthman’s research analyzes alternative food spaces through a food justice lens.

• Unshared Bounty: How Structural Racism Contributes to the Creation and Persistence of Food Deserts, Racial Justice Project, 2012

Through historical analysis, data, and personal anecdotes, this report provides insight on food deserts.

• The Local Food Movement: Setting the Stage for Good Food, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems 2014

This report includes a timeline of important events that have shaped the American food system and the local food movement.

• Our Kitchen Table “What is Food Justice,” 2014

A brief introduction to food justice and critique at the commonly used term “food desert.”

• Leading at the Intersections: An Introduction to the Intersectional Approach Model for Policy and Social Change, Women of Color Policy Network

This guide provides a framework for intersectional social initiatives, with helpful graphics, definitions, and visioning tools that apply to food access work.

• Food Justice Glossary, Growing Food and Justice For All Initiative 

A brief list of terms typically found in food justice literature from food justice activists with Growing Power.