Food Insecurity in the AAPI Community

In this article, we’re going to examine where and how the issues of food justice and racial justice intersect. We’ll dig into a little history, consult with some research, and chat about how we address this intersection here at Food Bank For New York City. A small disclaimer before we get started: This is a huge topic, and I won’t be able to cover all of it in this post. Important things will be left out, simply because no single article can capture the breadth and complexity of this intersection. My intention here is to light a fire in your belly, to get you excited to learn more, and ultimately to do something! That’s why I’ve included a round-up of links and resources for further reading at the bottom of this page. Last disclaimer, I PROMISE: The beliefs, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are my own and don’t reflect those of Food Bank For New York City at large. Now let’s dive in! The Power of Stories As community activist LaDonna Redmond so brilliantly exclaims in her 2013 TEDx Talk Food + Justice = Democracy: “Food Justice is about the narratives of people of color. The stories we tell ourselves about the food movement are as important as the ones we’ve left out.” This is a crucial grounding for us to keep in mind as we dig in today. As Redmond explains, there is no way to talk about the fight against hunger without acknowledging the violence and racism that created our modern industrial food system in the first place. Not only was this system quite literally built on the backs of slaves, but it continues to actively oppress communities of color by limiting their access to nutritious, affordable food via strategies like redlining (wherein services and goods are denied by the government either directly or through the selective raising of prices) and food apartheid (wherein communities are intentionally segregated to block equitable access to resources). Our food system has also historically benefitted from the subjugation of Indigenous people. In a trio of cases tried in the 1800s (the so-called “Marshall Trilogy”), the Supreme Court legalized the theft of Native land. The first of these rulings came down in 1823 when Chief Justice John Marshall established the “Discovery Doctrine,” which stated that the United States’ “right of discovery” of these lands was more legitimate than Indigenous communities’ “rights of occupancy.” Um... what? Yes, a government we created out of thin air was able to assert ownership over millions of acres of fertile, food-producing land that rightfully belonged to Indigenous people... all by means of a legal decision that was also created out of thin air. These are the stories we tell ourselves. These are the stories we leave out. I bring up the “Marshall Trilogy” to illustrate how racism and oppression have been baked into our country (and our food system) from its inception. Our founding fathers clearly understood one simple and insidious truth: Whoever controls the food and the land controls the people. The Power of Policy This notion of control is at the heart of the food justice movement: Who controls where the grocery stores are built? Who controls which schools get cafeteria equipment to cook fresh meals? Who controls which crops are grown? Who controls how and for whom food is distributed? So often, the answer lies somewhere in the government, where control is exercised through complicated policies that entrap communities slowly over time. In its report “Building the Case for Racial Equity in the Food System,” the Center for Inclusion says this is why we must look “at the food system through the lens of policies, institutions, and people together.” To illustrate this point, the report spotlights the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which was created after the Great Depression to provide loans to families so they could buy homes. Though it may have been a fantastic idea on paper, the loan program was highly discriminatory in practice – throughout the 1930s and 50s, only 2 percent of these loans went to people of color. And the FHA greatly favored suburban homes over urban ones, which promoted a “white flight” from city centers. This is also where redlining first appears, as Black and Brown communities were colored red on official FHA-sponsored insurance maps to indicate that they were “dangerous” and “high-risk” investments for the administration. What does any of this have to do with food? Well, when people left the cities, grocery stores soon followed, as did federal funding for vital infrastructures like highways and roads. This monetary divestment diminished spending on things like public transportation, which made it difficult for city folk to get to the few food retailers that remained. This led to the creation of “food deserts,” or areas where there was limited access to nutritious and affordable food. And of course, the suburbs didn’t magically appear overnight – they were wrought from the land, which reduced space for farming. This is just one example of how seemingly innocuous policy can, and continues to, disproportionately impact communities of color. In this case, the racial segregation encouraged by the FHA critically changed how Black and Brown people were able to get the food and resources they needed. That we can still feel this disparity in our cities today speak volumes to the lasting power of public policy. The Power of Community So, how do we fight back against these disparities? One solution is to align the fights for food and racial justice. This idea began to take shape in the late 1960s, when the Black Panther Party established the “Free Breakfast for School Children Program.” This initiative was built on a simple premise: BPP volunteers would source ingredients from local grocery stores, cook up the meals, and provide them to students in food insecure communities, all without costing their families a dime. The program started in Oakland, CA, in 1969 but quickly spread to cities across the United States. At its peak, the project was serving thousands of children every day. Unsurprisingly, this success was met with fierce opposition by the government, who worked tirelessly to shut the whole thing down. They eventually did, but the program was so popular that the USDA had little choice but to federalize their own School Breakfast Program in 1975. Was the government angry over free grits and eggs? No. Were they terrified of what collaborative community organization might mean for the racist systems they’d built? You tell me. When I asked Food Bank’s Senior Director of Member Engagement Zanita Tisdale whether or not food justice was possible without racial justice, she answered with a resounding “No.” How can we attempt to dissociate food insecurity from the very people who have been economically marginalized since long before the Jim Crow era? When you look at communities most significantly impacted by food insecurity... the connection to racial disparities is clear. Black Americans face hunger at twice the rate of white, non-Hispanic Households. For Tisdale, the work, then, is about harnessing community power to fill in the gaps that food insecurity leaves behind. As the free school breakfasts provided by the Black Panthers helped children stay awake and alert in class so they could earn better grades, the free meals and pantry goods provided by Food Bank helps to combat the economic structures that hold many food-insecure Black families in stasis. Access to food that is nutritious and affordable should be a basic human right. But because this right is not always guaranteed, Food Bank commits to providing those very food items for free to those who are most marginalized by systemic racism to contribute to the ability for Black families to have a fighting chance at upward economic mobility. The Power of Moving Forward But it’s not just about getting free food to people who need it. To sustain the fight against hunger in historically marginalized communities, local leaders must be empowered with resources, knowledge, and support. From Tisdale’s perspective, there’s a lot that hunger-relief organizations like Food Bank can do to help dismantle systemic racism. For her, it’s all about working to not only identify areas of high need, but to drive resources directly to them. That’s why Food Bank works with an extensive network of over 800 member agencies on the ground to make sure we’re always meeting hunger wherever it is. We’re also launching a new professional development series for the leaders of color that power many of these member organizations: Food Bank's Masterclass series is designed to enhance organizational infrastructure for our member non-profits' leaders of color. The series leverages both non-profit expertise and corporate resources to educate participants on HOW to best position their organization to operate with strong business acumen to weather any storm. In some cases, moving forward can also resemble a return to the land. This is at least what Leah Penniman strives to do at Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. There, the educator, farmer, author, and food justice activist teams up with local members of the community to equip them with the knowledge they need to farm and work the land. Penniman is part of a growing movement of Black and Brown farmers tackling food insecurity and hunger by harnessing the agrarian traditions of their ancestors. As she explains in a recent conversation with Dr. Mark Hyman: “Part of the solution to poverty and injustice in our food system is bringing everybody back to a right relationship with our food and our land.” Final Thoughts Access to delicious, nutritious, and healthy food must be a human right: pointblank, period. But because it is not, the issue of food justice must inherently become one of racial, economic, and housing justice, too. Time is also up for the systems governing our immigration policies and law enforcement practices – they can NO longer escape reform. Justice must include these things (and more) because food insecurity is a product of oppression and it can only be rooted out by disrupting the systems that hold communities of color down. For more on this topic, check out the resources below! “Food Justice and Racism in the Food System” - Roots of Change “Principles of Food Justice” - Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy “Dismantling Racism in the Food System” - Food First “Voices from the Field: COVID Crisis Reinforces the Hunger Industrial Complex” - Nonprofit Quarterly And of course, be sure to sign up to join our Action Team to get updates on all of the justice work we’re doing here at Food Bank and to learn how you can get involved!

Happy Ramadan to all who celebrate! This month-long season is a sacred and important time for Muslim communities around the world, including the ones we serve here in New York City. Though perhaps best known as a time for fasting, it’s also a time for gathering with family and friends around an Iftar meal. It’s a time of charity, of giving back. And, most importantly, it’s a time to reenergize for the year to come, to set intentions and manifest abundance for your neighbors and yourself. How does all of this connect back to Food Bank? Well, the spirit of Ramadan is baked right into our mission. As the Director of our Community Kitchen & Food Pantry Sultana Ocasio recently told me, “During Ramadan, I could walk into a mosque where no one knows me and get fed... [and that] informs my work throughout the year in terms of serving folks in a way that’s not prohibitive or judgmental. It’s about welcoming people to the Community Kitchen the same way you’d welcome someone into your home.” As practicing Muslims will know, this idea of open-hearted charity (or Zakat) is a major tenet of Islam. Though required year-round, the practice takes on new meaning during Ramadan. For many, performing Zakat through food is an important rite of the season, whether by providing dried dates and rice to loved ones at an Iftar meal, or donating time, money, and resources to food pantries and soup kitchens. Though fasting during Ramadan isn’t necessarily about reflecting on the systemic nature of hunger, it does provide folks with an opportunity to think critically about their relationships with food. “It gives you empathy, though that’s not the purpose,” explained Ocasio. “Feeling your body weak with hunger and thirst, you can’t help but think of those who don’t have a choice, who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.” At Food Bank, we’re in a unique position to mobilize that empathy in service of one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. According to a report from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, nearly 800,000 Muslims live in NYC, which means that approximately 22% of all of America’s Muslims live right here in the Big Apple. This diverse populace includes descendants of Muslims who have lived in the US since before its founding as well as immigrants from over 75 different countries. To serve our Muslim neighbors, we provide halal meat at our Food Pantry and also partner with halal agencies across the city to get culturally appropriate food into the hands of those who need it most. But having the food itself is just one piece of the puzzle – we’re also doing the work to build trust within these communities to let them know that our halal meat actually adheres to halal requirements. “I wear a scarf and approach people with the greetings of Salaams. When I approach to offer halal meat to clients, there’s still a level of doubt. They can’t believe it’s really halal," says Ocasio. “If you normally get halal meat, you usually go to a specific halal butcher, so coming to a place like Food Bank, you may not trust that it’s actually halal.” To get the word out, Ocasio has spoken to local Imams to let their congregants know about the halal food available at our Kitchen, but says it’s been a slow process. In her words: “It takes time to develop that trust, it really takes time.” But for Ocasio, and for us, it’s time well spent. By developing that trust, we’re not only able to better distribute our halal resources, but we’re also able to destigmatize some of the shame associated with standing on a pantry line, which Ocasio says can be challenging for certain communities. “I think a barrier for some folks is the actual visibility of going to a food pantry. In some cultures, going to a food pantry is not considered a big deal at all. But for other cultures, folks will get talked about in their community. For a lot of people who are immigrants, coming to this country meant that they’re supposed to be making money and providing resources to their families back home... [so the question becomes] how could you come to this country and go on a food line? The visibility of receiving food or admitting it can be extremely difficult for some people.” Though we can’t dismantle this shame overnight, we can do our part to chip away at it over time. We do this by providing resources that affirm the cultures, beliefs, and traditions of the folks we serve. We do this by training our staff to be sensitive to the unique needs of our clients. And we do this by centering and prioritizing the dignity of everyone who walks through our doors. Whether you observe Ramadan or not, these questions of inclusion, equity, and access are important ones to think about. They’re certainly ones we ponder throughout the year, and ones we hope to answer in tandem with you. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to fighting hunger, and so our work must be nuanced and hyper-focused on the lived experiences of our neighbors. In truth, there is simply no replacement for meeting people where they’re at, asking what they need, and delivering it to them without judgement or shame. To support us in this work and to get involved yourself, click here. And feel free to join us for “Iftar on the Go” an initiative with NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and Islamic Relief in which we’ll be providing free halal Iftar meals at our Community Kitchen in Harlem. Distributions will be on April 15, April 22, April 29, and May 6 at 4 pm.

In this post, we’re going to cover all the things you can and can’t donate to the network of food pantries and soup kitchens that power our work at the Food Bank For New York City. While our donation dos and don’ts may differ from other hunger relief organizations, they should still provide you with a better understanding of what kinds of resources organizations like ours are generally looking for. But before we get into our full donation chart, we want to cover a few tips and tricks for optimizing your next donation. Consider Refrigeration While several organizations in our member network may be able to refrigerate things like produce, dairy, and meat, not all food pantries and soup kitchens have this same capacity, so always make sure to double check before you donate. If it’s unclear, stick with shelf-stable goods like canned food, flour, cooking oil, or rice. Skip the Expired Goods Yes, “best of” or “expiration” dates aren’t always accurate, but that doesn’t mean you should donate expired goods to hunger relief organizations. When thinking about what to give, consider whether or not you’d be comfortable serving the item to your family. If you wouldn’t eat something past its “sell-by” date, chances are you shouldn’t donate it. No Leftovers Please You might be the best chef in the entire world, but unfortunately, we can’t accept your home-cooked meals or food items. Without knowing how the items were prepared, we’re unable to control for things like allergies and dietary restrictions. The same thing is true for any baked goods or meals you might buy from a local grocer. Don’t Break the Seal Food pantries and soup kitchens in our member network are only able to accept unopened or unused food items. This means that you can’t donate a half-used box of spaghetti or bring us a Ziploc bag of items your family no longer needs. We appreciate the spirit of this gift, but want our clients to have the same experience that any of us have when shopping for and selecting the new food items they want to eat. Prioritize Nutrition To bring a little more care to your donation, think about the nutritional value of what you’re giving. When donating canned vegetables, for example, consider giving low-sodium veggies. And if you’re thinking about donating grains or pasta, we say prioritize things like brown rice and whole grain noodles. We want to serve our clients quality ingredients that not only taste good, but do good things for the body. Now that you’ve read through these tips, take a peek at our official donation chart below. We’ve organized items into things we’d like to “prioritize” and ones we’d like to “reduce.” To learn more about our approach to community nutrition, click this link.