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By Nina Holtz

The Food Rescue Alliance started in 2014 in order to provide open source resources and consultation for other food rescues.

As a branch organization of Boulder Food Rescue, the Food Rescue Alliance grew out of a need to support new groups adopting Boulder Food Rescue’s bike-powered food redistribution model.

Helen Katich, a former Boulder Food Rescue coordinator and one of the founders of Seattle Food Rescue, serves as the Project Manager of the Food Rescue Alliance.

Helen’s most recent project for the Alliance is cultivating its peer learning network for food rescue organizations from Wyoming to Washington to dialogue and seek support from one another.

“We work with different individuals and organizations across the country and provide personalized consulting and one-on one-meetings, giving them both support and resources along the way,” said Katich.

Katich helps new and existing food rescues access important resources and expert consulting by facilitating conversations and connecting groups with one another.

From sharing examples of nonprofit budgets to hosting workshops about volunteer retention, the central purpose of the Alliance is to support the development of each food rescue and address its unique, place-based strengths and challenges.

“A really big part worth noting is that the FRA is not trying to homogenize any program. A big part of what we continue to learn, value, and celebrate is how diverse each one of our programs are. Seattle Food Rescue is so different from Jackson Hole Food Rescue. All have resources and ideas to share with one another,” said Katich.

The Alliance’s peer learning network gained much of its momentum during the Forward Food Summit hosted by Boulder Food Rescue  this April. During the second day of the conference, various food rescues convened to discuss different visions, needs, and strategies for building the peer learning network.

Shane Lory, a founder of Colorado Springs Food Rescue, attended the peer learning network workshop and expressed appreciation for the opportunity to work with other bike-powered food rescues.

“I think was a really awesome experience at the Forward Food Summit, getting all the food rescues together in the same room. It’s really exciting to see how this movement is spreading and I really hope it continues to do so,” said Lory.

In July, Boulder Food Rescue and Denver Food Rescue hosted a workshop for FRA members about building participatory structures and cultivating non-oppressive communication in their rescue’s operations.

Within the role of Project Manager, Helen said that her most favorite aspect of the job is the inspiration the group brings, “It really nice to be able to talk to really inspiring people all the time. All of my conversations are with people who are interested in creating a more equitable system and reducing waste, and working really, really, hard to do so.”

Expanding on this gratitude, Helen also expressed she loves working with Hana Danksy, the Executive Director of Boulder Food Rescue. “She is a really dedicated and fantastic leader in our community, so I feel really honored to be working in collaboration with Hana after all these years.”

For more information, please visit Boulder Food Rescue’s Food Rescue Allliance webpage.

By Mackenzie Findeisen

1. Two-thirds of children living in households with incomes less than 100% of the federal poverty level were food-insecure.
2. Food deserts, areas that there is no grocery store within 10 miles, provide limited access to affordable, healthy food. This means that it is harder to find fully stocked grocery stores with fresh fruits and vegetables than it is to pull up to a fast-food restaurant. Food deserts lead to negative health consequences and increase the likelihood for obesity. Could we put some info on where there are food deserts in CO here to tie in this with the next number?
3. Colorado is the most-fit state in the nation, yet 19% of Coloradians 18 years and older were obese (2007). Diabetes is currently the ninth leading cause of death in Colorado.
4. The state’s child poverty rate jumped 73% between 2000 and 2006, according to the Colorado Children’s Campaign.
5. Boulder Food Rescue redistributes food “waste” to agencies who serve the hungry, homeless, and low-income individuals in order to get fresh, healthy, and nutritious produce to those who need it the most here in Boulder, CO.

References

The Colorado Healthy Foundation. July 2010. Food Access in Colorado. “Challenges for Colorado” (3).

By Nina Holtz

Food sovereignty is a social movement that fosters community resiliency by localizing food production and consumption. The Food Sovereignty Movement (FSM) is a strategy for historically marginalized groups to reclaim their rights to food autonomy as they face displacement and economic injustice caused by globalization.

From the destructive implications of the “Green Revolution” to the destabilization of subsidence agriculture by cheap foreign imports, the Food Sovereignty Movement is about civil resistance to neo-imperialistic control over food.

The movement is led by a myriad of groups, from immigrant farmworkers to indigenous populations, who all possess the same desire: to reclaim the right to their food system and land.

Food sovereignty action manifests in many ways, for example, it can take the form of resistance against “…[the] development of golf courses, intensive shrimp farms, large pig barns, or eucalyptus and palm oil plantations” (Desmarais & Nicholson, p.5).

Leaders of the movement are organizing for the power to decide what they eat, who produces it, and what influences their local environment, food system, and economy. Through strategizing around food, activists work to protect their cultures and livelihoods from the homogenizing force of global corporate power.

Different communities domestically and abroad pursue justice using a variety of tactics including: fostering local food production, engaging in community education and outreach, developing place-based economies, restoring their historical right to land, creating labor unions, and achieving policy reform.

The foundational document of the movement, The Principles of Food Sovereignty, emphasizes locality, sustainability, and the preservation of culture. Activists strive to close the gap between consumer and producer and construct a food system where skills and resources are shared (often using democratic decision-making).

The Principles also assert that food should be produced using sustainable methods and follow one’s own traditional methods of harvesting, as opposed to the input-intensive methods powerful economic actors impose upon them.

In regard to its movement strategy, the FSM prioritizes horizontal collaboration and solidarity organizing in order to “globalize the struggle, and [bring about] global hope”(“Globalize the Struggle, Globalize Hope!”).

A prominent group of the Food Sovereignty Movement is La Via Campesina, an international coalition for small-scale farmers working organizing together to protect their right to economic security, cultural identity, and dignity against corporate influence.

La Via Campesina was founded by a group of farmers in 1993 in response to the negative  impact the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) international trade policy had upon small producers. Currently, the coalition consists of 163 organizations around the world striving to counter neoliberal policies and create food justice, economic autonomy, gender equity in their respective communities.

In the United States, the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network is a member of the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA). The Detroit Black Food Security Network was created in 2006 to improve Detroit’s different Black communities’ right to food security and justice.

Created in response to the growing influence of white activists trying to improve food insecurity in the area, the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network formed in order to develop Black leadership in their own neighborhoods’ pursuit for food justice.

The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network advances food sovereignty in Detroit through advocating local policy change to address food insecurity, developing the infrastructure for local food production and creating buyers’ clubs and food cooperatives.

From La Via Campesina, an international coalition for landless farmers to the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, activists today are expanding the movement by building a strong global base. Fostering community resilience in spite of corporate oppression, the groups of the Food Sovereignty Movement demonstrate that resistance is alive and well.  

 

 

Sources

About Us.(n.d.). In Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. Retrieved from http://detroitblackfoodsecurity.org/about.html

Desmarais, A., & Nicholson, P.(1996).La Via Campesina: A historical and political analysis. La Via Campesina’s Open Book: Celebrating 20 Years of Struggle and Hope. Retrieved from http://viacampesina.org/downloads/pdf/openbooks/EN-10.pdf

“Globalize the struggle, globalize hope! International Day of Peasant and Farmer Struggle 2015.” Retrieved from http://seedmap.org/globalize-the-struggle-globalize-hope-international-day-of-peasant-and-farmer-struggle-2015/

Member organizations. (n.d.). In U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance. Retrieved from http://usfoodsovereigntyalliance.org/member-organizations/

Organisation. (n.d.). In La Via Campesina – The International Peasant’s Voice. Retrieved from http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/organisation-mainmenu-44

The six food sovereignty principles. (2007). In Grassroots International. Retrieved from http://www.grassrootsonline.org/sites/default/files/The-6-Food-Sovereignty-Principles.pdf

Vision and operating principles. (n.d.). In U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance. Retrieved from http://usfoodsovereigntyalliance.org/visions-and-operating-principles/

By Steven Rouk

What happens when it’s difficult or inconvenient for you to get to a grocery store to buy fresh fruit and vegetables? What if there’s a fast food restaurant right by your house that you could go to instead?

Chances are, you could be living in a food desert.

The USDA says that food deserts are low-income communities that don’t have easy access to healthy, affordable food – more than a mile from a large grocery store in the city, or more than ten miles away in rural areas. Food is intimately linked with our well-being, which means that lack of access to healthy food has numerous negative side-effects. One of the primary ways food deserts impact the residents is increased rates of obesity, which makes sense because of the nature of fast food alternatives available instead.

What’s the scale of the issue? According to some estimate, around 23.5 million people live in food deserts, and almost half of those residents are low-income as well. That’s over 7% of the United States living without easy access to fresh produce and other nutritious food. That’s not even considering the needs of people with food allergies or other dietary restrictions.

Although by many measures Colorado is one of the healthiest states in the United States, we are seeing the same national trends here with regards to weight-gain, a trend that disproportionately affects low-income residents and communities of color.

Unfortunately, buying healthier foods can often be more expensive: between 1989 and 2005, the price of fruits and vegetables in the United States increased about 75 percent while the price of fatty foods decreased 26 percent. Increased obesity is worrying for very practical reasons – the communities with lower access to nutritious food also have higher rates of diet-related diseases and death, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In fact, the rate of diabetes has doubled in recent years, much of which can probably be attributed to the decline in health and the increase in size of the average American.

What can we do about this? If you live in a food desert, knowledge of the issue is the first step to changing it. There are many organizations working to provide greater healthy food access to people who need it, such as the Food Empowerment Project, Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, and of course Boulder’s very own Boulder Food Rescue. These websites and many others offer plenty of great ideas such as community food gardens where residents can grow their own food, or how to work with local policy makers on creating policies that encourage and facilitate healthy eating and discourage fast food and junk food. One innovative approach can be found in New York City’s “Green Carts” – mobile produce vendors who only sell fruit and vegetables.

Do you live in a food desert or know someone who does? Let us know how easy or difficult it is for you to get fresh produce. By knowing the issues and working together, we can help ensure healthy food for everyone!

By Allison Blakeney

It’s hard to put a tangible measure on the value and growth I have received from working and volunteering for Boulder Food Rescue. The words I use to express my gratitude will never fully illustrate my appreciation and love for this organization and those incredibly invested and humble people who put so much energy into it. I have been asked to try anyway, so here goes:

Today is Sunday, August 9th. I will be leaving Boulder Food Rescue in less than a week and will have worked for this organization for almost two years. In that time, I have learned things such as how to write grants, how to create programs, and how to create better volunteer environments. But more so, I have learned about systems of oppression, how to question those systems, and how to think critically by constantly questioning the status quo in order to work towards addressing these seemingly unattainable problems like food waste, hunger, and other systems of oppression. I have learned how to question myself and how to find the solid ground needed to work on such difficult systems not just for the organization, but also on a personal level. I feel so grateful to be taking all of this knowledge and growth with me on my move to New York. These, however, are all of the selfish things I have received from being a part of something with such integrity. The real value and the reason I love BFR comes from all of those people who put so much time, energy, and love into it. They have touched my life.

I have never met a person more dedicated to learning and growing for the betterment of Boulder Food Rescue and her own personal growth than Hana Dansky. When the five co-founders of BFR decided Hana would be the best person to see this organization through, they could not have been more right. She is committed to listening, challenging, and addressing her own personal biases, ideas, and difficulties in life and with respect to BFR. This, with the help and influence of many other awesome people, has created the culture of the organization. Hana is dedicated to making sure Boulder Food Rescue is actually stopping food from entering the landfills, creating community by sharing meals with everyone who wants to join, and working to address the greater systems that continue to perpetuate hunger and food waste. Hana has definitely sacrificed personal care for this organization, but she always seems to be able to find herself again whether that be on a long bike trip across the country or by sharing a meal by the creek during Food Not Bombs. She is absolutely invaluable to this organization. It has been so special to watch the mutual relationship between her and BFR change, grow, and develop even during the difficult times. It has been even more rewarding to watch her personal growth through all of it. Hana, I cannot tell you how much this has all meant to me. Thank you for everything.

While Hana is extremely important to BFR, she is by far not the only person integral to this organization and community. All of the volunteers who put their time, energy, and sweat into BFR have shown me the passion and hard work it really takes to try to reduce the amount of food being wasted and get it to folks who need it. To all of the volunteers who spend their Saturdays biking food or doing maintenance in the boiling heat and the frigid winters-THANK YOU. You are so integral to Boulder Food Rescue and please know this food would get nowhere without your help. BFR would not exist without you. To our coordinators, interns, other volunteers, the board, and all of those who support BFR from afar, there are few things I believe in more than BFR. To me, this organization has been worth all of the sweat plus more. You have been worth all of the sweat plus more. Thank you from the deepest part of my heart.

A special thank you to all of our volunteers who are often less visible, but their time no less valuable. To Mal Birke, Cloud Dunn, Fran Lewis, Lisa Benedetti, Paulette Foss, Kate Doyle, and all the other folks who help distribute this food, thank you. The amount of time you commit to ensuring this food actually gets to people does not go unrecognized. We appreciate you so much and I will miss learning and conversing with you. Thank you for your humble reminders to continue working towards something you believe in.

Finally, to Benko and Lindsey, you are truly spectacular. You each have put in the energy this organization needs and I have learned so much from both of you in just a short time. Thank you for your dedication, passion, and willingness to see BFR through. I am excited to see where you help navigate BFR in the coming year(s). You are so important and I will miss each of you so much!

My heart is bursting and my eyes are filled to the brim with tears of happiness. I will continue to allow myself to pour over knowing BFR will be sustained with each and every one of these extremely important people involved. It turns out, I was getting into much more than just a Volunteer Coordination position when I was hired.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Thank you!