Books
- Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability by Alison Hope Alkon and Julian Agyeman—documents how racial and social inequalities are built into our food system, and how communities are creating environmentally sustainable and socially just alternatives.
- Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practice Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman—a manual for sustainable farming that includes the history of Black farming as a guiding ethos for creating an equitable food system.
- Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement (Justice, Power, and Politics) by Monica M. White—provides historical context to current conversations around food justice and sovereignty by researching community-based cooperative farming projects.
- Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C. by Ashante M. Reese—links local food issues to the national problem of systemic racism by connecting community members’ stories to larger issues of racism and gentrification.
- Catfish Dream: Ed Scott’s Fight for His Family Farm and Racial Justice in the Mississippi Delta by Julia Rankin—biographies Ed Scott Jr., a farmer in the Mississippi Delta, including his experiences as the first ever non-white owner and operator of a catfish plant in the U.S.
- Dispossession: Discrimination Against African American Farmers in the Age of Civil Rights by Pete Daniel—chronicles Black farmers’ struggles to remain on their land despite discrimination by USDA employees.
- Land Justice: Re-imagining Land, Food and the Commons edited by Justice Wlliams and Eric Holt-Gimenez, Food First (June 2017)—describes the role of land access in a fair and equitable food system.
- The Labor of Lunch by Jennifer Gaddis—provides a history of the American school lunch program and a framework for reforms capable of delivering a healthier, more equitable, caring, and sustainable future.
- Introducing Just Sustainability: Policy, Planning, and Practice by Julian Agyeman—explores the origins and development of the concept of just sustainability.
Articles
- Food Justice and Indigenous Foodways Reporting by Civil Eats
- Want to See Food and Land Justice for Black Americans? Support These Groups by Civil Eats Editors (June 2020)—lists organizations working to advance Black food sovereignty.
- Reckoning with Racial Justice in Farm Country by Gosia Wozniacka, Civil Eats (June 2020)—analyzes how rural communities and agriculture groups have responded to George Floyd’s murder and resulting protests.
- Why Food Belongs in Our Discussions About Race by Kristin Wartman, Civil Eats (September 2015)—describes the lack of access to healthy foods in many communities that are also suffering from violence and poverty.
- The Great Land Robbery: The shameful story of how 1 million black families have been ripped from their farms by Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic (Sept. 2019)—a powerful accounting of racial discrimination regarding land ownership and the legacy of ill-gotten land in America.
- How USDA Distorted Data to Conceal Decades of Discrimination Against Black Farmers by Nathan Rosenberg & Bryce Wilson Stucki, The Counter (June 2019)—investigates unfair, racially-biased treatment of Black farmers by the USDA.
- The Pigford Cases: USDA Settlement of Discrimination Suits by Black Farmers by Tadlock Cowan & Jody Feder, Congressional Research Service (May 2013)—detailed reporting of the results of the Pigford v. Glickman class action lawsuit brought by Black farmers against the USDA.
- 4 Not-So-Easy Ways to Dismantle Racism in the Food System by Leah Penniman, Yes Magazine (April 2017)—listing four practical actions that will help redesign the food system.
- Lessons on Black Food History From Rufus Estes’ ‘Good Things to Eat’ by Kayla Stewart, Heated x Medium (June 2020)—reflecting on one of the first cookbooks published by an African-American author.
- Building the Case for Racial Equity in the Food System by the Center for Social Inclusion (July 2014)—comprehensive analysis of what it means to build an equitable food system.
- Applying a Racial Equity Lens to End Hunger by Marlysa Gamblin, Bread for the World Institute (Feb. 2019)—providing guidance on how to apply a racial equity lens to hunger and nutrition.
Videos & Podcasts
- Fertile Ground Documentary, available on PBS.
- 1619, Episode 5: “The Land of Our Fathers,” Parts 1 & 2, New York Times Podcasts (Oct. 2019).
- Point of Origin Podcast Episodes 9 & 10, “Farming While Black”, Whetstone Magazine.
- Point of Origin Podcast Episode 20, “Indigenous Foodways”, Whetstone Magazine.
- The Best Advice Show, Not Being Racist with Leah Penniman.
Other
- 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge by Food Solutions New England
- An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism in the U.S. Food System, 7th ed. by Rachel Kelly & Rich Pirog, Center for Regional Food Systems, Michigan State University
- National Young Farmers Racial Equity Toolkit
