Action for Equity & Inclusion

FoodCorps Service Member Monica Chen teaches a cooking lessons with students. (New York, NY)

Moving Toward a More Just FoodCorps

We recognize that the authentic pursuit of justice must shift every day as the world changes around us. The resources we’ve created for equity, diversity, and inclusion require our own commitment to S.H.I.F.T.I.N.G. We created a resource based on that word to guide us in our work, relationships, and decision-making, and to help us keep these commitments front and center:

S H I F T I N G

S

Shift

Shift power, resources, and/or access to those most impacted by systemic oppression and closest to the work that needs to be done.

H

Honor

Honor and trust the wisdom and expertise of grassroots leadership in the communities where we work.

I

Interrupt

Interrupt internalized, interpersonal, and/or systemic oppression.

F

Foster

Foster an environment that reflects the diversity of our partner communities and in which everyone can show up and feel brave, supported, and valued for their contributions.

T

Try

Try to create the world we want to see even when we know we might fail.

I

Invest

Invest in equity when it comes to budgeting, contracts and vendors, compensation, leadership development, recruitment, and promotions.

N

Name

Name and frame racism, transphobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression and marginalization when we see it.

G

Grant

Grant ourselves the time necessary to make decisions and do work that advances justice and minimizes harm.

Our Commitments to Anti-Racism, DEI, and Social Justice

Our Vision for a Just FoodCorps

Our mission, vision, policies, procedures, and Board agreements have been recently revisited to acknowledge systemic racism and classism, how they inform the problem we’re trying to solve, and how we must address them in order to achieve our mission. We actively work with other organizations and institutions to address systemic inequalities. We identify as a

social justice organization and invite external partners to hold us accountable to our commitment. We require anti-oppression training programs for staff and board. And we are constantly finding and refining ways to engage funding and industry partners about our commitment to undoing racism and classism. This work is critical to achieving our shared goals.

Anti-Racism: At FoodCorps, we recognize that unequal food access in the United States is rooted in racism. This history began with colonizers taking land from Indigenous peoples, and continued with their enslavement of Indigenous and African peoples, the eventual exploitation of immigrant labor, and the deliberate disenfranchisement of BIPOC neighborhoods.
Consequently, systemic racism is one of the root causes of inequitable access to nourishing food in schools. If we are not actively working to be anti-racist, then not only are we not advancing our mission, but we are also complicit in perpetuating racism. We know that dismantling racism takes time, that we have made and will make mistakes, and that this work will never be finished—but we must still do our part with the power and resources we hold.
We are working to rid ourselves of our saviorism impulses and of the expectation that our BIPOC staff are responsible for “fixing” us. We will continue to provide our staff and service corps with the tools to recognize and interrupt internalized, interpersonal, and systemic racism, and set an expectation that they will put the tools to use as a measure of success. We will name and frame racism, change ways of working that are embedded in white supremacy culture, and challenge policies and power structures that reinforce racial inequality.
By investing time and resources in this work, we will provide effective, culturally responsive programs that serve children’s well-being, and uphold policies that honor the humanity of the communities with whom we partner. Our work will directly contribute to dismantling systems of racist oppression, particularly as they impact education and food access. With the support of partners who share our values and vision for a more just world, we will ensure that every child in the country has access to food education and nourishing food in school.
Diversity & Inclusion: FoodCorps will strive to create an environment that reflects the diversity of our partner communities and in which everyone can show up and feel brave, supported, and valued for the contributions they make to this organization. Differences in ability, ethnicity, gender identity, nationality, race, religion, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and other identities and/or lived experiences will be celebrated and recognized for the richness and complexity they bring, both to our understanding of the world and to our ability to do our work with thoughtfulness and care. Our program and vision of health will be one that celebrates all bodies and cultures. And we will work to recreate our leadership and decision-making structures to center the voices and act upon the direction of people most impacted by our work in the world and by systemic oppression writ large.
Equity & Social Justice: FoodCorps is a justice organization that works at the intersection of the food and education systems, with a three-equal-part commitment to advancing health, education, and belonging for students. FoodCorps will work to shift power, access, and resources within our sphere of influence in order to help create more justice in the world for those most impacted by systemic oppression. We will do this by committing our resources to national, state, and local efforts to create a more equitable school food system—prioritizing communities of color—and by centering the needs and perspectives of those most impacted by food injustice when making decisions about how to move forward. We have revised our organizational policies related to compensation, budgeting, recruitment, promotions, and leadership development in order to reduce internal inequities in access to power, resources, and opportunity, and we will cultivate an ongoing sense of both collective and individual accountability for upholding our policies and priorities.

Resources

Food

We remind ourselves every day that food itself is an essential driver of positive change. Especially in schools.

The Case For Food

Vision

To be effective in our service, FoodCorps must become a model for the change we seek in society. In 2021, recognizing the need to address injustices in our own organization, FoodCorps released our first Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion report.

Read The Report

We’ll continue to deepen and evolve our commitment to a more just FoodCorps, releasing an EDI report every year.

Bibliography

There’s always more to learn about an equitable, diverse, and inclusive society. Here’s what we’re reading now.

What We’re Reading

Have something to add to our list?

Let us know

You

Our first and greatest resource is you. What evolutions toward justice would you like to see in the world of food and schools, or in FoodCorps itself? We want to hear from you. Reach out and let’s have a conversation:

Reach Out