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Our partner Dreaming Out Loud (DOL) works to reframe the way people think about food. DOL reconnects people to their food sources and examines how historic discriminatory policies — chattel slavery, sharecropping and the Jim Crow era — continue to impact our communities.
So, when Second Gentleman of the United States Doug Emhoff visited DOL’s Farm at Kelly Miller Middle School in January 2021 to talk about food insecurity, the group seized the opportunity to shape the conversation on how past and present policy decisions, structural racism, and issues of class intersect to create and amplify inequities in the food system.
“Our goal was to pivot his thinking and talking points to food insecurity as a racial and economic justice issue and to frame the conversation in terms of the policies that got us here—transportation policies that cut off access to Black-owned farms and the discrimination that Black farmers historically faced from [the U.S. Department of Agriculture],” explains Christopher Bradshaw, Founder and Executive Director of DOL.
The visit presented a key opportunity to center stakeholders’ voices to lead policy change. DOL staff, many with experience in community organizing, worked with their neighbors in Ward 7 as well as frequent visitors to the Farm at Kelly Miller to help them share their stories with the Second Gentleman. The conversation underscored the root of the issues the community faces — inequitable access to resources including good jobs, access to capital and a strong transportation infrastructure.
“If you look at all the resources that go into fixing the food-insecurity problem, it is very clear to us that we need to address it from a more systemic angle. So, when you are talking about the issue with the Second Gentlemen, the conversation has to be about the systemic policies that have prevented our neighborhoods from experiencing economic security,” says Zachari Curtis, Operations Director for DOL. “We can’t just be amazed that an important person is here to see us.”
“Our goal was to pivot [the Second Gentleman’s] thinking and talking points to food insecurity as a racial and economic justice issue and to frame the conversation in terms of the policies that got us here- transportation policies that cut off access to Black-owned farms and the discrimination that Black farmers historically faced from [the U.S. Department of Agriculture].”
Black farmers continue to face barriers to market access, so as an aggregator and distributor of food for D.C., the organization leverages its network to support better access to markets. “We are not trying to create an all-Black supply chain,” Bradshaw explains. “We are trying to infuse racial equity into the existing supply chain because that is where the resources are.”
The organization has started a Black farmer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), which is also a component of its advocacy strategy. The theme of the CSA this year, “Feeding the Fight,” sounded a call to action for individuals who may just see themselves as simply consuming the food to instead see themselves as advocates who support social justice issues around food.
In partnership with DC Central Kitchen and World Central Kitchen, DOL has worked to address critical needs in low-resourced neighborhoods by producing emergency meals and supporting community-based food service organizations. DOL provides businesses with the cash for supplies and staff to “get the lights back on” in the wake of the pandemic and then is reimbursed by World Central Kitchen. As Curtis explains, “When the grocery stores shut down, they shut down in Black and brown neighborhoods first. Those secondary supply lines are critical in a crisis. Overall, we should be making inferences and learning lessons from COVID-19 to understand how far we need to go in terms of real equity and the type of equity that would benefit us all.”
Ultimately, DOL envisions a world where it doesn’t have to exist. “We are proud of the work we do. We are excited about the work we do. But replicating and making sure there are more ‘Dreaming Out Louds’ is not the solution. That’s not systemic. That’s not structural. We work with farmers and food entrepreneurs and definitely know how hard it is. We don’t mythologize either of those endeavors. We want to re-center the policy and the structural and systemic solutions that will really move the needle at scale,” concludes Bradshaw.