Grania Power

October 23, 2015

Growing Food Justice from Grassroots

The food justice movement is spreading across the country, calling for food systems that are sustainable for the planet, just for farm workers, and healthy for consumers. The San Francisco Bay Area is a food justice hub. This summer, I worked for the Community Food and Justice Coalition, a small nonprofit in Oakland, California, that works to unite the many food justice-focused organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area area, to build a stronger and more united movement. I witnessed grassroots efforts to create edible parks, combat food deserts and urban hunger, resist the corporate interests that exacerbate the California drought, and gain rights for small farmers. Along the way, I was given more responsibility than I ever thought I could handle. I had to rise to the challenge of helping to keep the small grassroots organization alive, in the face of several catastrophes!