The Food Justice Study Group, coordinated by Florida Organic Growers (FOG), will meet February 22 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Civic Media Center in downtown Gainesville. The meeting is free and open to the public, though FOG encourages anyone willing and able to make a donation to the Civic Media Center.
The reading selections for the month include Garrett M. Broad’s More than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change, published by the University of California Press in 2016.
The book spotlights Community Services Unlimited, a food justice organization that grew out of the Southern California Black Panther Party and how the “organization seeks balance–between social change ideals and the compromises necessary to maintain fiscal solvency; between a focus on community needs and broader national and international movements; and between communicating with local residents and larger publics,” as Andrew Wenzel from the University of Southern California writes in a book review. We recommend the book to anyone involved in the food justice movement, including activists, journalists, and foundations.
Discussion on the book will focus on Chapter 5: “From the Black Panthers to the USDA.” With that said, supplementary readings on the Black Panthers and racial equity in general have been uploaded to the FOG Web site (http://www.foginfo.org/our-programs/food-justice-study-group/). FOG also invites attendees to share their own readings on and experiences with racial equity and food justice issues.
Every other month, members of the Food Justice Study Group discuss a book or documentary that has been selected to generate a conversation about how our contemporary food system can help us better understand the complex issues of race, class, gender, both our collective and individual histories, and how we might envision and achieve a more sustainable, socially-just society.
For more information, please contact David Vaina, FOG’s Education & Outreach Director, atdavid@foginfo.org or by calling 352.277.6345.