Our Commitment to Racial Justice

Our hearts are heavy as we join communities across the country grieving the continued loss of Black lives to police violence and racism. We are committed to listening, learning, and acting to demand racial justice.

We know that we still have much work to do to transform Mass. Farm to School into a more fully anti-racist organization, but we are dedicated to this journey and to sharing this process with you. As a white-led organization, we have a particular responsibility to recognize the ways in which we have benefited from white supremacy and to work every day for justice. Two years ago we adopted a set of organizational principles to guide our work. One of these is equity – a belief that undoing racism is essential to creating a food system where all communities and individuals prosper. We must continuously reflect on how we are putting these principles into action, ensuring we do not remain silent and becoming stronger allies to the communities we serve.

We must create space for the difficult conversations required to address the structural racism that shapes our current food system. Last week we were honored to co-host an Open Space Discussion on Racial Equity with friends from the Springfield Food Policy Council. This convening was a beginning and we look forward to continuing this work together. We will share other opportunities for engagement as they develop and invite your suggestions for how we can support you in this work.

To those in our network with privilege, there is so much you can do on an individual level: Listen. Educate yourself. Talk to your friends and neighbors about white supremacy. Donate to the many organizations and movements doing the difficult and daily work of dismantling centuries of racial oppression.

As the state partner to the National Farm to School Network, we also want to share with you their statement which addresses why we will not achieve the food justice goals of the farm to school movement if we do not speak up and act boldly for racial justice. Please join us.

Sincerely,

Simca Horwitz & Lisa Damon
Co-Directors