2018 CIIP Program Book CIIP Booklet 2018 | Page 13

There is no typical day at the Black Church Food Security Network. My summer has
varied from drives down to visit churches in Richmond, Virginia, summer theological
institutes in Asheville, NC, and days in the library working off of my laptop. Perhaps
it is the incongruity of a small staff and extraordinary vision that leads us to the way
we work for BCFSN; I have cherished every experience within it.
Every time I tell someone that I’m working for the Black Church Food Security Net-
work, they give me this strange look. “I know,” I feel compelled to respond. “Yeah,
clearly I’m neither black nor religious,” I have to almost jokingly admit. But being
able to find my stake in this work, despite those caveats, is one of the things I am
most thankful for coming out of this summer. From conversations with Rev. Brown
and his friends about black history and liberation, reading about elders that have car-
ried this work, and seeing myself be a part of it, I have received many opportunities
to reflect and think about why I care so much about food. Food isn’t just about the
environment, public health, or even what’s right and what’s wrong for the world and
people. This work is about reclaiming something that is so deeply embedded in our
lives and cultures. It’s about justice; sovereignty; power. In a country whose economy
was founded on exploitation of land and people, food must be a fight for liberation.
• Streamlined finances and coordination for
a monthly community market consisting
of black-owned food and farming busi-
nesses in the mid-Atlantic region
• Coordinate local farmers and student
writers to create a holiday-edition news-
paper and corresponding holiday market,
promoting black-owned farmers and
producers
• Assisted with periodical media updates
through a weekly newsletter and social
media posts, creating appropriate graph-
ics and writing content
At the same time, what I have come to learn more this summer is that liberation is
not easy. Food is not easy. Business isn’t easy. Yet, we do it all together, imagine
greater visions of the food system together, and hear each other speak. Whether
I’m on my computer crunching numbers for our community market, making calls to
farmers, or shaking hands with leaders of church gardens, or just sitting and listening
to people preach, every moment pieces together the larger vision and ultimately the
system we have to offer to ourselves with the knowledge, skills, and love we already
possess – something a corporate food system could never replicate.
Community Partner: Black Church Food Security Network (BCFSN)
Peer Mentor: Clarissa Chen
Site Supervisor: Reverend Dr. Heber Brown III
What is BCFSN?
The Black Church Food Security Network strengthens and establishes economic
ventures that supply and support every part of the food system through working
with Black churches, conducting research, and building social cohesion.
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