Our Call to Action

100% of Communities Will Hold Power in a Racially Just Food System

National Farm to School Network has a vision of a racially just food system for all, and we work to achieve that vision through farm to school – the ways kids eat, grow, and learn about food in schools and early care and education settings. Two years ago, we embarked on a systems mapping process to sketch out the next chapter of farm to school’s evolution. After receiving input from our network of partners and members, one thing was very clear: Inequities based on race persist, and we will not achieve a racially just food system if we do not dismantle these inequities.

So we’re issuing a call to action for ourselves and for our entire food system: 100% of communities will hold power in a racially just food system.

We share this call to action as a pressing need that none of us can reach alone. It’s going to take all of us, and it’s achievable if we each offer our time, talents and resources to make it happen. Read on below to learn more and find ways to join us in taking action towards this goal.

Dig Deeper Into the Call to Action

Our Call to Action Narrative
This narrative resource shares our story about who we are, where we've been, where we need to go, and how the Call to Action will help get us there. This narrative is an invitation to learn about the Call to Action and to join National Farm to School Network in this important work. Read more here.

Our Commitment to Racial Equity
National Farm to School Network is committed to advancing racial equity and correcting injustices in our food system. On our equity webpage, read about how farm to school is a strategy for change, our commitment to equity throughout all aspects of our work, and find resources that can be helpful to your efforts. Read more here.

Join as a Partner
Our Partners share our commitment to actively work toward the Call to Action. If you are representing an organization, join as a Partner organization to join this movement, stay up-to-date on our collective progress towards the Call to Action, and co-create a more racially just future together. Learn more and become a Partner organization here.

Levers for Change

There are many overlapping and intersecting movements and systems that need to activate in order to to move towards this call to action. For us at National Farm to School Network, this means focusing on how farm to school must shift and adapt to support communities in holding power in a racially just food system. Through the systems mapping process, we identified three equity-centered priority areas that will help move us the further distances in the shortest amount of time to meet this call to action:

Relationships: Which relationships – with organizations and individuals in communities – will shift power and achieve a racially just food system?

Strategies: What transformational and outcome-driven strategies will eliminate bias and redistribute power to achieve a racially just food system?

Programs and policy: What program and policies will shift power and achieve a racially just food system?

By 2025, 100% of communities will hold power in a racially just food system. Graphic show three circles with text pointing to the Call to Action Statement. Circle text reads "Relationships," "Programs & Policy," and "Strategies."

Join Us & Get Involved

The inequities in our current food system are as old as the history of settler colonialism, stolen land from Indigenous peoples, and forced enslavement of African peoples, on whose backs, literally, our American agricultural system was built. It is beyond time for achieving a racially just food system to be a priority for our movement and why we’re calling for coordinated action.

We share this call to action as a pressing need that none of us can reach alone. It’s going to take all of us. It’s achievable if we each offer our time, talents and resources to make it happen. Here’s how you can join us: