This Tuesday we spent some time getting our hands dirty at the Strength To Love Farm in Baltimore. This farm is located in the middle of Sandtown-Winchester, where the nearest grocery store is too far away to be accessible to the majority of people living there. Our hosts at the farm talked to us a little bit about the history and development of the area and about their future goals for the farm and the community-building possibilities that it presents. They host programs that build employment skills for previously incarcerated people and are planning a celebration for National Black Gardeners day sometime in the future (a celebration of their own creation) and many other programs in arts, business, and education designed to uplift and directly support the community in need.
Getting the chance to visit Baltimore for this trip has been an eye opening experience for me so far. Being a Baltimore native, it is nice to be able to come back to my hometown and participate in various volunteer opportunities. It gave me the feeling that I was helping to restore my own community. Even though this was the case, I also realized that I was not aware of organizations such as the Black Church Food Security Network and the Strength II Love Farm. These organizations work diligently to positively impact the Baltimore community, and having the opportunity to connect and work with them directly was a very empowering experience. It was very rewarding to see that people in Baltimore have and share a deep passion for addressing food insecurity in Baltimore, making a huge difference.
This morning, some of us had the opportunity to serve at Our Daily Bread, a Catholic Charities Hot Meal Program. We arrived around 9 and began doing some of the prep work to have plates and to-go boxes ready and some tea bags tied together (so many tea bags!!). Right before beginning meal service, we did a small prayer and were all assigned tasks for the next two hours. As soon as the doors opened at 10:30, people came pouring in. I had done meal packaging before but serving was an entirely different experience. As I was serving, despite the rush of trying to make sure everyone got what they needed, it was so nice to be able to talk to people and see the looks on their faces when a plate of hot food was placed in front of them. We were only there for one day, but to see the connections employees and consistent volunteers had built with the people we were feeding was heart-warming and beautifully signified the community that can be built through food. While this is only one meal of the day, it is guaranteed food that is important to a lot of people, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of one day of that experience.
“Black Church Power”— 3 seemingly simple words, yet when put together demands respect, provides hope, and inspires communities. Pleasant Hope Baptist Church epitomizes this phrase in their service to their Baltimore community, where they engage with community members in the church itself for Sunday Service, uphold the names of the ancestors that helped establish and aid the church, and even go above and beyond the call of duty in their ongoing pursuit of food security for disenfranchised communities across the east coast and beyond of the “yet to be United States,” as Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III of the church often stated. The Black Church Food Security Network focuses to accomplish this daunting task, producing food in community gardens to supply to their community, as well as connecting with other Black churches to expand their chain of political protest, thus lifting up Black communities.
Today we visited Pleasant Hope Baptist Church where we had breakfast at 9 am and were pleasantly welcomed with open arms. It honestly felt like I was reconnecting with my lost cousins as they comfortably welcomed us without any hesitation. Everybody introduced themselves in passing along with taking the chance to get to know us. The day served as a follow-up to the previous day in which we had a warm introduction on the prevalence of anti-blackness and its connection to the environment, not quite getting to what this meant for the functionality of the Black Church Food Security Network.
After two years of pandemic, we’re headed back to Baltimore with a wonderful group of students and scholars this week. We’ll post regularly from our service-learning course experience here. Stay tuned!
The issue of food apartheid in Baltimore is not a result of organic processes but rather a product of intentional policies and structures. To this end, our meeting with Alice Huang, a food access planner at the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative, was particularly interesting since we were given a glimpse of how policies with the goal of combatting food insecurity operate.
When listening to Alice, it became apparent that you can’t discuss food without also discussing social groups and their respective dynamics. She introduced us to the concept of triangulation where two non-white groups fight each other for resources. One pertinent example includes the black population’s disapproval of immigrant-run corner stores. The divisions made amongst these groups is unproductive and leads to additional struggles when attempting to implement solutions since coalitions between those groups are unable to be made. In some ways, it becomes a drain on the effectiveness of a solution implemented since the groups are fighting the wrong enemy. Alice also highlighted that the food conversation, while being predominately white and black centric, leaves out minority groups like Asians and asks where those voices go.
This question, in particular, is something I grapple with often when thinking about how social justice and diversity initiatives are structured. When reflecting on all the visits and discussions of the week, it is absolutely clear to me that tackling the issue of food insecurity in Baltimore requires a multi-pronged approach. You know you are doing it right when you understand the history involved and prioritize the voices of the affected.
Even before the trip started, we were concerned on how the Corona Virus would affect the class. We heard that all international trips were cancelled and some national trips too. But we saw no immediate threat to continue our class, so we persisted.
For the first couple of days, we went about doing everything according to plan: doing services, learning about services, and learning about each other. And then we heard the news about our school going virtual. Many of us were anxious on what we were going to do when the time comes to go back to school. And how or if we were to go back home. But we decided to still continue with the itinerary of the trip, so we persisted.
t’s day five at the Food inequality service trip in Baltimore, MD. As part of the Bucknell university course, Food, Faith and Justice, seven individuals including myself visited several religious institutions (Sikh Association of Baltimore, Islamic Society, Black Church Food Security Network), community farms (Little Portion Farm, Baltimore Farm Alliance) and a soup kitchen (Our Daily Bread). The object of this trip was to become accustomed to the many issues facing Baltimore – homelessness, the lasting effect of red lining and most of all, individuals struggling to obtain sufficient sustenance to go about their daily lives.
We initially met with Dr. Surinder Singh Gill to inquire about his project in helping immigrants and those in the Sikh community in having a stable community. In Sikhism he mentioned how when sharing meals, all individuals despite race, religion or socioeconomic status must sit in line side by side as a means of showcasing how all are equal. This similarity is also present in Islam as when Muslims come together to have their required prayers, all must prostrate in the presence of God; thus, further showing the equal nature of everyone despite their differences. Along with this concept I further learned of the concepts in these religious faiths: a) Baptized Sikhs must never cut any part of their body hair and must remain vegan b) Muslims must uphold the principles of their religion, many of which focus on the importance of society and the need to aid those less privileged.
On Tuesday, our group visited the Pleasant Hope Baptist Church and spoke with the Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III, who informed us of the initiatives that his parish has taken to address issues pertaining to food insecurity. Pastor Brown mentioned that they developed the Black Food Security Network, where they have a community garden and a fresh farmers market with produce from their garden. Pastor Brown described that the name emphasized his desire to serve his community specifically; it didn’t necessarily mean that it was an exclusive group, but it did mean that it was created with the focus of his community in mind. At Pleasant Hope, we had a fruitful conversation with Pastor Brown about how he has had the opportunity to move on to another parish, and time and time again he has rejected the offer because he wants to be around to help his community. What was important to him was being there for his community and making sure they got the help and support that they needed within their community.
Through the duration of this trip, one of the things that has stuck with me is Pastor Brown’s words, where he said, so many times people think they’re going to work a job until they get the money they need to help their community, and once they realize they finally have the means to give back, 45 years of their career have past and they’re onto the next chapter of their life. This trip leaves me with much to think about; as I continue my educational endeavors, I realize that these issues pertaining to food insecurity that have been prevalent in my own community in Los Angeles will not stop and wait until I am available to help them. It is an ongoing struggle, and one that needs immediate change. This leads me to ask what can I do now to start working towards the change I want to see in the world? In my community? I would be lying if I said this hasn’t made me reevaluate my long term career goals and what my priorities are. Pastor Brown’s words have reminded me to remember where I came from and be the change that I want to see in the world.
