Center for Social Justice Policy Associate Shiba Bandeeba participating in a breakout session at the FAACTS 2024 SF Food Action Summit
GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice (CSJ) is a proud member of the Food and Agriculture Action Coalition Towards Sovereignty (FAACTS). FAACTS includes 30 local organizations that are working to ensure access to quality, nutritious and culturally inclusive food here in San Francisco.
GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice and the Meals Program successfully advocated as part of the FAACTS in 2022 and 2023 to preserve and expand funding for food programs in San Francisco.
In 2022, we successfully prevented the cut of $30 million from neighborhood-based food programs, including GLIDE’s Zero Waste Food Pantry, which provided healthy groceries to low-income families.
In 2023, GLIDE and FAACTS successfully advocated for $41 Million in San Francisco’s budget for food programs across the city. We gathered in rallies, delivered postcards, met with City officials, and gave public comment to ensure that this funding was included in the final budget.
On March 3 and 4, 2024, FAACTS hosted the SF Food Action Summit to collectively envision a better food system in San Francisco and mobilize towards making that vision a reality.
GLIDE’s CSJ Policy Associate Shiba Bandeeba and Policy Manager Eleana Binder spent two days alongside other summit participants building relationships, learning together, and strategically planning ways we can uplift federal, state and local resources to create a good food system here in the Bay Area.
Our guest speakers included Victoria Benson (Founder of Justice Alchemy), Aomboon Deasy (K&J Orchards), Raj Patel (award winning author and James Beard Foundation Leadership awardee), and Senator Scott Wiener. Panelists ranged from Black and other farmers of color, chefs, nutritionists, farmer’s market vendors and community advocates.
My favorite part of the summit was probably the amazing, fresh and organic food we were served during this uplifting community gathering. As someone in the Black community, food access is not a norm; many of our neighborhoods are food deserts with many residents facing food insecurity.
The breakout session I enjoyed the most was a conversation about The Right to Food, a national movement recognizing hunger as a market failure and identifying hunger as a political choice. It is pivotal that our communities have a right to define our own food and agriculture systems; food security should be recognized as a public good.
Much appreciation to Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, API Council, Farming Hope, local BIPOC farmers, small business owners and other stakeholders who are on the frontlines of addressing food insecurity and sustainability each day.
GLIDE is honored to serve our community members in the Tenderloin and across San Francisco, and we are energized to continue our advocacy efforts alongside these partners.
Shiba Bandeeba, M.Ed
CSJ Policy Associate