We believe that all people should live to their fullest potential in environments that allow them to grow and thrive, and that progress only happens when we treat all people with dignity, care, and respect. As part of this effort, we work toward creating a healthy, sustainable, and fair local food system, or what we call a good food economy.
Local Philadelphia businesses are working hands-on with students, faculty, and staff at Drexel Food Lab to develop and commercialize food products that uphold “good food values”- nutrition, sustainability, fair labor practices, local economic investment and supporting communities most negatively impacted by inequities in the food system. As an extension of this project, Drexel created this resource guide, which includes information about co-packing facilities, equipment, marketing, funding and organizations in the food industry.
Philadelphians working across the food supply chain have a vision for our local food system. Hear what they think a healthy, just, sustainable, fair Philadelphia food system could look like.
The first episode features Devita Davison, Executive Director of FoodLab Detroit, and Ben Miller, chef, activist, and co-founder of South Philly Barbacoa. Their conversation starts with a reflection on the restaurant environment during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and expands to investigate what ‘good food’ restaurants, and a good food economy, could look like with an intentional recovery.
Jen Faigel of CommonWealth Kitchen in Boston, MA and Carly Pourzand of the People’s Kitchen and 215 People’s Alliance discuss how food entrepreneurs pivoted to meet the demand for increased food access during COVID-19. Both rooted in community organizing, Jen and Carly share why it is pivotal to encourage an activist mindset in food entrepreneurs, and the value of incorporating culturally diverse foodways into both the restaurant and emergency food spaces.
In a 2018 survey of food entrepreneurs performed by Get Healthy Philly, the majority reported that personal savings were the primary means of financing their businesses, followed by personal credit cards. What are alternatives to putting food entrepreneurs at personal financial risk when we build the new food economy? This panel will discuss alternative financing models that understand and work with the food sector.
COVID-19 created major disruptions in the food supply chain that exacerbated inequitable access to food. Rather than wait to be helped, BIPOC communities took matters into their own hands, remaking the food supply chain to serve their neighbors. This conversation will focus on the immediate actions to support those least regarded in the food supply chain, and visions for community ownership of food resources in the future.
The work of Black leaders in community food systems movements are often under-resourced and overlooked by funders and large white-led agricultural institutions. This conversation digs deep into what a Black-led movement for healthy, sustainable, equitably-produced food means for our food system, and how that vision can be supported. Join Chris Bolden Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden and Rebekah Williams of Food for the Spirit in Buffalo, New York.
Featuring Talia Young of Fishadelphia and Sara Nicholas of PASA Sustainable Agriculture.
Good Eats: The Greater Philadelphia Food Economy and Good Food’s Potential to Drive Growth, Improve Health, and Expand Economic Opportunity was released in 2019. Produced in partnership with the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, the report illustrates the composition of the food economy across food production, processing, distribution, retail, hospitality, and resource recovery, and evaluates potential to improve the health of individuals, the environment, and the regional economy through good food actions.
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