Events
In-Person
- This event has passed.
Health and Wealth: Fostering Healthy Communities and Economic Self-Determination through Food Systems
November 14, 2024 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm EST
Frontline communities of color have disproportionately suffered huge disparities in health and wealth due to multiple layers of systemic barriers. For every $100 in wealth white Americans hold, Black Americans only hold $15, and Black and Indigenous children are 2-3 times more likely to be food insecure than white families. Community-led solutions in food, health, environment, and climate offer significant potential for addressing these disparities.
Over the past two decades, a number of food justice and food access initiatives have evolved from focusing primarily on access to healthy food to complex economic development and built environment projects developed by BIPOC-led organizations. These initiatives aim to improve food access and health outcomes through models of community self-determination, economic development, and wealth creation.
This one-day event will explore the question: How can funding for food access, nutrition, and health equity support community self-determination and ignite equitable food economies?
We will explore the intersection of health equity, economic development, and food justice to close racial wealth gaps through community-led approaches. Specifically, we will explore and learn from models of healthy food projects, organizations, and networks that focus on community ownership and asset-building led by and for people of color in and from frontline communities. The event takes place at the Detroit Food Commons, a groundbreaking 30,000-square-foot multi-use facility with a community-owned grocery store, which was conceived of and built by the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network (DBCFSN). Attendees will learn about DBCFSN’s powerful community organizing that led to raising $21 million to build the Detroit Food Commons, and how similar models are emerging across the country. Funders focused on health, community development, and food systems are invited to join us in exploring how we can resource and support communities addressing food and nutrition security through more just and sovereign food economies.
A special thank you to our event sponsors The Kresge Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Health & Safety Guidelines
SAFSF is committed to creating a safe and comfortable meeting environment for all participants. We respectfully request that you consider the following guidelines to help us create an accessible and caring community space by:
- Staying home if you are feeling sick
- Keeping up to date on your vaccination for COVID-19 (including relevant boosters)
- Wearing a mask (highly encouraged)
- Respecting physical contact and consent preferences of all attendees
The Detroit Food Commons team regularly cleans high-touch surfaces and provides hand sanitizing stations for all visitors. We are also monitoring the situation on the ground in light of the recent election, and will continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of our guests. At this time, we do not anticipate any changes to our event.
Land Acknowledgement
We honor the land we will be meeting on, the current and ancestral homelands of three Anishinaabe Nations of the council of Three Fires: the Ojibwe, the Ottawa, and Potawatomi. The city of Detroit, where we will gather as guests, was established through the colonization, land theft and desecration, cultural erasure, and ethnic cleansing of the Anishinaabe and other Native American communities.
We know that land acknowledgments are only as good as their direction toward action and reparations. As such, with this event, we seek to take action and create repair in our own relationship to the Anishinaabeg people. SAFSF will be donating a portion of the registration costs for this event to the Anishinaabeg and invite each of you to complement this donation as part of your participation and presence in this convening.
Venue & Nearby Hotels
Thursday’s event will be held at the Detroit Food Commons – 8324 Woodward Ave. Detroit, Michigan 48202. For those driving to the venue, the Detroit Food Commons have ample free parking onsite. A list of nearby hotel recommendations can be found below.
- Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center (5 miles)
- Shinola Hotel (3.3 miles)
- The Siren Hotel (3.3 miles)
- Detroit Foundation Hotel (3.8 miles)
- The Westin Book Cadillac (3.5 miles)
- El Moore Lodge (2.3 miles)
