Food justice links the plate to the whole chain behind it: who owns farmland, who picks crops, who works in meatpacking plants and restaurants, and who can afford what is sold. Many of these jobs are held by Black, Latino and immigrant workers and are among the lowest paid in the country.
The movement has deep roots in Black organizing. In 1969, the Black Panther Party launched its Free Breakfast for Children program in Oakland, which spread to cities nationwide and fed thousands of children before school. Black farmers also fought the US Department of Agriculture over lending discrimination, which led to the Pigford v. Glickman settlement in 1999.
Today food justice work includes urban farms, community fridges, farmworker unions, fights for a higher tipped minimum wage and policies to protect Black-owned farmland. It differs from charity food programs by aiming to change who has power over food, not only who receives it.