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Black Star Food Collective: Increasing food access through food buying clubs

Black Star Food Collective 2

“It’s not just enough to want people to get free things, we also want people to get high-quality things and to be inspired to look at food slightly differently,” said Moyo Tornai, one of the co-founders of the Black Star Food Collective

Formally known as Ujamaa Food Circle and a sister organization to the Black Star Farmers, the Black Star Food Collective is led and founded by Black organizers who believe in creating food systems that allow Black and Indigenous peoples to have ownership and make decisions about their food.

In just over a year since the collective was founded, the group has made hot meals from rescued food, started the development of a food buying club, delivered free food boxes to families, and has begun working to strengthen the connection between Black farmers and communities.

Read more about Black Star Food Collective.

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Seattle Public Schools: Serving culturally responsive meals for students with local ingredients

Taste of SPS

“Being able to share the different cultures of our diverse student body through our food in the cafeteria is really important,” said Seattle Public Schools Executive Chef Emme Collins.  

Collins has led a new district initiative to introduce culturally relevant meals with locally sourced ingredients into the school’s lunch menus. This initiative has pushed culinary services to test out new recipes, collaborate with local farms and food vendors, and engage the 52,381 students enrolled at Seattle Public Schools.  
 
Through these collaborations, they have been able to successfully serve highly requested meals such as Pacific Northwest gumbo using salmon from the Muckleshoot Tribebraised shiitake and bok choy using produce from Sno-Valley Mushrooms and Radicle Roots Farmchickpea tikka masala with veggie samosas, and duck spring rolls to celebrate the Lunar New Year

Read more about how Seattle Public Schools is introducing culturally relevant meals to students. 

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