October 2024
Spooky season is upon us, and that means it's time to cozy up and rewatch all our favorite Halloween movies. One classic that always stands out is Twitches! This tale of sisterhood, love, and courage can offer us a beautiful lens to explore the realm of food justice.
But what exactly is food justice?
Though Illeana and Karsh would probably argue the exact definition of food justice (as they do with everything else 🙄), it’s quite an expansive term. Let’s break it down to understand it a bit more.
At its core, food justice is a human rights issue: every person has the right to healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. Unfortunately, this is not the case. According to a USDA report in 2023, over 47.4 million people live in food insecure households, meaning they do not have consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
Instead of existing in a vacuum, food justice is also intertwined with the historical injustices faced by communities of color. Food insecurity does not impact all households equally; Black and Brown communities are more vulnerable and disproportionately affected by hunger and other diet related illnesses. In fact, only about 8% of Black neighborhoods have a grocery store within their census tract.
A deeper understanding of food justice calls attention to these larger structural forces and the lasting impact of colonialism on the U.S. food system. This history has shaped an unfair access to healthy produce, land ownership, agricultural practices, resources, and workers’ rights for communities of color.
Just as it was important for Alex and Camryn to discover their powers and heritage, educating ourselves about the historical context of food justice can empower us to enact change. Throughout history, food has been central to the protests of Black women.
For years, Black women have been advocating for nutritious food for their children while organizing food drives and other initiatives to provide mutual aid for their communities. This dedication can be seen in Miranda’s love for her baby twins and the magical dimension of Coventry in the film, as she as well as Illeana and Karsh go to great lengths to protect them from danger and ensure everyone can experience a full, happy life. Time and again, Black women have had to confront the failures of existing systems and have developed creative strategies (like food) to address their communities' needs.
Here are some incredible women making magic in food justice✨:
Karen Washington: is a New York-based community activist and urban farmer who coined the term “food apartheid” to describe how people of color are systematically denied access to affordable and healthy food. As a physical therapist, she noticed that many of her patients had food related health problems which inspired her to create Garden of Happiness, a community garden right across from her street. From there, she helped establish 18 community gardens and 24 farmers markets in the Bronx. Today, she’s a co-founder of a BIPOC women-run cooperative farm in upstate NY and plays an active role in the Black Urban Growers Conference and Black Farmers Fund.
Haile Thomas: At just 12 years old, Haile Thomas founded the nonprofit Healthy Active Positive Purposeful Youth (HAPPY) to promote nutrition and culinary education for elementary and middle school schools in at-risk communities, impacting over 15,000 children. She is the youngest certified integrative nutrition health coach in the U.S and has published “Living Lively” a cookbook with 80 plant based recipes in 2020. Since beginning her activism work, she has personally engaged with 90,000 people on topics focused on food and wellness!
Jamila Norman: also known as Farmer J is an urban farmer and food wellness activist dedicated to advocating for sustainable food systems in communities of color. She operates Patchwork City Farm based in Atlanta, GA, growing organic produce for local farmers markets and restaurants. She founded South West Atlanta Growers Cooperative, supporting Black urban farmers by pooling resources, equipment and technical skills. She also has her own TV series “Homegrown” on HBO where she demystifies farming and guides others on how to run a successful farm.
Black witches have often been misrepresented in Hollywood, usually reduced to one-dimensional characters who exist just to support the white protagonist in a show or movie. But, Twitches flips that script by featuring two vibrant, loving, and multifaceted Black heroines who juggle saving the world while navigating the everyday challenges of being teenagers. Beyond being our favorite twin duo, Alex and Camryn remind us that, “the opposite of dark is love”, a lesson that resonates deeply in our fight for food justice. By leaning on each other, we can build a sustainable food justice movement that uplifts and strengthens our communities.
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