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Dear fellow Food Justice PMA friends. The dismantling racism sub-group committed to doing just that in the food system and movement. Our action item was beautiful and doable that I feel moved to share it in this space.

We affirmed the radical notion of sitting down and eating together as a starting point for building relationships, gaining historical perspective, sharing culture, learning from each other, offering practical tips for healthy cooking/eating, supplying food for those is need, discussing future action, recognizing who is missing from the table, and action to bring them into the circle next time. Many of the key ingredients to dismantling racism.

Building on the example of the People's Kitchen Collective in Oakland we see endless potential in this model. Here are some ideas:

- Work to raise $$ so the meal can be free to all or on a sliding scale
- This example was a meal for 200 people
- Invite 20 people to come help prepare the meal
- Invite 4 people to teach one dish each
- Set up 4 stations and have each cook discuss the role this dish plays in their culture, where the ingredients come from (work to include the growers whenever possible), and how food can be used for organizing in their community
- Have the 20 cooks report back what they learned to the larger group
- Collectively say grace/thanks for the food!
- Offer discussion questions for each table
- Send each guest home with the recipes and whatever ingredients you can provide (especially cultural spices or things harder to find)
- Discuss who is missing from the table and what collectively can be done to include them next time
- Set a date for next meal

Did I miss something?

Raspberries,
~Jessica Walker Beaumont
NYC Food Justice delegation