“Beyond the Food Desert- Food and Justice for All”
The Carnegie Mellon Distinguished Lecture Series in Environmental Science, Technology and Policy Presents LaDonna Redmond, Food Justice Activist and Founder of the Campaign for Food Justice Now
LaDonna Redmond was born and raised on the South side of Chicago, Illinois. As a community organizer working on the west side of Chicago, Redmond help residents improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods through empowerment and advocacy.
She began to learn about food after her son developed food allergies. Realizing that where she lived had limited access to healthy food, Ms. Redmond began to grow her own food. Eventually, this effort expanded to include converting vacant lots to urban farm sites on the west side of Chicago and led to the development of the Austin Farmers Market. The Austin Farmers Market was the first farmers market in the state of Illinois to have EBT access.
Redmond founded the Campaign for Food Justice Now (CFJN) which promotes a Human Rights framework advancing the idea that addressing poverty will end hunger domestically and globally. The mission of CFJN is to change the narrative of a US food and agriculture movement that excludes the impact of the food system on communities of color and tribal nations. CFJN seeks to engage communities in advocating for the end of exploitation in the food and agriculture system and to weave together all the threads of the food movement and the broader social justice movement to advance public policies that support the right to food and call for the comprehensive reform of food and agriculture polices in the United States.
Redmond has been recognized as a Food Innovator by TIME magazine and is a W.K. Kellogg Food and Society policy fellow. She is currently working as the Outreach and Education Coordinator for Seward Coop, staffing an effort to build a new cooperatively owned grocery store in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
4:30pm in Porter Hall 100. Free and open to the public.
