Anti-Racist Statement

We acknowledge the ways in which racism specifically is built into our food system and the systems that are trying to transform it. To take a few examples, a 2017 study by the Policy Exchange shows that farming is the least diverse sector in the UK with only 1.4% of farmers being from Black and other *racially minoritised backgrounds. In the UK, Black households are up to four times more likely to suffer from food insecurity than the national average. The RACE Report 2023 shows a 9% racial diversity gap between the UK working population and staff in environment, conservation, climate and sustainability charities.​ 

We have made some important steps forward but acknowledge that we still have some way to go in order to create an anti-racist organisation. Being a small organisation does not stop us from prioritising action on racism in our work and through our partnerships.  

We commit to the following principles 

• Be actively anti-racist, as opposed to not racist 
• Focus on and aim for systemic change within the food system 
• Acknowledging our own influence in the local food sector, we strive to use this to affect change in other organisations 
• Encourage a culture of honesty, self-reflection, self-critique 
• Be willing to learn from and collaborate with organisations and individuals that are leading by example 
• Acknowledge, recognise and learn lessons from Britain’s colonial history and its legacy in our food system today
  

Actions we have taken in our organisation 

• Recognising that the first step of anti-racist work is transparency, we take part in the annual RACE report  
• We are assessing our progress using the Sustainable Food Places REDI for Change Review Tool
• Our staff undertake regular EDI training and we have established an EDI working group which meet every 2-3 months
• We monitor equalities data on staff, volunteers, board members and job applicants and use this to plan and measure progress
• We have changed our recruitment practices to be more inclusive: we have trained our managers in inclusive recruitment practices; removed unnecessary barriers in our job descriptions and changed our advertising approach to attract more people who are racially minoritised

Actions we have taken in our community  

• We worked with Bridging Change to understand and address the experiences and food needs of racially minoritised communities including refugees and asylum seekers in Brighton and Hove. The report was presented to the city’s Emergency Food Network and we produced an action plan to implement the recommendations. You can read the report here.
• We provide information about accessing emergency food in community languages on our website and in leaflet form, which are distributed across the city. This makes accessing food easier and more welcoming to all. We use an interpreter wherever possible to break down communication barriers
• We work with other voluntary groups and charities, such as Voices in Exile, BMECP and The Network for International Women to make our services more inclusive
• We undertook a survey to understand the ethnic diversity of our volunteers and commissioned a student to explore barriers that racially minoritised people face to community composting 
• Our Community Kitchen is multicultural offering cookery courses from around the world and by chefs from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America
• We give our spaces to racially minoritised groups so they can cook together in a warm, welcoming and well-equipped environment
• We offer discounts on space hire to racially minoritised groups
• We run a regular cooking session for refugees and asylum seekers, giving them access to healthy food, cooking facilities and empowering them to cook and share food that makes them feel welcome and less isolated
• We hosted trips for refugees and asylum seekers to visit food growers in Sussex enabling them to get out into the countryside, and to pick and cook fresh food together
• We are working with our colleagues in the Green Wellbeing Alliance to run outreach sessions with racially minoritised groups
  

Suggested Reading / Reference List 

•  Actively anti-racist vs not racist 
• The Race Report 
• The Sankofa Report 
• Jumping Fences Report 
• Why we need racial justice in farming 

 * A note about language: We recognise that language is constantly evolving, and that people use different terminology when referring to race and ethnicity. We use the term racially minoritised to acknowledge how some people are minoritised by society or systems and felt this terminology was mostly used and understood in Brighton and Hove where we operate. However, we acknowledge that Global Majority is used increasingly and is more positive and accurate in a global context. 

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useful documents