Food justice means more than simply having access to healthy and nutritious foods, it is the idea of ensuring that every person no matter their financial status, race, class, ethnic background, immigration status, or gender, have the resources to build a healthy life for themselves and their family, and have a choice in what they eat.
Many activists are trying to promote the term "food apartheid" rather than "food desert" to showcase to policy-makers and corporations that the lack of access to healthy foods is not an accident but a direct outcome of systemic inequality and a lack of investment. These communities face institutional racism and poverty, resulting in a lack of grocery stores but too many convenience stores with limited healthy options. In contrast, neighborhoods that are of similar poverty rates but are majority white, have more healthy food options.
Indigenous communities today continue to face food insecurity due to colonialism. With frequent cases of displacement, a reliance on the US food stamps program, and a loss of traditional farming systems, Indigenous communities are vulnerable to food insecurity and food injustice. Black communities have faced land theft, exclusion from farming opportunities, and the decimation of Black-owned farming land.
In Washington DC, a community had turned a community garden into a network for teens to socialize, as an alternative for childcare, and as a place that provides fresh produce. Additionally, Indigenous groups are utilizing generational farming techniques such as crop rotation, waffling, and the 'Three Sisters' method of planting corn, beans, and squash, to create sustainable food systems.
Karen Washington, a farmer and James Beard award-winner for food justice advocacy, defines food justice as "transforming the food system to eliminate the disparities that we see." She emphasizes the need for policies and programs that support equity, fund community gardens, local co-ops, education on nutrition, and socially disadvantaged and minority-owned farms.