Welcome to JUST FOOD

   

How did JUST FOOD start?

A SUCCESS STORY: WHY HERE AND WHY NOW?

Throughout elementary school and middle school, James often ate chips for dinner. By the age of twelve, he developed a minor heart condition and had difficulty breathing.


At age 19, James Berk is the youngest of seven worker-owners of West Oakland’s Mandela Food Co-op and heads up their Healthy Neighborhood Store Alliance, a program focused on getting fresh produce into corner stores in low-income neighborhoods. James’s vision for the program is that it become entirely youth-run, generating a livable income for each of its workers, while at the same time serving as an educational tool to others and a model for promoting greater access to fresh, healthy food for all Americans. For his work with the HNSA project, James recently received the Art of Activism Award from the Redford Foundation.

“I didn’t know what would come from this, but it has been a rewarding experience. This is an effort that needs to exist.”

-James B., Ashoka’s Youth Venture Mentee

Food Justice is a critical issue facing today’s world. With diabetes and obesity rates rising in younger populations; prices that falsely represent the cost of food, making unhealthy foods the most accessible; and mass-scale production practices putting families and the environment at risk; we are in great need of young visionaries with new solutions.
Food Justice affects residents of the Bay Area disproportionately. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, people of color are at least 50% more likely than whites to be in fair or poor health, an issue closely related to food quality, availability, and nutrition education.