Visualizing the Good Food Purchasing Initiative of Metro Chicago

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Aliyah Fard recently graduated with a B.A. in environmental politics from Whitman College. Aliyah has always been interested in the overlap between environmental issues and racial injustices and her interest particularly in food justice and equity was ignited by working with organizations that collaborate with multiple farms around Denver where Aliyah grew and distributed food in low income neighborhoods, particularly in food apartheids. As an undergraduate, Aliyah focused her efforts on exploring the structural forms behind environmental issues and the ways in which People of Color interact with land and food. As the climate crisis becomes more of a threat, Aliyah is interested in exploring the politics of food and as an Emerson Fellow, Aliyah hopes to amplify vulnerable voices in marginalized communities to create more sustainable and equitable food systems that can survive the impacts climate change will bring to our lives more drastically.

Chicago Food Policy Action Council (CFPAC) co-develops, facilitates, advocates for, and supports implementation of policies that advance food justice and food sovereignty in Chicago and across the region. CFPAC envisions a food system where all Chicagoans, regardless of race, class, gender, and/or social identity, have the right to healthy and culturally-appropriate food produced through community-driven, ecologically regenerative, and economically viable processes. The Council recognizes the history and modern maintenance of structural racism in Chicago and across the country that have led to massive inequities in land access, food business ownership, food security, and political power along lines of racial identity. CFPAC works to address these inequities and dismantle racist structures in the food system by building local political power, supporting frontline workers throughout the food system, and facilitating Black/Brown partnerships and understanding.