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Social Responsibility
Contemporary Abolitionist Movements, Hunger and Disaster Relief:
I can't talk about African American culture, or our people's endurance during years of enslavement without calling attention to the global problem of contemporary slavery. All around the world there are millions of enslaved people, many of them, our cousins and distant relatives on the continent of Africa. It's safe to say that our ancestors don't merely want our memory--they require our responsibility. Being socially responsible means that we teach about the hard times in the past and are determined to never repeat them. We can start by looking at those organizations that help make the world a better place and can bring about positive social change.
The American Anti-Slavery Organization: www.iabolish.com. This organization works to liberate the over 27 million people enslaved today. By sending donations to them, you can help liberate an enslaved person in the Sudan -- giving a start for a new life.
Other sites you might consider visiting:
Save Darfur: www.savedarfur.org
World Hunger: www.worldhunger.org
Mazon: www.mazon.org
Katrina Relief: www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org
Food Justice:
Food Justice means that we consider lack of access to healthier food choices and food education a human rights issue. Many underprivileged students and their families are being introduced to homegrown produce, healthier foods, and educational programs that teach nutritional health. Visit these sites and learn more about it.
Center for Food and Justice: departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cf
B-Healthy: www.b-healthy.org
Mark Winston Griffith: www.blackcommentator.com/70/70_food_justice.html
Food Diversity and Cultural Preservation:
In order to preserve diversity among domesticated animals and plants--and thereby--prevent extinction of culturally and historically important food varieties we need organizations that catalog and disseminate information about heritage breeds and heirloom crops. We also need to keep in mind that lack of diversity is dangerous because when we raise only a few types of plants or animals--we run the risk of driving our food supply to extinction--for example, the Irish potato famine. Yet another aspect, is the reality that knowing about where our food comes from and how cultures have interacted to create our present foodscape is a big, missing part of our global heritage. Visit the following sites to learn more, and consider joining local chapters, starting programs, or becoming part of your local culinary historian society.
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy: albc-usa.org
SlowFood USA: www.slowfoodusa.org
RAFT: Renewing America's Food Traditions: www.environment.nau.edu/raft
Seed Savers: www.seedsavers.org
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange: www.southernexposure.com
Native Seed Search: www.nativeseeds.org
Food History News: foodhistorynews.com
Edible Chesapeake Magazine: www.ediblechesapeake.com