https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/home daily 1.0 2026-01-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/9d9e4324-61bf-43f1-9d0a-e71b80dd8c3b/fjar+lab+website+1.png HOME - Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab The Food and Social Justice Action Research (FJAR) Lab at The New School builds on Dr. Kristin Reynolds’ long-standing work with community-based food systems and social justice organizations and institutions through action research and collaborations. The FJAR Lab aims to contribute to racial and economic justice in the food system through critical and participatory action research – in New York City and State, nationally and internationally. We work for a dignified food system for all. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/kristin-reynolds daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1595937803396-M93B3QDB26QU3JSQINEK/DSCF8073+copy.jpg Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1595932474583-DCWTQAPRSC2HXO95H3V0/syd-wachs-slItfWbhijc-unsplash.jpg Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/17e8f0b2-d274-444d-afb1-02d099319fa9/Radical+Food+Geographies+%5BFC%5D+-+FINAL.jpg Kristin Reynolds - RADICAL FOOD GEOGRAPHIES Hammelman, C., Levkoe, C., and Reynolds, K. 2024. Radical Food Geographies: Power, Knowledge and Resistance. Bristol University Press, Food & Society: New Directions series. UK. Publisher description: This collection presents critical and action-oriented approaches to addressing food systems challenges across places, spaces, and scales. With case studies from around the globe, Radical Food Geographies explores interconnections between power structures and the social and ecological dynamics that bring food from the land and water to our plates. Through themes of scale, spatial imaginaries, and human and more-than-human relationships, the authors explore ongoing efforts to co-construct more equitable and sustainable food systems for all. Advancing a radical food geographies praxis, the book reveals multiple forms of resistance and resurgence, and offers examples of co-creating food systems transformation through scholarship, action, and geography. Available from Bristol University Press or Amazon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1549758656981-DUYBNTOEBBBR1USYEVZO/Reynolds+and+Cohen+-+BEYOND+THE+KALE+COVER+copy.jpg Kristin Reynolds - BEYOND THE KALE Reynolds, K. and Cohen, N. 2016. Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City. University of Georgia Press, Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation series. Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City examines the work of people of color and women to create more socially just systems, and the possibilities for scholarship to support such initiatives. Publisher description: “Urban agriculture is increasingly considered an important part of creating just and sustainable cities. Yet the benefits that many people attribute to urban agriculture—fresh food, green space, educational opportunities—can mask structural inequities,thereby making political transformation harder to achieve. Realizing social and environmental justice requires moving beyond food production to address deeper issues such as structural racism, gender inequity, and economic disparities. Beyond the Kale argues that urban agricultural projects focused explicitly on dismantling oppressive systems have the greatest potential to achieve substantive social change.” Available from University of Georgia Press or Amazon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/e0bb7d65-dcb0-4f04-9e12-a6bb5c59c846/inegalites.jpg Kristin Reynolds - INEGALITES ET RAPPORTS DE POUVOIR EN VILLE Darly, S. et Reynolds, K. (Equal authorship) 2023. "Produire des aliments en ville/Politiser l’alimentation en contexte néolibéral. Montée en puissance de l’agriculture urbaine commerciale et nouvelle question agraire à Paris et New York à la fin des années 2010.” In Inégalités et Rapports de Pouvoir en Ville: Actualité de la critique urbaine. Clerval, A., Gardesse, C. and Rivière, J. eds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/4515e026-6a9a-4f2b-8ea9-356ceadab78e/militante.jpg Kristin Reynolds - MILITANTISMES ET POTAGERS Reynolds, K. 2021. “Construire la justice sociale par l’éducation à l’agriculture urbaine: L’exemple de la Farm School NYC.” In Militantismes et Potagers, edited by L. Granchamp and S. Glatron. Septenrion Presses Universitaires, Environment and Society series. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1594660350091-KEJQIOIPFKAS5JGKMQVO/Publications_book+covers_EJ+Key+Issues+%281%29.jpg Kristin Reynolds - ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Environmental Justice: Key Issues is the first textbook to offer a comprehensive and accessible overview of environmental justice, one of the most dynamic fields in environmental politics scholarship. Kristin’s chapter, “Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Justice: Perspectives on Scholarship and Activism in the Field” explores histories in the field and highlights leadership by BIPOC (Black-Indigenous-People of Color) activists and scholars. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1594660087263-7FL6PE5AHPTTSJHRG8E2/Publications_book+covers_Hdbk+rooftop+ag.jpg Kristin Reynolds - ROOFTOP URBAN AGRICULTURE Specht, K., Reynolds, K., and Sanyé-Mengual, E. 2017. Community and social justice aspects of rooftop agriculture. Springer. While rooftop farming experiences are sprouting all over the world the need for scientific evidence on the most suitable growing solutions, policies and potential benefits emerges. Rooftop Urban Agriculture brings together existing experiences as well as suggestions for planning future sustainable cities. Kristin’s co-authored chapter “Community and social justice aspects of rooftop agriculture” discusses social equity and community development dynamics of this increasingly popular practice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1595000179963-44T33SPHUOXI78ZZ35B8/Outstanding+in+Fields.gif Kristin Reynolds - OUTSTANDING IN THEIR FIELDS Outstanding in their Fields profiles seventeen women farmers and ranchers who dramatize the pioneering spirit, creativity and courage that animates much of the kinds of artisanal agriculture where women are leading the way. Kristin’s chapters describe the work of California women farmers growing and marketing products from blueberries to goat yogurt to alpaca fiber. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/db8487a9-d437-4d12-8b03-8915c1428b6f/Screenshot+2025-02-28+at+9.27.20%E2%80%AFAM.jpg Kristin Reynolds Reynolds, K., Gottfried, C., Thomas, T., and Smith, C. L. 2024. “Examining the Social Equity Implications of the USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Granting Program and Urban County Offices through a Racial Equity Lens: Final Report from a Pilot Study.” August 15, 2024. Reynolds, K., Gottfried, C., and Thomas, T. 2024. Racial equity and the USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture granting program and urban offices [Policy brief]. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Advance online publication, open access here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1549759292010-QQVT1K7T4MG6Z82LTOAN/5BF.png Kristin Reynolds Reynolds, K., and Darly, S. (Equal authorship.) 2018. Commercial urban agriculture in the global city: perspectives from New York City and Métropole du Grand Paris. Food Policy Monitor, 12/11/18. City University of New York Urban Food Policy Institute. Cohen, N., Reynolds, K., and Sanghvi, R., 2012. Five Borough Farm: Seeding the Future of Urban Agriculture in New York City. Design Trust for Public Space: New York, NY. Reynolds, K. 2009. Urban agriculture in Alameda County, CA: Characteristics, challenges, and opportunities for assistance. University of California Small Farm Program Research Brief. UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1597667115187-U3726KZE1PRMSWU5H4H9/CASFS%2Bcover_Page_01.jpg Kristin Reynolds Reynolds, K. 2015. Small farm economic viability. In Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors, 2nd edition. Perez, J., Brown, M., & Miles, A., eds. UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1600443280645-Z4H9PH6Y2AONBTQG0F7W/2019-ENYF-logo.png Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1600443281863-ZPIHF9Z478WO2QZ3EF06/UCC-Logo-background-transparent_sm.png Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1600443292627-Q9I52P488VWFITGNHT6Y/Farm+School+NYC.png Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1600443178626-6RVRV5CDCMZHH2E4DJW1/Services_client+logos_GWHV.jpg Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1600443250411-HA5YVHE43O7U0067KKOC/APC.png Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1600443351592-03XDCZVCS8L5ORX7DWN9/kar.png Kristin Reynolds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/c5c0d7b9-eeaa-4b04-9249-29fd616f0623/kristin.jpeg Kristin Reynolds - Kristin Reynolds, Ph.D. Dr. Kristin Reynolds’ research and activism focuses on social justice in the global food system through the lenses of critical/radical food geography and action research. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography and M.S. in International Agricultural Development from the University of California, Davis, and bachelor’s degrees in International Soil and Crop Sciences and French Languages and Literature from Colorado State University. She has lived and worked on numerous farms in the United States and Europe. Dr. Reynolds is Chair and Associate Professor of the Food Studies Program; Founding Director of the Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab; and Faculty Affiliate in the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School. She is also Affiliated Faculty at Yale School of the Environment; and an Associated Researcher at the European School of Political and Social Sciences. Photo credit: Maximilian Glas https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates daily 0.75 2026-05-29 https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/5/29/fjar-lab-launches-new-newsletter monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/fbe1f357-1e32-4478-8572-7087addc8df2/Sunflower News and Updates - FJAR Lab launches new newsletter! - The Food & Social Justice Action Research Lab (FJAR Lab) has launched a new newsletter! Photo Credit: Kristin Reynolds https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/5/29/imagining-cities-for-afrodescendant-people-assigned-female-at-birth-afab-and-women monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/18eeadfa-bf57-4c82-889b-116db9ba7792/2024_11_07_Peyton_H-10.jpg News and Updates - Imagining Cities for Afrodescendant People Assigned Female at Birth (AFAB) and Women - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/5/29/the-food-and-democracy-series-spring-2026-events monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/a5ad5c4c-e2d5-43b6-bbb4-306fd8914a9f/The+Elephant+at+the+Table News and Updates - The Food and Democracy Series (Spring 2026 Events) - “The Elephant at the Table: Confronting Power in Food Systems Policy,” a webinar series, March 25-May 27, 2026 Food systems are shaped by power - by who controls resources, who sets the rules, and whose interests are protected. When power is ignored, efforts to improve sustainability, nutrition, and equity remain marginal and fragile. In this series, we examine how meaningful food systems transformation depends on confronting power directly: redistributing control over land, water, and seeds; reducing corporate concentration; reclaiming public and collective responsibility for food access; and challenging policy narratives that normalize unsustainability, exclusion, and inequity. We explored these themes in this webinar series running each Wednesday at 10 am eastern from March 25th through May 27th, 2026. Across eight sessions, we presented and discussed an overarching analysis of power - focused on control over resources, governance, and corporate concentration - together with focused discussions across agroecology, fisheries and aquaculture, neglected and underutilized species, supply chains, nutrition, seeds, and governance. Each session illustrated how transformative change depends on shifting power and how similar analysis can be applied to policy across the food system. The webinar series was also hosted by Food + Planet and supported by The New Institute. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/40c05a44-3010-45a9-bd2d-b8c7beac8728/Screenshot+2026-05-29+at+9.42.38%E2%80%AFAM.png News and Updates - The Food and Democracy Series (Spring 2026 Events) - bryant terry - a multi-media discussion of food, art, and Black agrarian thought. April 6, 2026 The Food Studies Program, FJAR Lab, and the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University hosted artist, chef, publisher, and author bryant terry on April 6th for an immersive evening exploring the intersections of ancestral foodways, Black agrarian thought, community-based art practice, and food justice. Terry opened with a talk tracing the evolution of his two decades of work, illuminating how memory, land, and cultural resilience inform his creative and political commitments. He then performed Recipe for Staying Curious—a ritualized, recipe-shaped spoken-word piece that transforms kitchen practice into a framework for lifelong inquiry. Organized around intention, preparation, improvisation, iteration, and community, the performance invited participants to consider curiosity as both a discipline and a liberatory act. Following the talk, attendees engaged in a sensory exploration of spices and herbs—some sourced from regional farms—using touch, scent, and sound. This interactive exercise, rooted in terry’s culinary and artistic methodologies, encouraged reflection on how sensory experience shapes memory, meaning, and our relationships to food and land. The evening concluded with a book signing and book sales by BEM books and more, “the nation’s first Black food bookstore, café, and culinary hub,” located in Brooklyn. This event was a part of the FJAR Lab’s “Understanding Global Food and Environmental Justice through Music” Initiative, and was co-sponsored by the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/bb050994-ee08-410b-9d19-e6fa7977ae2c/%28IG%29+FJ+Undone.png News and Updates - The Food and Democracy Series (Spring 2026 Events) - Food Justice Undone: Lessons for Building a Better Movement by Hanna Garth, May 5, 2026 Food justice activists have worked to increase access to healthy food in low-income communities of color across the United States. Yet despite their best intentions, they often perpetuate food access inequalities and racial stereotypes. In her latest book, Food Justice Undone: Lessons for Building a Better Movement (2026, University of California Press) Dr. Hanna Garth shows how the food justice movement has been affected by misconceptions and assumptions about residents, as well as by unclear definitions of justice and what it means to be healthy. Focusing on broad structures and microlevel processes, Garth reveals how power dynamics shape social justice movements in particular ways. Drawing on twelve years of ethnographic research, Food Justice Undone explores the stakes of social justice and the possibility of multiracial coalitions working toward a better future. At this event at The New School on May 5th, we presented a conversation about Food Justice Undone between Dr. Garth and Dr. Gail Myers, cultural anthropologist, creator of the film project, “Rhythms of the Land,” Co-founder of Farms to Grow, Inc; and Part-Time Faculty in the Food Studies Program at The New School. True to the work of both Garth and Myers, the discussion was heartfelt and informative. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/5/29/playlist-for-food-and-environmental-justice monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/f7bdaca8-077c-447c-bbcd-f8bb545c6525/artworks-XklTCZzrPfes-0-t500x500.jpg News and Updates - Playlist for Food and Environmental Justice! - Bad Bunny, LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii 3m49s On the album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS 2024 Rimas Entertainment LLC. Video here LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii is part of Bad Bunny’s 2025 album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, featured in the most recent Super Bowl Halftime Show. The song describes the forced displacement of peasants from the Puerto Rican countryside, the privatization and enclosure of Puerto Rico’s rivers and beaches, gentrification and the role of government corruption in allowing this to happen. Bad Bunny sings: “Quieren al barrio mío y que abuelita se vaya / No, no suelte′ la bandera ni olvide' el lelolai / Que no quiero que hagan contigo lo que le pasó a Hawái” (They want my neighborhood and they want Grandma to leave / No, don't let go of the flag or forget the lelolai (a “scat” characteristic of jibaro or peasant songs) / I don't want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii). The song is an homage to Puerto Rican culture, sovereignty, ecosystems and foodways, and a protest against their loss. -Majandra Rodriguez Acha https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/f8e0c458-9315-4025-9e0a-75dbad2e7d76/badd52a9-sukatani.jpg News and Updates - Playlist for Food and Environmental Justice! - Sukatani, Sukatani 3m41s On the album Gelap Gempita 2023 [Dugtrax Records] Video here This song is by Indonesian punk band Sukatani, of which the song is eponymously named. It opens with an audio clip of a farmer who had his crops uprooted by the local government, only for him to replant them until harvest the following season. He then feeds his crop back to the very people that uprooted them the first time as a sly act of resistance hidden within the generous act of feeding a guest. This song combines a younger punk sound with a local dialect of Javanese (rather than standard Bahasa Indonesia). It is simultaneously a critique of social services for being used as tools of state oppression and a celebration of farmers as protectors of the land, providers of their communities, and agents of resistance. -Afi Alexander https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/e11f15fd-4de9-43bb-aa96-c2a933b6c91a/a1315524556_16.jpg News and Updates - Playlist for Food and Environmental Justice! - Cheap Dirty Horse, On the Rob 3m57s 2023 [Self-release] Bandcamp - YouTube - Lyrics In “On the Rob”, Nottingham, UK, queer folk-punk band Dirty Cheap Horse highlights the absurdity and injustice of the contemporary capitalist food retail system, where a handful of supermarket brands control all of the food supply chains, grab land, drive small retailers out of business, and pay their employees unfair wages. In light of all these abuses, the band asks, where’s the harm in putting a bit of bread and hummus in one’s bag? -Cédric Gottfried https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/afdb0ec1-b5f9-4230-8777-f77af78439ea/a2625942251_10.jpg News and Updates - Playlist for Food and Environmental Justice! - MF DOOM, Kon Karne 2m52s On the album MM..FOOD 2004 Rhymesayers Entertainment Video here Kon Karne is one of the songs from the MF DOOM (DOOM) album MM..Food, which features songs that are all plays on words. In this song, DOOM talks about the death of his brother and how that affected his life. The whole album is worth checking out, as DOOM utilizes multiple types of sampling, including cartoons, other songs, and speech in innovative ways for an album of any genre. This concept album talks about friendship, loss, anger, violence, rap beefs, and societal issues that mostly affect Black people. -Mike Harrington https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/1470aca2-71cb-47ef-9fbf-7e3ee5c05cd5/bjork-fossora-album-cover.jpg News and Updates - Playlist for Food and Environmental Justice! - Björk, Sorrowful Soil 3m15s Fossora. 2022 One Little Independent Records Video here There’s plenty to say about Björk’s expansive artistry; in every album, there’s a thematic core that covers a wide range of subjects such as the human condition, nature at large, and celestial systems. In her latest solo studio album, Fossora, she unearths ecosystem functions through symbols like mushrooms—most precisely and sonically with songs like "Mycelia," but several songs also touch upon the avenues of femininity and motherhood embedded in earthly systems. "Sorrowful Soil" is one of my favorites to come out of her career to date. Throughout the chorus, she sings the lyrics, "Into sorrowful soil / Our roots are dug." It also describes aspects of life and fertility: "In a woman’s lifetime / She gets four hundred eggs / But only two or three nests." I think this song expresses the intrinsicality and interconnectedness of life and grief beautifully, which also crosses the boundaries of food systems. -Rocco Morabito https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/9f28d311-191f-4d7a-9d98-64da3adf4df2/ab67616d0000b2739e8e0df48ff95de8d014f0b1.jpg News and Updates - Playlist for Food and Environmental Justice! - Prince, Avalanche On the album One Night Alone 2002, NPG Records Video here On April 21, 2026, people and communities around the world commemorated the 10 year anniversary of the passing of Prince. A musical genius (and celebrated vegan), Prince’s artistry was far-ranging and diverse. Having grown up in the Twin Cities (of which Prince’s Minneapolis is part), I was nonetheless unaware of the breadth of his music until I began a deep-dive after his death. Notwithstanding his infamous “Vault” and other unreleased songs and demos, Prince’s music delves far deeper into social justice issues than the (epic) “Purple Rain,” “Raspberry Beret,” (not really about food…) or dozens of other “hits” that he wrote for himself and others. (“Starfish and Coffee” is another food-or-environment -adjacent work.) Prince’s song “Avalanche” has been an inspiration for me in the Understanding Food and Environmental through Justice Initiative. The song speaks to historical intricacies of the abolition of slavery in the US and the exploitation of Black jazz musicians by white gatekeepers (in the early 20th century in this case). These lessons can apply to understanding the realities and dangers of historical revisionism and appropriation in food and agriculture – including inventions by Black innovators that are often attributed to middle class white-led movements or people. One such example is George Washington Carver, botanist, scientist, and inventor, some of whose innovations have been incorrectly misattributed in dominant food movement narratives. (See Penniman 2018; White 2018 for detail.) This is again an inspiration for our work. -Kristin Reynolds References cited: Penniman, Leah. Farming while Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018. White, Monica M. Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement. UNC Press Books, 2018. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/2/9/gastrofascism-and-empire-food-in-italian-east-africa-1935-1941 monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/d7702356-792a-47b9-81c4-c09f040a3030/Gastrofascism News and Updates - Gastrofascism and Empire: Food in Italian East Africa, 1935-1941 The Food Studies Program and the Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab at The New School hosted on November 18, 2025 the book talk “Gastrofascism and Empire: Food in Italian East Africa, 1935-1941,” as a part of the Fall 2025 “Food and Democracy” series. In this event, Dr. Simone Cinotto, author of “Gastrofascism and Empire: Food in Italian East Africa, 1935-1941” (2025 Bloomsbury Press) talked about the little-studied food histories of the short-lived Italian occupation of East Africa, exploring the circulation of bodies, food, and power within the empire. The presentation was followed by a participatory discussion. The event was co-sponsored by the Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs and the African Studies Initiative at The New School. The “Food and Democracy” event series – curated by the Food Studies Program and the Food & Social Justice Lab at The New School in 2025-26 – creates a space for reflection about democracy and liberation in, and through, the food system. The series has featured scholars, artists, students, faculty, and staff from across and beyond the university. Collectively, the events in the series expand the boundaries of collective learning and action through food, agriculture, popular education, art and civic engagement. The Food and Democracy series in 2025-26 is supported in part by The New School’s university-wide strategic initiative on Democracy and Culture. Cover image credit: Monika Golakoti https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/2/9/dj-lynne-denise-pass-the-peas-music-migration-ital-food-and-a-black-sense-of-place monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/5b321389-2509-41ea-81d7-8648f3a9a298/DJ+Lynn%C3%A9e+Denise%3A+Pass+the+Peas%2C+Music+Migration%2C+Ital+Food%2C+and+a+Black+Sense+of+Place News and Updates - DJ Lynnée Denise: Pass the Peas, Music Migration, Ital Food, and a Black Sense of Place Music and food are bound up with place and articulations of liberation. Alongside their most precious belongings, people travel with recipes, the sounds of home, and the promise of new tomorrows. Lyrics help us trace the cultural markers of a place and a people. This impactful event, hosted at The New School on November 13th, 2025, featured a talk and live demonstration -a mixtape or improvisational intervention- of the sound of Black food. Drawing on Katherine McKittrick’s notion of a “Black sense of place,” DJ and scholar Lynnée Denise took us on an audio-visual journey through the movement of foodways in the lyrics of jazz, blues, reggae, and funk. The exploration connected migration routes and diasporic interconnectedness to how we hear, produce, and preserve taste traditions through music. The Food Studies Program and Food and Social Justice Action Research (FJAR) Lab at The New School hosted this event on Thursday, November 13, 2025 as a part of the FJAR Lab’s “Understanding Food and Environmental Justice through Music” Initiative led by Lab members Kristin and Mike. The event was also a part of our 2025-26 event series “Food and Democracy.” The “Food and Democracy” event series – curated by the Food Studies Program and the Food & Social Justice Lab at The New School in 2025-26 – creates a space for reflection about democracy and liberation in, and through, the food system. The series has featured scholars, artists, students, faculty, and staff from across and beyond the university. Collectively, the events in the series expand the boundaries of collective learning and action through food, agriculture, popular education, art and civic engagement. The Food and Democracy series in 2025-26 is supported in part by The New School’s university-wide strategic initiative on Democracy and Culture. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/2/9/remembering-forward-what-can-we-learn-from-civil-rights-era-citizenship-schools-for-food-and-democracy-today monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/072e0189-7b1f-48e4-a172-11ad2bffd7dd/Remembering+Forward News and Updates - Remembering Forward: What Can We Learn from Civil Rights Era Citizenship Schools for Food and Democracy Today? The struggle to secure voting rights during the Civil Rights Movement was deeply intertwined with the Black American struggle against systemic injustice, physical violence and the urgency to attend to needs, including the most basic need of all: food. During this event, Remembering Forward, hosted at The New School on October 15th, 2025 as part of the “Food and Democracy” event series, we recalled the organizing history of the Civil Rights Movement, particularly focusing on Citizenship Schools and their ability to build revolutionary capacity through popular education. Citizenship Schools gave people the tools to imagine and build the communities they would like to live in, empowering Black Southerners to vote and create the change they wanted to see in their communities. Food studies scholar Dr. Bobby J. Smith II, author of “Food, Power, Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement” (2023, University of North Carolina Press), walked us through the Mississippi food story, explaining the connections between Citizenship Schools and key moments in the Civil Rights Movement like the creation of the nation-wide Food for Freedom mutual aid network (1962) and the establishment of the Freedom Food Co-op founded by Fannie Lou Hamer (1967). The conversation was moderated by Kyndal Coleman and Tamarra Thomas, both FJAR members. Together, we filled in the gaps of the prevailing Civil Rights Movement narrative reflecting on the often overlooked tradition of antifascist organizing in the South that helped secure voting rights and demanded more of our democracy, with food playing an ever-present role in that history. By Kyndal Coleman The “Food and Democracy” event series – curated by the Food Studies Program and the Food & Social Justice Lab at The New School in 2025-26 – creates a space for reflection about democracy and liberation in, and through, the food system. The series has featured scholars, artists, students, faculty, and staff from across and beyond the university. Collectively, the events in the series expand the boundaries of collective learning and action through food, agriculture, popular education, art and civic engagement. The Food and Democracy series in 2025-26 is supported in part by The New School’s university-wide strategic initiative on Democracy and Culture. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2026/2/9/travel-to-rome-italy-for-global-food-policy-convenings monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2025/10/22/new-article-self-expression-as-a-tool-to-combat-oppression monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/894032a3-b995-48a3-bee1-5445a7cd8eb9/Comandanta_Ramona_by_bastian.png News and Updates - New article: self-expression as a tool to combat oppression - Make it stand out Image: Comandanta Ramona, officer of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (date unknown) | Heriberto Rodriguez / CC BY 2.0 https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2025/10/14/farming-and-sustainability-trip-to-cuba monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/ea84221d-426b-42e4-a7be-30281d92b6bd/Screenshot+2026-05-29+at+10.03.12%E2%80%AFAM.png News and Updates - Farming and Sustainability Trip to Cuba - Make it stand out Photo credit: Kyndal Coleman. Red Okra grown on Finca Aroko on what once was a coffee plantation in Soroa, Cuba. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2025/10/14/exploring-kurdish-agricultural-land-dispossession-and-resistance monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/ddb0a270-dbb4-4f46-a650-49bbe8e0964f/Kurdish+Resistance+-+Sheelan+Qader News and Updates - Exploring Kurdish Agricultural Land Dispossession and Resistance - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2025/10/14/july-symposium-international-symposium-on-confronting-ethno-racial-discrimination-in-agricultural-work-a-france-us-research-collaboration monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2025/10/14/connecting-with-food-systems-and-social-justice-communities-around-the-world monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/news-and-updates/2025/4/15/resources-for-community-groups monthly 0.5 2026-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/6044e89d-87ca-4ed9-bab3-1748bd8dec0b/Food+Justice+Now+-+Community+Food+Funders News and Updates - Resources for Community Groups During the FJAR Lab strategic planning process (2022-24), we heard that providing lists of potential funders for food and social justice work could be helpful. While the FJAR Lab is not a clearing house, nor a foundation, we offer three initial resources here: Community Food Funders Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders A journal article on funding for community-academic collaborations co-authored by Kristin: Block, D. and Reynolds, K. (Equal authorship) (2021) Funding a Peoples’ Praxis, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 111:6, 1705-172. (Please contact us if you need access to this article.) Image credit: Community Food Funders https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/contact daily 0.75 2026-05-25 https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/about daily 0.75 2026-04-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/62f64e84-e957-4789-baba-0ad6a8600d4a/FJAR+LAB+MAY+2025.png ABOUT - The Story of the FJAR Lab In 2022, we began strategic planning for a new Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab (FJAR Lab), housed in the Food Studies Program at The New School. In order to ground the Lab in community needs, we conferred with trusted leaders in the New York City food and social justice community and academic institutions about action research in which the FJAR Lab may engage to support their work in the short, medium, and long term. Building on these conversations, we have honed the focus of the Lab and its potential activities for the following 1-5 years. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School. In 2025, we entered our third year, and, in line with an action research approach, we have continued to build upon what we learned in the first two years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/b65a544e-4534-43a0-af17-27f429e6d413/kristin2.jpeg ABOUT - Kristin Reynolds, Ph.D., Founder and Director, Food & Social Justice Action Research Lab Kristin Reynolds is a critical food geographer based in New York City, with research focus in the US and France. Her scholarship and activism focus on informing the creation of socially just food systems in urban and rural spaces. As Chair and Associate Professor of Food Studies at The New School, Kristin teaches about global food systems, social justice, urban agriculture, and food policy. She is also a Faculty Affiliate in the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School. From 2013-2022, she taught on social justice in the global food system at Yale School of the Environment, where she is now an Affiliated Faculty at the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, and is an associate research fellow at the European School of Political and Social Sciences in Lille, France. Her first book Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City, (2016; University of Georgia Press, with co-author N. Cohen), examines and highlights the work of people of color and women to create more socially just systems, and the possibilities for scholarship to support such initiatives. Her second book Radical Food Geographies: Power, Knowledge, and Resistance (2024; Bristol University Press, with co-editors C. Hammelman and C.Z. Levkoe) presents critical and action-oriented approaches to addressing food systems inequities across places, spaces, and scales, and she has published in numerous scholarly and public fora. Kristin has also worked with many community-based nonprofit organizations and small-scale farms through her research, teaching, and consulting, which informed her founding of the Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab. Collaborators have included the city wide Farm School NYC; statewide Corbin Hill Food Project; and Hattie Carthan Community Garden in Brooklyn; and Harlem Grown in Manhattan; as well as Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, where she served on the founding Board of Directors from 2015-2020; the national Food Chain Workers Alliance and HEAL Food Alliance. She served on the Board of Directors of the Levitt Foundation from 2014-2025. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography and M.S. in International Agricultural Development from the University of California, Davis, and bachelor’s degrees in International Soil and Crop Sciences and French Language and Literature from Colorado State University. She has lived and worked on numerous farms in the United States and Europe. You can visit Kristin’s LinkedIn here, Instagram here, and Bluesky here. Photo credit: Maximilian Glas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/7a92b543-0173-47b7-b218-f69cc6ff37ff/Monika+Golakoti.jpg ABOUT - Monika Golakoti, M.A., Community Engagement Manager, Food & Social Justice Action Research Lab / Food Studies Program Sree Sushma 'Monika' Golakoti is the Community Engagement Manager for the Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab (FJAR Lab), combining technical expertise with a commitment to social justice. Monika also serves as Assistant Lab Manager and Researcher at The SexTech Lab, overseeing projects on gender, sexuality, technology, and society. Beyond The New School, Monika is an Adjunct Lecturer at The City College of New York and Borough of Manhattan Community College, integrating psychology and technology in teaching. With a Master of Arts in General Psychology and a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science, Monika’s experience spans academia, research, and administration. Passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, Monika works to bridge disciplines, amplify marginalized voices, and harness technology for meaningful societal impact. You can visit Monika’s LinkedIn here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/9b82efe5-eedf-4e2f-8686-099165273f36/IMG_1820.jpg ABOUT - Kyndal Coleman, M.S. Candidate, Public Engagement Fellow, Food & Social Justice Action Research Lab (On leave 2026) Kyndal Coleman is a Public Engagement Fellow and an Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management master’s student at The New School from Villa Rica, Georgia. Kyndal received her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Economics and Management from the University of Georgia where her involvement with community organizing sparked an interest in scholar-activism. As a master’s student, Kyndal’s academic interests center on bridging the gap between policy, activism, research and everyday people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/5e23e593-e7f6-420a-a52c-7f431354e0c1/IMG_2735.jpg ABOUT - Cédric Gottfried, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate, Public and Urban Policy; Research Assistant, Food & Social Justice Action Research Lab Cédric Gottfried is a Ph.D. candidate in Public and Urban Policy at The New School, with Master’s degrees in Cultural Heritage Management from the University of Angers, France, and in Urban and Regional Planning from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers of Paris. He has worked as a project manager and consultant in heritage preservation and planning. His professional practice and research focuses on urban-rural interfaces, peripheral territories, natural resources management, land use conflicts, and social equity in urban agriculture. He uses his knowledge of mapping and data processing to support communities and policymakers in identifying issues and recommendation of solutions. His doctoral dissertation work centers on the relations of power between stakeholders involved in landscape production in intensified, peripheral agroecosystems, with a particular focus on the agro-industrial context of Northern France. You can visit Cédric’s LinkedIn here, and Bluesky here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/76d7b46b-15b0-4447-8fbb-4d3a2c413779/Majandra+Rodriguez+Acha.jpg ABOUT - Majandra Rodriguez Acha, M.S. Candidate, Public Engagement Fellow, Food & Social Justice Action Research Lab Majandra (Maria Alejandra) Rodriguez Acha is from Lima, Peru. She is a Public Engagement Fellow at The New School in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management MS. Recently, she has worked with the Youth Climate Justice Fund, the Funder’s Learning and Action Co-Laboratory on Gender and the Environment, and FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, as well as being a researcher on Just Transition in Peru with the World Resources Institute. Majandra is interested in interrogating and countering false solutions to the climate crisis, in exploring community-based alternatives to hegemonic paradigms, and in exploring notions of the “end of the world” and navigating hopelessness/sources of hope in the context of polycrisis, centering decolonial, anti-racist and queer ecological perspectives. You can visit Majandra’s LinkedIn here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/825ed04a-fb1a-4725-aa5e-f8b3c07d75e2/T+Thomas+Pic.jpg ABOUT - Tamarra Thomas, M.A., Adjunct Professor, Food Studies; and Research Associate, Food & Social Justice Action Research Lab (On leave 2026) A graduate of NYU’s Food Studies (MA) program and The New Schools bachelor’s in Food Studies program, Tamarra Thomas has had an extensive career in food. Thomas has used her knowledge and experience to help her students and community build a stronger connection to food through historical and cultural references. These days, Thomas is an adjunct professor at The New School, New York City College of Technology and NYU. You can visit Tamarra’s LinkedIn here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/582cb665-5cdb-4040-83fd-5fc4f9532efc/3c1fbcb0-2134-419d-99ce-2e9bbd8f80ab.JPG ABOUT - afi Alexandra, M.F.A Candidate, The New School afi Alexandra (it/its) is a Public Engagement Fellow at The New School’s SexTech Lab from Jakarta, Indonesia. It is currently enrolled in the Creative Writing MFA program concentrating in non-fiction and poetry with a background in General Psychology from the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University. afi is also a labor organizer with the New Student Workers Union (NewSWU) and the Student Employees at the New School (SENS). It is interested in a critical examination of the various modes of extraction and how narratives around subjects like food are used to justify and legitimize state-enforced national identity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/adb399b0-0e12-4bbd-b1ab-bedbfdeb1569/Photo+Bio+Nad%C3%A8ge-DEGBELO.jpg ABOUT - Agossè Nadège Degbelo, Ph.D. Agossè Nadège Degbelo received her Ph.D. in Sociology through the Environment at the Institut National de Recherche sur l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) in France. She was affiliated with the research unit on Environment, Territories in Transition, Infrastructures, and Societies at the University of Bordeaux, her doctoral research (under the direction of Dr. Jacqueline Candau and Dr. Valérie Deldrève) examined issues of environmental justice and farmworker exposure to pesticides. Her project brought together environmental health, human health and intersectional inequities, mobilizing data on precarious and foreign agricultural workers in France. Nadège also has an M.A. in Sociology from University of Bordeaux, and is working with the FJAR Lab on a project addressing inequities experienced by immigrant and racialized farmworkers in the South of France. You can visit Nadège’s LinkedIn here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/f4141a0b-93c1-4ef6-ae12-8f793fbf97a2/Mike+Harrington.jpg ABOUT - Mike Harrington, M.S., Sustainability Engagement Director, Tishman Environment and Design Center; Ph.D. Candidate, Public and Urban Policy Mike Harrington is responsible for supporting the work of the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School by liaising with offices and departments throughout the university and implementing projects that advance the university’s commitment to sustainability and environmental justice. Before joining the TEDC team, Mike worked at Elevate Energy, organizing around creating equity in the energy efficiency market. He obtained his Master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School and has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at The New School studying urban design from an environmental justice perspective. Mike is co-founder and collaborator on the “Understanding Food and Environmental Justice through Music” project. You can visit Mike’s LinkedIn here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/fbe76982-1d51-4ca2-bb9e-d9558c19891d/1724810336492.jpeg ABOUT - Rocco Morabito, M.S. Candidate, The New School Rocco Morabito is an artist and educator who produces photography, sculpture, and video works. Within his practice, Rocco investigates the romanticization and preservation of obsolete technology through reconceptualization. He also interweaves his own familial tragedies with fictive narratives of other authors as a means of processing grief—one vignette at a time. Having first joined Parsons to study photography, Rocco has been part of the community for over a decade. He holds a BFA in Photography from Parsons School of Design, a B.S. in Food Studies from Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, and is currently pursuing an M.S. in Environmental Policy & Sustainability Management at Parsons School of Design. His current academic research interests are investigating how public urban infrastructures influence health and the impact of climate change on the global food system. You can visit Rocco’s LinkedIn here. https://www.foodscholarshipjustice.org/what-we-do daily 0.75 2026-05-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/a1088924-0895-4170-bdb8-627d88dc2261/Screenshot+2025-04-15+at+11.05.19%E2%80%AFPM.png What We Do - The Understanding Global Food and Environmental Justice through Music Initiative (2022-ongoing) (In collaboration with Mike Harrington) Music can be used to understand and communicate about social justice as it relates to food, agriculture, and the environment. Communicating through music can strengthen and uplift food and environmental justice practice that is diverse in terms of epistemology, representation, and mode and open the door for deeper understandings of inequity and justice in ways that step away from Eurocentric insistence on linear and written communication to teach, exchange knowledge, or debate. Building on public programs that we have organized through our roles in the Food Studies Program and The Tishman Environment and Design Center beginning in 2022, and now joined by the Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab, this initiative at The New School explores music as a way to understand structural and historical inequities in the food system, and as a source of strength and power among those fighting against oppression. Events and speaking engagements to-date: Talk: DJ Lynnée Denise: Pass the Peas, Music Migration, Ital Food, and a Black Sense of Place (2025) Music and food are bound up with place and articulations of liberation. Alongside their most precious belongings, people travel with recipes, the sounds of home, and the promise of new tomorrows. Lyrics help us trace the cultural markers of a place and a people. This event featured a talk and live demonstration -a mixtape or improvisational intervention- of the sound of Black food. DJ and scholar Lynnée Denise took us on an audio-visual journey through the movement of foodways in the lyrics of jazz, blues, reggae, and funk. The exploration connected migration routes and diasporic interconnectedness to how we hear, produce, and preserve taste traditions through music. Watch the full video below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/8c203aa1-0e41-4d34-b9e0-c4ec4ef5f3fe/face.gif What We Do - Confronting Ethno-Racial Discrimination in Agricultural Work in France. (2022-26) This project investigates ethno-racial inequities and discrimination in agricultural work in France — with particular focus on foreign and/or racialized workers in the South of France — through racial justice lenses more common in the United States. A key objective of the project is to document possible inequities, understand their social and spatial dimensions, and identify social and policy innovations to promote fairer working conditions. The project is currently funded by the Transatlantic Research Partnership, a program of FACE Foundation and the French Embassy, and by grants from the Zolberg Institute and the Provost’s Office at The New School. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/dd07d8f1-ba6c-428f-992e-a182b4bdc12b/Alcorn+4.png What We Do - Examining the Social Equity Implications of the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production's County Office and Granting Program through a Racial Equity Lens: A Pilot Study (2023-24) This study sought to address informational gaps about the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) and additional 2018 Farm Bill urban agriculture provisions, as they relate to racial equity. The project was supported by funds from the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center at Alcorn State University, Lorman, MS. See our policy brief: Reynolds, K., Gottfried, C., & Thomas, T. 2024. Racial equity and the USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture granting program and urban offices [Policy brief]. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Advance online publication, open access here. See the full report here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585889e96b8f5be324fe1406/ead1f5db-18fe-4ab7-bf2c-6bc7e64d114f/Screenshot+2025-04-15+at+11.12.26%E2%80%AFPM.png What We Do - Heritage Grains and Food Sovereignty in France (2021-2023) As farmers seek to maintain their livelihoods and traditional agroecological practices in the context of climate change; as consumers are increasingly interested in products made from “heritage” or non-hybrid seeds, there is a potential for synergies to support food sovereignty and artisanal foods. This project, from 2021-23, examined the potentially interrelated trajectories of: farmer-led stewardship of land races of cereal grains/blés de pays and re-emerging regional markets for locally-sourced bakery products in France. Participatory research in the Parisian and Grand Est regions of France included a collaboration with the French organic agriculture organization Bio en Grand Est and through Kristin’s role as Associated Researcher at the European School of Political and Social Sciences. Read the final report/rapport final en français ici. Photo credit: Kristin Reynolds