RBAC as an organization, is committed to addressing food insecurity in Rainier Beach. 

A few ways we currently do that are through our seasonal Farm Stand, weekly classes like Beach Fresh, and the development of the Food Innovation Center. We’ve been hosting Corner Greeters for 6+ years now, and “nutrition” has always been an important part of our organizing and event planning. We’ve used many spaces prior to having our own RBAC Office, including the Rainier Beach Farm Hub, Atlantic Street Center, the Rainier Beach Community Center, and even the local Neighborcare Health Clinic. While utilizing these community spaces to have our meetings, we also did not have access to cold storage or kitchen space. Even though our meetings have always taken place after school and lowkey into typical dinner hours (4:30 PM – 7:30 PM), for a while, we were only able to provide granola bars and Capri Suns for our nutrition. Shout out to those young people who paved the way when we had less! Special shout-outs to Princess Gabbie and Ms. Sherrill, beloved Rainier Beach community members and advocates, who began making small meals every once in a while – that sparked the energy to take our nutrition time more seriously…

Ever since we’ve moved into our office space on MLK and Fairbanks, now we have a kitchen and a garden! These are two key additions that have contributed to the growth of our nutrition and food-related programming. Not only are we able to share home-cooked meals together, but we are also able to utilize the harvest from our garden. Other community-building activities like sharing recipes from our different cultural backgrounds and learning harvest/garden tips are also helping us step our game up. Through food, all the time, we are thinking, “how can we support each other.” So, as we continue to advocate for Food Justice in Rainier Beach, these things will need to be sustained in addition to the timely development of the Food Innovation Center – which we anticipate will expand our Food Justice impact and benefit Rainier Beach and beyond. 

 

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