Add your name (or the name of your organization) to the growing list of supporters calling for the creation of a Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund! The fund will increase public investment in grassroots efforts to address food apartheid and support the development of a just, equitable, and sustainable food system. More information about this fund can be found here. Sign on to the letter below!

August 2022

414 Grant Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Dear Mayor Gainey, City Council members,

We the undersigned organizations and individuals from across the City of PIttsburgh request your   support for the creation of a Food Justice Fund.

Pittsburgh has many neighborhoods that are experiencing food apartheid. The City’s own FeedPGH Report, released in 2020, identified 23 Healthy Food Priority Areas (HFPAs), based on food availability, vehicle ownership, income level, and rates of diet related diseases. Of these 23 HFPAs, 18 are in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Indeed, while 33% of Black Pittsburghers live in an HFPA, only 5% of white Pittsburghers do.

A food insecure household cannot adequately provide enough food for its members to lead a healthy life. This has adverse impacts on individual as well as community health and well being, education, and security. In order to create a Pittsburgh that works for all, all Pittsburghers need to be able to access and eat fresh, nutritious, culturally appropriate foods.

The pandemic has revealed the critical need to increase our City’s capacity to produce food, support food businesses and workers, and uplift community-led food insecurity solutions.

We ask the City to establish a $10 million fund to be spent over four years - only 3% of the $335 million of the City’s American Rescue Plan Act funding. A simple application process would make grants from the fund accessible to Pittsburgh-based organizations and individuals living or working to make improvements to our local food system. Projects that are led by and/or benefiting people of color would be given highest priority.

This aligns well with the priorities outlined in the administration's transition team report. Specifically, the Food Justice Fund would address the cross-cutting themes of equity and community engagement, as well as the recommendations to “Allocate funds to develop and create public health and food justice initiatives” and “Support and expand the healthy food infrastructure.”

The Food Justice Fund would enable unique and creative community endeavors to address food apartheid by increasing equitable access to opportunities to grow, learn about, and eat healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant foods. Among the many exciting possibilities this Fund could support include projects that:

• Expand urban farming

• Develop community markets and/or mobile markets

• Aggregate local farm fresh foods

• Reduce food waste

• Deliver cooking demonstrations and nutritional education

• Build capacity and provide technical support for farmers, business owners, and other food related organizations

Now is the time for the City to invest in solutions to the persistent challenges of food apartheid. By working together to create the Food Justice Fund, we can create a food system for all.

Sincerely,

UNDERSIGNED