

Justice through Food
Building Power for Equity
Justice through Food is a national collaborative of organizations, led by people of color, using food and agriculture systems as a catalyst to dismantle racism, exploitation and oppression in their communities.
We work collectively to build power and create new equitable systems that put people and Mother Earth over profits by returning and reconnecting stewards and providers of color to the land.
Our work is focused on removing the barriers to equitable access to land and capital by providing the resources, tools and capacity building (financial, legal, and technical leadership) our members need to create new equitable food and agriculture systems that promote justice.
We simply can’t wait any longer for organizations that have thrived from systemic racism and exploitation to change.
We are the change.
Our collaborative network of organizations IS collectively building power to create new equitable food and agriculture systems – free of racism, exploitation, degradation and oppression.
Racial, social, climate and economic challenges are inextricably linked for communities of color. Justice through Food is multisolving across these challenges because our communities face the combined impacts of these challenges continuously.


Returning Stewards and Providers of Color to the Land
We are raising $10M to create our Land Justice Fund. This revolving fund will allow us to provide zero to low-interest loans, forgivable loans and grants to People of Color led organizations to access, acquire and rematriate land.
About Us
Our Story
After decades of working towards systemic change in food and agriculture systems, we came to the realization that we can no longer wait for existing systems to change while the disparities for our communities continue to grow exponentially and at an ever increasing rate due to climate change.
We, A-dae Romero Briones, Savi Horne and Livia Marqués, founded Justice through Food as a new model to create change by collaboratively building power in our communities through groups and organizations led by People of Color.
Why Food? Food has been used as a weapon against us in various ways that continue to compound socio-economic disparities: forced cultural assimilation creates unhealthy diets and lack of physical and financial access to healthy foods results in increased malnutrition and diet related diseases for people of color. Land theft and loss directly prevent self-sufficiency. Food directly impacts our health, wellbeing, and economic viability therefore, it is through our food systems that we can build power for the greater good of our communities by returning stewards and providers of color to the land.
Our Values
We work collaboratively to support regenerative, not extractive models for food & fiber production and land ownership. Our efforts are grounded in our communities and the land. Our work is for the greater good of all of our communities and we are united to create greater power in service to our communities.


We do this work to honor all of our Indigenous ancestors as the original land stewards. We thank them for sharing their ecological knowledge systems through generations and pay our respect to them by continuing to implement and promote practices that work with nature to heal and nourish Mother Earth so that our now degraded lands can begin to rehabilitate, regenerate and thrive.
Our Team



A-dae Romero Briones
Co-Founder and Advisor (Kiowa/Cochiti)



A-dae Romero Briones
Co-Founder and Advisor (Kiowa/Cochiti)
A-dae was born and raised in Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico and comes from the Toyekoyah/Komalty Family from Hog Creek, Oklahoma on the Kiowa side. As a young child, she witnessed the discrimination and disparities in land acquisition firsthand when her Cochiti Pueblo began to pursue land rematriation. A-dae is Vice President of First Nations Development Institute. Previously, she was Director of the Native Food and Agricultural Program for First Nations. A-dae also served as Director of Community Development for Pulama Lana’i and as the co-founder and Executive Director of a non-profit for Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico. A U.S. Fulbright Scholar, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Princeton University and received a Juris Doctorate from Arizona State University’s College of Law, and LLM in Food and Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas. President Obama recognized A-dae as a White House Champion of Change in Agriculture.



Savonala (Savi) Horne
Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member



Savonala (Savi) Horne
Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member
Savi Horne is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project. Savi completed six years of service on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. She serves on the boards of the National Family Farm Coalition and the Rural Coalition. Savi is a member of the Coordinating Council of Black Land and Power Coalition and the Leadership Team of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. She is a recipient of the 2020 American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) Award for Excellence in Environmental, Energy, and Resources Stewardship. As a state, regional, and national non-governmental organization leader, she is instrumental in addressing the needs of Black, Indigenous, People of Color and limited resource farmers and ranchers. Savi is a graduate of the Rutgers University School of Law- Newark and the City College of New York.



Lovepreet Kaur
Steering Committee Member



Lovepreet Kaur
Steering Committee Member
Lovepreet was born in India and lived on a farm as a child. She loved eating fresh vegetables from the farm. When she moved to the Unites States, she was saddened to see the lack of affordable culturally relevant food, especially in low-income communities in California. She dedicated herself to increase access to fresh, multi-ethnic, organic vegetables for all families. Lovepreet is the Executive Director of Valley Verde, which increases food access for underserved families by teaching them how to grow their own food. Previously, she served as the Operations Manager at Valley Verde for several years. She is a member of the Urban Growers Network in San Jose and serves on the board of Valley Verde. She is also an Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Fellow.



John Littles
Steering Committee Member



John Littles
Steering Committee Member
Born in coastal Georgia, John saw firsthand the need to provide healthy, locally grown produce to low wealth communities, while increasing the economic viability of local farmers as the fishing and shrimping industry dwindled. To overcome transportation barriers and create new revenue streams, he began by creating mobile markets and has continued to work on food justice issues from the local to the national level. As Executive Director of McIntosh Sustainable Environment and Economic Development (McSEED), he provides technical assistance to grassroots organizations in management, asset-based economic development, food systems, land preservation and retention, and community forest management. John manages McSEED’s 1,148 acre Community Forest and a Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention project that assists African-American landowners with sustainable conservation practices. Past Chair of the Southern Partners Fund Foundation, covering 13 states, John now serves as Chair for the GA Minority Outreach Network (MON), a new collaborative of outreach providers.



Livia Marqués
Co-Founder and Coordinator



Livia Marqués
Co-Founder and Coordinator
The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Livia was raised in Hialeah, Florida. Gardening with her father sparked her passion for food and agriculture at an early age and she has devoted her entire career to food justice issues. Livia is also the Founding Principal of Food Driven Strategies, which provides guidance to organizations to promote equity and justice through food systems. Previously, she was a national program officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she managed a $30M community food systems portfolio. She served in multiple positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, from District Conservationist to the first Latina State Conservationist since the creation of the agency in 1935. Livia is the recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award, a finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for Citizen Services, and the Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at North Carolina State University.



Cheryl Peterson
Steering Committee Member



Cheryl Peterson
Steering Committee Member
Cheryl was born in South Georgia. She grew up watching her grandfather and community elders growing gardens to support, not only their families, but many of the families in the community. Cheryl has worked to create youth gardening programs to preserve the agricultural knowledge of the elders, while creating jobs for summer interns. Cheryl is the Senior Managing Director and has worked at McIntosh SEED since 2008. She manages youth leadership and development, community outreach and engagement, voter outreach and engagement, landowner and farmer support and agricultural value chain, market demand and development for small farmers and farmer collaboratives. Cheryl also assists with the management of the 1148+ acres of the McSEED Community Forest. In 2021, Cheryl was nominated and selected for The Conservation Fund’s “Women Making Conservation History” recognition. When not working, Cheryl loves being with family and friends, traveling, DIY-home improvement projects, landscaping, reading, and of course, gardening.
Our Members
Are grassroots, regional and national organizations across the country working towards racial, social, environmental and/or economic justice at points along the entire food chain. At least 51% of their total staff and Boards or Steering Committees are people of color: Native American, Indigenous, African American, Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Asian.
Our Allies
Individuals or organizations that provide technical, legal, financial, administrative and other resources free of charge in order to help further the mission of Justice through Food.
Our Financial Sponsors
The Oak Foundation • Ceres Trust • Food & Farm Communications Fund | Previous Sponsors: The Christensen Fund
Join Us
Become A Member
Benefits:
Only member organizations will be eligible to apply for financial assistance and receive technical assistance free of charge.
Eligibility:
Non-profit, or project with a fiscal sponsor, at the local, regional or national level, working for racial, social, and/or environmental justice. To be eligible, at least 51% of the total staff and board of your organization must be comprised of people of color.
How much does it cost?
There is no financial cost to become a member.
Become An Ally
An Ally has technical, legal, financial, administrative and other resources that they are willing to leverage in order to help further the mission of Justice through Food. An Ally can be an Individual or an organization that does not meet the criteria for membership but is committed to providing support.