Our Solidarity with Black Lives Matter, Indigenous People and the Latinx Community:

We at The HEAL Project stand unequivocally with the movements for Black liberation. We recognize that hundreds of years of systemic racism have caused almost incomprehensible amounts of harm, both seen and unseen, to Black Americans.

As an organization dedicated to food systems education, we sit with the acknowledgement that our agricultural system was built on stolen land, labor, skills and knowledge from Black and Indigenous people. Throughout the lifespan of our country, racism, oppression and white supremacist policies have overtly cut off Black, Indigenous and Latinx people from opportunities to own their own land and maintain control over the agricultural practices and food sources that serve them. This lack of access to personal and cultural sovereignty has fostered widening disparities in health outcomes and economic freedoms. We see these racial injustices right here on the San Mateo County coast, especially with regards to our Latinx community.

Our Commitment to Equity, Justice and Inclusion:

We are grappling with our organization’s place in systemic racism and the actions we can take to practice anti-racism. We realize that equity work is broad and long-term, and we are committed to this work on an ongoing basis. Our Equity and Justice work-group of staff and board members is focused on making anti-racism part of our strategic plan. One goal of the group is to incorporate food justice, environmental justice and health justice frameworks into our curricula. A second goal is to strengthen relationships with the whole community we serve and to amplify marginalized voices through proactive outreach. As we move forward with this work, we will continue to identify areas of potential improvement in our equity practices and set goals to pinpoint these areas.

We are in the process of learning, listening, taking action, then repeating. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or suggestions: director@thehealproject.org.