Community food work is a framework for understanding the interconnections and complexities of food systems issues such as farm sustainability, food access and health equity, environmental resiliency, and social justice. An emerging yet overlooked perspective of community food work is the role of faith-based organizations and practitioners. In this article From the Vault, Community food work as critical practice: A faith-based perspective through narratives, a case study of six faith-based practitioners focused on urban food security in Virginia. The authors use narrative inquiry to explore how they understand and perform their community food work from a faith-based and social justice context.
For many, food insecurity is a wicked problem that brings together various explanations as well as approaches to addressing the issue. Faith-based organizations (FBO) provide a space for members to express their faith through the missions and activities of the organizations’ programming. According to Todd (2012), FBOs have played a role in development efforts by creating supportive community settings that may also help reduce social marginalization of historically underserved communities. Although the work of FBOs has been varied and at times controversial, the authors point to three primary reasons that faith-based organizations are involved in food systems work. First, there is an historical connection between faith and food because food serves faith-based functions across several religions. Second, many faith traditions have a philosophy to care for the poor. Third, faith-based organizations generally have social and cultural capital that make them adept at engaging in social justice work; research suggests that high levels of social capital can increase a group’s success at food systems change .
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To expand upon the narrative methods from this study, the authors suggest using an adapted version of Stephen Brookfield’s Critical Incident Questionnaire to begin a collective reflection session. This is a straightforward start, using only a few questions to elicit reflection on critical moments, such as “aha” moments or meaningful moments. Techniques and steps used in Appreciative Inquiry would provide an assets-based approach to engage practitioners in autobiographical and peer reflection. These steps would include interviewing a colleague about a positive experience and then reporting back to the larger group. Appreciative Inquiry may also help to bridge the divide between silos of work because it builds a collective vision and uses a group process to choose steps to achieve that vision.
For those interested in using narratives and story-telling to learn more about their and their organization’s work, the authors have some suggestions for next steps. First, the authors stress that a discussion about and allocating time for reflection in one's work should be prioritized. Crafting stories and periodically discussing them as a group can enhance reflection. This would mirror the collective reflection session, which was a positive experience for the group of practitioners in this study. Further, a significant aspect of these practitioners’ work is to reflect on and celebrate the small victories of the work. Although community food work challenges systemic inequality, small changes can be the building blocks to systemic change. It is important to remain positive as a practitioner and enjoy the small victories and the people along the way.
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Faith-based practitioners and critical reflection: 'Building strong communities emerged in the sense of forging strong, trusting relationships between the practitioners and program participants as well as between the participants themselves.' Check out this @JAFSCD From the Vault article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2017.074.001
