The Live Real fellows and staff on the road last month on the first leg of the Food and Freedom Ride.Photo: Hai VoNothing says commitment to a cause like 11 young adults willing to spend several weeks crammed into a 15-passenger van traveling across the country. Dubbed “from the hood to the heartland,” the Food and Freedom Ride is a 2,000-mile voyage from Birmingham, Ala., to Detroit, Mich., intended to spread awareness about food justice issues in the U.S.
The riders are part of a new initiative called Live Real. Director Anim Steel said they’re aiming to tackle a variety of challenges they see in the food system: some communities have limited access to affordable, healthy food, and many of those who work in the food system make low wages.
Live Real aims to make what Steel calls “real food” the new norm. “Real food we define as food that’s good for people who eat it, good for the environment, and good for those who are producing it, the farmers and farm workers,” he said.
The Live Real crew is traveling from community to community, meeting with farmers, meat processing plant employees, Indian... Read more
