Raj Patel

Masika Henson

Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.

Raj is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems and a member of the council of Progressive International. He has supported sustainable food policy from the municipal to international levels, and in 2016 he was recognized with a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award. He currently sits on the advisory board of a range of organizations including the Climate + Community Institute and co-chairs the board of Just Associates, an organization committed to feminist popular education in the Global South.

His writing and editorial work has including the founding of IndyMedia Zimbabwe, co-editing the Voice of the Turtle, judging the National Book Award for Non-Fiction and contributing to a range of editorial boards including The Journal of Peasant Studies. His first book was Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. His second, The Value of Nothing, was a New York Times and international best-seller. His latest book, on taste and the future of food, will be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and Atlantic Books in January 2027.

His first film is the award-winning documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper. He was a co-host of the food politics podcast The Secret Ingredient with Mother Jones’ Tom Philpott, and KUT’s Rebecca McInroy.

Masika Henson is the founder of Seeking Solutions Consulting. Her work lives at the intersection of ecology and social justice, where she reshapes human and capital resources to build long-term resilience.

Her experiences span local and global philanthropic, non-profit, private, academic, entertainment, and government sectors. As a facilitator and advisor, Masika builds social movements by working with organizations to develop their communications and program strategies.

She is the host, narrator, and co-producer of the documentary Digging In, where she amplifies the voices and experiences of farmers in the U.S. She currently serves on the steering and grants advisory committees of the Wildseeds Fund, the advisory councils of Red Clover Collaborative and Feed Black Futures, and the Board of Greens REALIGN.

Masika received her Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her Master of Science in Sustainability Management from the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

In her spare time Masika enjoys growing food at her East Bay Area home. As a DJ, she builds culture and relationships through music.

Breanna Wheeler

Ben Shaman

Prior to joining the Center, Breanna Wheeler earned her Masters of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, where her training focused on food and nutrition insecurity, chronic disease prevention, school food systems, and the intersection of environmental justice and human rights.

As part of her graduate practicum, Breanna served as a CDC Evaluation Fellow, leading the mixed-methods evaluation of a tribal childhood food insecurity and diabetes prevention program in partnership with tribal nations in Montana. Before graduate school, she enjoyed working with the San Francisco Bay Area intertribal community at Native American Health Center, where her work supported coordination and evaluation of culture-based community health programming.

Breanna’s passion for food systems change is rooted in her upbringing in an agricultural Southern California community, her experiences working in food service, and her kinship with Indigenous communities. Outside of work, Breanna is a passionate gardener, avid genre-curious reader, and aspiring chef.

As an Analyst, Ben Shaman contributes to the Program Team’s work with focus on assessments and analytics, data and systems management support, and program administration.

Ben previously studied at Dartmouth College, where his research explored sustainable agriculture, food sovereignty, and food system resilience. He was also a member of the Chang Research Lab for Computational Social Science, AI, and Democratic Behavior.

Beyond research, Ben has worked across food service, outdoor leadership, and community food spaces, including launching a seasonal pop-up dining project centered on locally sourced ingredients.

Ben’s passion for food systems change is rooted in his experiences working in kitchens, studying food and agriculture, and building community through shared meals. In his free time, Ben enjoys canoeing, hiking, and board games.

Thank you to all those who joined the Center, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and our fantastic panelists during our webinar on Creative Solutions Around Processing Fruits & Vegetables!

A recording of the webinar is available on our Good Food Purchasing California website. We look forward to continuing these solutions-oriented conversations during the next webinar in the series!

Center staff traveled to Michigan in May to collaborate with Good Food for Michigan Project partners in Lansing, tour Detroit’s incredible Eastern Market, dive into annual org planning, and enjoy a taste of Michigan together during our spring staff retreat. Thank you to our colleagues at the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, and Byrum & Fisk Advocacy Communications; to Reid Walborn and Brandon Seng at Eastern Market; to Meredith Nguyen of Vim & Rigor; to the MSU Federal Credit Union; and to Linda Jo Doctor of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and our local friends for a warm welcome and inspiring experience in Michigan!

Center staff gather at the MSU Federal Credit Union in Detroit with consultant Meredith Nguyen of Vim & Rigor during FY27 planning at the Center’s spring staff retreat.

Good Food for Michigan Project celebrates official grant partnership sites

The Good Food for Michigan Project celebrated major milestones this month with the official announcements of the project’s first two grant partnership sites: Bendle Public Schools and the Chippewa Luce Mackinac Community Action Agency.

Bendle Public Schools in Genesee County will work with Good Food for Michigan partners to further develop relationships with valued-aligned farmers in the region, utilize additional staff support and training, and upgrade kitchen resources to ensure nutritious and delicious food options for students through a $26,000 grant agreement.

“Michigan students deserve a chance to enjoy more of the great food grown in the Great Lakes state. And our farmers deserve a reliable, local market for their crops,” said Dawn Pully, Food Service Director of Bendle Public Schools. “The Good Food for Michigan project helps bolster each of those goals — and the team at Bendle Public Schools is truly delighted and proud to be part of it.”

In the Upper Peninsula, the Chippewa Luce Mackinac Community Action Agency (CLMCAA) will receive a grant of more than $16,000 as well as support services to increase the amount of Michigan-grown and produced foods served at senior nutrition sites and in their meals on wheels program. The investment also will help the organization further develop relationships with values-aligned farmers and suppliers throughout the region.

CLMCAA, which has more than 60 years of service working to address poverty in the eastern U.P., serves about 165,000 meals a year to seniors through its network of 14 senior nutrition centers.

“This investment from the Good Food for Michigan Project will help us accomplish a long-term goal: provide more fresh, nutritious food to our local seniors,” said Marcey Thorne, senior services director at CLMCAA. “Our team often receives perishable items, including lettuce and milk, that are either expired or just a few days from expiring. With support from this new MDARD program, we’ll be able to access our local grower network to source more food used in meals for seniors in our community.”

Organizations encouraged to sign Local Food Purchase Option letter of support

Over the past few months, the Center in partnership with National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), National Farm to School Network, Friends of the Earth, and Chef Ann have explored policy solutions to unlock more funding for schools to purchase local foods. (For more insight on the significance of this funding, check out our recent Local Food for Schools Report.) Conversations with schools, food hubs, states, and NSAC members led to a clear understanding that folks want flexibility to spend their existing entitlement funding as direct purchases with local farmers, producers, and processors in their area. The policy details are here.

Why we need your help: We have not been able to secure a marker bill, but we want Congress to understand the magnitude of support for this concept, so we have organized a sign-on letter. Please consider signing and sharing the opportunity among the local school food stakeholders in your state.

We are pushing for as many signatures as possible by June 5th so we can deliver it ahead of any Senate farm bill discussions.

Op-ed: The Farm Bill Is No Place for Big Pork’s ‘Save Our Bacon’ Act
Russ Kremer, Civil Eats
May 28, 2026

Trump Admin Commits $7.5 Million to Bring More Protein to Food Banks
Rebekah Alvey, Civil Eats
May 21, 2026

CFFN 2026 Priority Food and Farm Legislation
California Food + Farming Network
2026

Pasture-Based Farmers Rally Together…, Call on Congress to Make Common Sense Reforms in Open Letter
ASPCA
April 28, 2026

Check our Policy Page for updates on issues
related to Good Food policies and legislation.

New Mexico food systems leaders offer inspiration for innovation in NM, MI and beyond

Center Senior Analyst Bella Steinhauer recently joined Center partners May Tsupros of Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, Cheyenne Liberti of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Kiara Jackson of Illinois Food Justice Alliance in traveling to New Mexico to learn more about success across the state and brainstorm with food systems leaders on ways to grow and build from that progress.

PC Events and Experiences, the agency that brought the Center and our partners’ vision for the Power of Procurement 2025 summit to life, was honored with four SPARK Awards presented by the Chicago ILEA chapter, including Best Use of Visual Media and Sustainability Spark Event for the PoP25 summit. Thank you to PC Events and Experiences for the fabulous work deserving of these awards, and for inviting us to celebrate the honors!

Inside the GFPP Ecosystem: Updates, New Resources & Upcoming Events

Documenting the Agricultural Justice Project &

Growing the Coalition for Food Justice

In 2026, after nearly 30 years of work together as a coalition of small farmer advocates and farmworker organizations, the Agricultural Justice Project is closing down.

About AJP: From 1999 to 2026, the Agricultural Justice Project brought together farmworkers, farmers, and their communities to help build a food system that’s fair and just. AJP convened stakeholders to set standards of food justice, rooted in accountability to workers and community-scale farmers. These standards were the basis for Agricultural Justice Project’s Food Justice Certification program, which certified about 20 farms and food businesses across the US and Canada. Alongside certification, AJP’s technical assistance program helped hundreds of workplaces implement the fair labor practices embodied in its Food Justice Certified standards. Through its programs and advocacy, AJP fostered cooperation and solidarity across groups — because these practices are the necessary foundation for a movement strong enough to win justice in food and farming.

Agriculture Justice Project’s sunsetting report, A Season for Solidarity: Documenting the AJP & Growing the Coalition for Food Justice, summarizes an outreach and assessment process led by General Coordinator Jon Magee.

“This process has brought into sharp relief the incongruities between our organizational mission and the strategies that we employed through these many years — especially certification,” AJP writes. “This process also took place at a moment when our movements are strategizing how to resist an authoritarian administration’s attacks on working people across our country. We hope that the resulting report and its conclusions help all of us to meet this moment, building power and winning the justice we truly deserve.”

The English version of the report is available free online or for order as a handsome printed book. Spanish editions are forthcoming.

The Center for Good Food Purchasing recognizes with gratitude the years of leadership and enduring legacy of the Agricultural Justice Project, including influence as a north star for Good Food Purchasing guidelines – among countless other contributions across the Good Food movement. We celebrate AJP’s history and impact, and we share the sunsetting report with affirmation of our commitment to the work ahead.

County of Santa Clara’s O’Connor Hospital success highlighted for menu transformation innovation

Jocelyn Dubin featured by the Culinary Institute of America as Menus of Change industry pace-setter

Photo credit: FACE Ag Network

Via @faceag on Instagram

“We’re thrilled to officially launch the FACE Ag Network (Farmers for Animals, Communities and the Environment) and you can be part of the movement!

“FACE is a growing community of pasture-based farmers and ranchers dedicated to building a more humane and sustainable food and farming system. Farmers, join us and advocate for policies that uplift independent farms, respect animals and protect our communities.

“Visit the link in our bio (faceag.org) to learn more and become a member!

“#FACEAgNetwork”

Photo credit: Migrant Justice / Justicia Migrante

Via Food Chain Workers Alliance on Facebook

“On International Workers’ Day, farmworkers and Migrant Justice / Justicia Migrante held a sixteen-hour picket of Hannaford Supermarkets to demand they sign on to the trailblazing worker-driven social responsibility program #MilkWithDignity. Community pressure was so strong that Hannaford closed the Williston location hours early on May Day --- a win for this long-running campaign that is not slowing down! 🐄✊”

Fullwell’s 2025 annual report highlights the organization’s brightest moments during the previous year, within a landscape that “has never been more complex and uncertain,” writes Fullwell Executive Director Katie Ettman.

“We refused to let the odds limit our goals and achieved victories that will leave a tangible impact on Californians across the state. These wins – which include helping families put nutritious food on their tables, improving our health care system’s infrastructure to better serve patients, and convincing local governments to commit to values-based food procurement – are worth celebrating.”

Getting Real - 2026 RFC Student Retreat