Health Inequality

Between 1910 and 1997, America’s Black farmers lost about 90% of the land they owned. The USDA was later found liable for a pattern of extensive discrimination, and in 2010, agreed to pay out more than $1.25 billion to Black farmers. Still today, Black farmers face unique stressors and challenges. Understanding these challenges is critical to building a safe and healthy food system for all.

Food Revolution Network CEO, Ocean Robbins, sits down with Drs. Rupa Marya and Raj Patel, authors of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice, and co-founders of Deep Medicine Circle, for a heartening look at how deep medicine can help to heal our lives, society, and world.

School meals have a huge impact on the health of a nation — and the planet. They forge patterns that shape lives. They instill a status quo that changes what kids want to eat the rest of the time. And they are one of the primary ways that policy shapes the health of the next generation. Moving toward healthier, plant-based meal plans could benefit our children, and our world, in profoundly important ways.

In this video interview, Dr. Sean Hashmi of Kaiser Permanente sits down with Ocean Robbins to discuss his experience as a kidney specialist, his mission to change the culture of medicine, and the importance of treating root causes of disease — not just symptoms. Dr. Hashmi and Ocean discuss the impact of systemic inequality on food choices and health outcomes, and look at breakthrough solutions that can heal lives and build a healthier society.

When millions of people suffer from malnutrition, either due to insufficient calories or a lack of access to affordable, wholesome food, their health, wealth, resilience, and even their mental clarity are impacted. If we want to create a just and sustainable world, we must tackle the twin issues of food inequality and food insecurity.

Community gardens are a great way to increase food security, improve public health, and even reduce crime rates. With a variety of setups, locations, and goals, they can play an important role in making healthy, ethical, and sustainable food available to ever more people.

Benjamin Perkins of Wholesome Wave sits down with Food Revolution Network CEO, Ocean Robbins, for a look at the challenges in our food system and how Wholesome Wave is working towards a better food future for all. Despite the continuous struggle to provide healthy food for all people, this interview will fill you with hope that there are people like Benjamin and organizations like Wholesome Wave committed to bridging the health and nutrition gap.

Food Revolution Network CEO, Ocean Robbins, sits down with retired doctor and public health official Terry Mason, MD, for a fascinating conversation about racism, food, health, COVID-19, and hope.

Alabama State Senator Malika Sanders-Fortier and her sister Ainka Sanders Jackson, executive director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth & Reconciliation, have dedicated their lives to the eradication of racism and the promotion of peace, freedom, and health. In this video interview, Malika and Ainka discuss their involvement in the civil rights struggles in Selma, AL, and how they’re working towards Martin Luther King, Jr’s vision of a Beloved Community with healthy food and a healthy world for all.

Millions of people around the world are hungry or starving, and the number has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic. Food banks have stepped up hunger-fighting efforts, even more, to provide food for those in need. So what exactly are food banks, how do they work, and how do we help them serve real and nutritious food to the people who need them most?

Ocean Robbins sits down with Leah Penniman, food justice activist and the co-founder and co-director of Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, NY. Hear Leah’s take on racism in the US food and agricultural system, what’s being done about it, and how you can take action to build a healthier and more sustainable world for everyone.

COVID-19 doesn’t affect everyone equally. The main risk factors discussed by scientists have been age and pre-existing chronic disease. But the coronavirus has been especially lethal to people of color in the United States. What are the causes of this inequality, and are there things we can do about it?