Remember (Verb): To reconstitute or reassemble that which has been dismembered.
Dear friends,
Looking back on 2022, we reflect upon a year that gave rise to deeply contradictory narratives: Is the pandemic behind us or with us for good? Is the nationwide labor shortage rooted in worker empowerment or disempowerment? Has the country awakened to the realities of fascism and white supremacy or are racism and undemocratic forces more intractable than ever? Has the overturning of Roe v. Wade obliterated women’s rights or sparked a new feminist wave?
This conflicting terrain can be distressing to navigate. While there are no simple answers, most of us naturally crave comforting resolutions. But this contested narrative space is also where new worlds are imagined, incubated, and revealed—in the food system and beyond.
It is in this liminal space and creative spirit that we held our first in-person Real Food Media staff retreat in over three years. Over a couple of unseasonably warm early November days in Minneapolis, we reveled in the glow of each others’ company. We let our bodies remember the feeling of physical proximity, while acknowledging that we (and our world) are forever changed.
We re-emerged with a fresh mission statement and a strong sense that the twin goals of abolishing oppressive and carceral systems and creating a care economy should guide us into the new year. Until then, we are pleased to share this Impact Report with you, highlighting our work in 2022.
Thank you, as always, for truth-seeking and meaning-making alongside us.
Christina, Tiffani, Anna, and Tanya (pictured L-R below)
