“This day and time we need to stick together and support each other for food and the common good.”
This March, RAFI held its tenth Come to the Table Conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, tackling the theme “Food & The Common Good.” Through keynote conversations, panels, workshops, and a storytelling night, the conference was a place for stakeholders to discuss the ways in which our food systems are failing to meet this shared goal and how to take steps together to make a difference.
“What I’d like to see is a shared vision and strategy of how we are going to end hunger with good food together.”
The conference opened with a panel that answered the questions “Where are we seeing threats to the common good? And where are we seeing glimpses of hope?” Panelists included Patrick Brown, a fourth-generation family farmer, Dr. Derek Hicks, Professor of Religion at Wake Forest University, and Wendy Peters Moschetti, the Executive Director of Nourish Colorado. Each brought their own perspectives on the food system to the conversation.
Brown talked about what he’s learned through growing food and operating a diversified farm business. “We have to get back to the land and grow our own food,” Brown began. To that end, Dr. Hicks spoke about the Black Church’s role in maintaining and establishing food sovereignty, citing the work of minister and civil rights leader Pastor Vernon Johns, who preceded Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. For Johns, Dr. Hicks maintained, “the church had to be about social entrepreneurship, land sovereignty, and the control of food.” Indeed, “the coalescence between faith and spirit and church and food and sovereignty and ownership was the way to feed the whole person.” Brown’s work on his own farm reflects this hope: their farm diversifies production so they can pivot when threats outside their control arise (such as policy changes, funding limitations, or climate change). “That’s one of the ways I’ve seen our farm grow over the generations: we don’t put all our eggs in one basket.”
“We are currently living in a system of winners and losers,” Peters Moschetti said, “but I think what you’re trying to do is different: if we actually build structures that intentionally work for those who are currently marginalized, that intentionally removes oppression, then you’re going to build a food system that works best for everybody.”
Tianna Gaines-Turner and Mariana Chilton followed with our first keynote conversation, detailing their partnership and leadership with the Witnesses to Hunger Program, a project that platforms mothers’ and caregivers’ lived experiences to inform policymakers. The pair have been working together for over 18 years, speaking out and inspiring others to speak out on the policies, programs, and people that limit and cripple people experiencing poverty.
“This is not easy work,” Gaines-Turner said. “This is very hard. But we cannot give up. We have to continue to make sure that we hold those accountable who make decisions.”
One attendee said, “The speakers were a perfect match for the current world we are in politically, socially, and culturally…People who are called to do this work find each other, and that connection was felt throughout the conference.”
On the first night, attendees gathered at the Reynolds Place Theatre to hear a night of storytelling and music. Musician and songwriter Omar Ruiz-Lopez opened the evening with music, followed by five personal stories connected to Food & The Common Good. The stories tackled personal, but universal truths, like justice, trust, and dignity.
“Being a steward of this work means removing the ‘I’ and replacing it with ‘us,’” storyteller Elliott Royal said. “Because food is the common good. It connects us, it heals us, and it reminds us that we are all worthy of care.”
Remarking on the storytelling night, one attendee noted, “The night was very moving and showcased our humanity.”
Day 2 of the conference kicked off with Dr. Rebecca de Souza’s keynote speech entitled “Charity, Hunger, and the Nonprofit Industrial Complex.” Dr. de Souza argues that while nonprofit workers and organizations are often compassionate and caring, the systems that they operate within limit, slow, and subtly oppose the very progression for which those nonprofits are striving. Highlighting the role of neoliberalism in the development of anti-poor perspectives and policies, she then reframes hunger as a systemic problem requiring collective power to overcome.
“The case I want to make today is […] against something much larger: the political and economic system that organizes, contains, and sometimes weaponizes our care,” de Souza said. “Systemic charity often works to absorb individual compassion and depoliticizes the conditions that cause hunger.”
Following her keynote, de Souza facilitated a panel of local food security experts to discuss their experiences: Angelica Espinal of Una Bendición, Renai Wisley of Second Harvest Food Bank, and Tonya Hairston of Crisis Control. The trio discussed navigating funding constraints, going beyond food distribution, and addressing stigma. “It’s more than just about food,” Espinal shared.
During a discussion about pushing back on the cultural stigma and shame that pantry visitors face, Wisley reflected on her personal experience with pantries: “Nobody heard the things I needed; they only assumed what I needed.” The panelists emphasized treating visitors with transparency and respect, and truly listening to them, to create a supportive environment.
These experts agree that offering their communities resources about health, food, and finances, as well as creating a safe space to connect, is what creates real change. “I am proud of these neighbors … they are eating better, they are choosing better … based on what they are getting from a food pantry,” says Hairston.
“Coming to this conference has been a breath of fresh air during challenging times,” one attendee shared. “[The conference] was timely and helped solidify bonds,” another noted.
We share the highlights from the keynotes and panels because they were a memorable and meaningful shared experience, grounding the learning at the conference, but so much of the real learning occurs off the stage. As always, we are inspired by the conversations that you can never plan for – in line for a delicious meal, after an insightful workshop, or in the pews during a break.
We often hear that the Come to the Table Conference is a “coming home” conference, where relationships are renewed, and ideas are nurtured. We’re already excited for you to “come home” in 2028, but we hope you will engage with us before then. Join us this May for our Meeting the Moment retreat and stay tuned for more information about future events.
Photography by Molly Herman-Gallow
