Food Love by Might Be Vegan recently launched to provide plant-based food to those in need. The program focuses on families in the Black, Brown, and low-income communities who are experiencing food insecurity, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, and accounts for those not currently being served by food banks because of a lack of transportation or identification.
A woman asked Kimberly Barnes, founder of Might be Vegan and the Food Love initiative, regarding this project, “Why do we always have to segregate people by color? Why can’t it just be ‘low-income families’ PERIOD?”⠀
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Barnes found that low-income families are dying twice as often due to COVID-19 complications. Barnes drew on her previous experiences working at food banks, where she learned that most people were given sodium-laden, non-perishable foods that exacerbate existing conditions such as hypertension.
“Food Love by Might Be Vegan was born from a desire to want to see my people live” explains Kimberly Brown.
The story began in April when Barnes read, “The coronavirus is killing Black and Latino people in NYC at twice the rate that it’s killing white people, according to preliminary data…”⠀
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Soon, multiple states were reporting similar phenomena, and what may have been perceived as an isolated occurrence is now considered a macrotrend. ⠀
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Black people are reported to carry a 40% higher rate of hypertension and a 60% higher rate of diabetes compared to their white counterparts. Both illnesses have been tied to adverse COVID-19 outcomes.⠀
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In conjunction with the data, many of the frontline jobs— farmworkers, grocery workers, and transit workers—are held by members of the Black and Brown communities, exposing them more often to risk. The terrible reality of most of these communities was their lack of access to healthy, fresh foods, clean air, and green space.
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The Food Love program aims to combat these issues through delivering plant-based foods, which are known to reverse diet-related illnesses and build immune systems, straight to families’ doorsteps.⠀
Kimberly Barnes partnered with community organizers and those working in public health around the country to identify needs among the individuals they serve. Program volunteers then match the brands with individuals within their region so they are able to access fresh, healthy plant-based food that is delivered directly to them. The program also provides supplementary educational materials to families, which are designed to help them incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets. ⠀
“I’m not saying I want to be the ‘911’ for food, but I want to be as close as I can”, shares Barnes.
To help the Food Love initiative, donate through the GoFundMe link here.
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"Love" - Google News
June 08, 2020 at 04:00PM
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Food Love by Might Be Vegan Helps Minority Communities Get Plant Based Food with Direct-to-Door Delivery - VEGWORLD Magazine
"Love" - Google News
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