Our Commitments to DEIJA: Why Plant-Based and Food System Success Depends on Accountability
Written by: Annie Taranshansky
At the Plant Based Foods Association and our sister organization, the Plant Based Foods Institute, we envision a world where business and values harmonize to create a plant-based food system that respects the dignity and health of all living beings and the planet. While we can hold this vision for a more sustainable and equitable future, it is imperative that we recognize the harm and flaws within the design of our current food system in order to move forward. The “conventional” is failing. Our current food system is a complex organism that, at every turn, profits off of the mass exploitation of marginalized communities, individuals, animals, and land – land that, before its colonization, was originally owned, farmed, and stewarded by native Indigenous peoples. In the U.S. especially, we are facing a dire reality that is characterized by a disregard for the humanity of people and the sentience of animals, wide-scale environmental degradation, and, in turn, the pervasive lack of nutrient availability in Black and Brown communities.
Change Is Still Possible
While our present-day food system invokes significant harm across the fields of environmental justice, nutrition and health, social welfare, and animal justice, we are also posed with a unique opportunity to enact holistic change. We believe the plant-based foods industry has the potential to be a potent catalyst for positive change, inviting us to reimagine how we produce food and nourish communities across the U.S. and beyond. A food system that is designed to feed the plant-based foods industry can be positively all-encompassing, promoting resilience and regenerative progress amongst all communities… and that’s where we come in. As an organization working to harness the collective power of our innovative industry, it is imperative to us that all of our work be guided and fundamentally led by the pillars of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA). The time is now – and we must lead by example in promoting an industry culture that centers itself around holistic progress, sustainable business practices, collective action, and safe work environments.
Over the past year, PBFA has taken significant steps to address this responsibility, forming an internal working group of staff members (the DEIJA Committee) and spending time thoughtfully crafting our commitments to DEIJA. After countless structured, open-minded, and honest conversations, our DEIJA commitments came to life, and now act as a guiding pillar that underscores every aspect of our work. Our commitments are two-fold, addressing the need for equity and inclusion internal to PBFA/I, as well as externally to the broader industry and those whose welfare hinges on the long-term success (as we define it) of our food system.
Our Internal Commitments to DEIJA
As our Senior Director of Operations Margaret Barnard stated in an earlier piece about PBFA’s intentional workplace culture, “Our goal of systems change must start from the inside; we can’t change our food system on a broad scale using the same old playbook.” To us, leading by example starts from the inside out. Our commitments are multi-faceted, yet all share a common theme that values the life, personhood, psychological safety, and contributions from each individual in a talented and diverse workforce – beginning from our hiring process and laddering up to our leadership team. The same culture we hope to see ring throughout our industry and, equally, the same culture we envision will most optimally tackle the issues in our broader food system, must shine through in every aspect of our internal collaboration. Margaret continues, “We need the most talented people working at their optimal capacity, and if we continue to build a work environment that pushes aside ego to elevate all voices and all strengths –and puts our core values first– we’ll be unstoppable.” View our internal commitments here.
Our External Commitments to DEIJA
Our external commitments were crafted after a humble internal acknowledgement: We can and will show up better for those impacted not only by the larger and more complex issues of our food system, but, on a smaller-scale, the issues that persist within our industry itself. We acknowledge that there are industry barriers to entry, especially for BIMPOC (Black, Indigenous, MultiRacial People(s) of Color) communities, who often face outstanding prejudices and intentionally discriminatory systemic roadblocks as they fight to build a better world. It is the responsibility of our organization – as so much of our work is bridge-building – to ensure that there are equitable pipelines for individuals of all marginalized communities to equally participate in our industry. This responsibility defines how we build our programs, who we choose to partner with, and the kinds of conversations we allow ourselves to have. We envision a day that these commitments will become second-nature to our broader industry, a non-negotiable as we progress towards a brighter future – and we will do our absolute best to get there. View our external commitments here.
Accountability Doesn’t Stop Now
All of these commitments are contingent on our willingness to hold ourselves accountable – to continue having difficult, yet necessary conversations. At the end of the day, words are just words, but actions have the true potential for change. So how are we staying true to our commitments? For starters, the DEIJA Committee has enacted a four-pronged strategy for internal and external education and policy reform. The plan is to:
- Provide individual education internally,
- Provide references and standards for how our individuals engage externally,
- Improve our internal institutional policies and practices, and
- Guide our external work with membership and other community building, all in service of the principles of DEIJA.
Along with this guiding strategy, the committee continues to meet on a monthly basis, and now serves as a monitoring and accountability body; the group holds space for continued discussions, implements and tracks the progress of our organization-wide DEIJA objectives, and pools education and resources for our broader team.
We continue to acknowledge that change doesn’t happen overnight, neither is it necessarily linear. We want to cultivate an environment that leaves room for grace, that is tolerant to change, and that celebrates the teaching moments. The landscape of DEIJA is constantly ebbing and flowing and changing and growing as more voices are brought to the table – and the work is never over. As an organization, we pledge to do what needs to be done, and consistently, constantly, and enthusiastically improve how we advocate for all who are harmfully impacted by the systems that hold progress back.