Third Eye Oakland
Food insecurity in California’s Bay Area is not new – it has always been tied to the social and economic inequalities that are part of our communities’ everyday experiences. And when COVID-19 began, food security worsened.
Many people think that hunger needs went down as the pandemic eased, but that hasn’t been the case. By 2021, many food distribution programs were no longer around, but people in the community in which I work and live – Oakland, CA – still needed them. Mutual aid became central to my work at the Health for Oakland’s People and Environment (HOPE) Collaborative to feed families in the face of food insecurity and hunger.
At HOPE, we leaned on our network and communities to build our own systems of collective care – one of which is our Community Food Distribution Program.
By partnering with Third Eye Soul Kitchen and Cocina del Corazon, we’ve been able to distribute over 250 meals a month to our community members and our network of “Town Fridges” – mutual aid food pantries that communities source and access for free meals across Oakland.
