Welcoming New Partners - Food Justice NW Aurora
The Barton Institute is honored to welcome its newest program partner. We will now be providing ongoing fiscal sponsorship for Food Justice NW Aurora (FJNWA).
20%
About 20 percent of Aurora residents were born outside of the US
30%
A third of the population speaks a language other than English at home
This diversity of backgrounds brings with it a plethora of food traditions. FJNWA is building a multicultural, intergenerational, and intersectional movement for food justice and food sovereignty.
“Food sovereignty is a movement to ensure people have access to sufficient, healthy, and culturally appropriate food, and that local people are involved in the decision-making of how and what food is produced and consumed in the community,” explains FJNWA executive director Caitlin Matthews. Patti Iwasaki, a founding member of the Steering Committee, adds, “Our coalition is working to create a just, sustainable, and complete food environment by mobilizing people, organizations, and businesses.” The group also works to build community wealth and to advocate for policy and systems changes related to food.
FJNWA is the culmination of years of momentum-building. In fall of 2021, a core group of Northwest Aurora’s organizational and resident leaders formed a Steering Committee. They founded FJNWA in 2022. Then, in 2023, FJNWA launched efforts to lease unused greenhouses from the City of Aurora to create a community greenhouse for local food production and educational programming. The greenhouses will be a resource for gardeners and food producers from throughout the community who will be able to grow “starts” to extend the growing season and include a wide range of foods from their varied countries of origin.
FJNWA knew that with this new project and the increased funding that would come with it, they needed a fiscal sponsor that could help them grow to the next level.
“Because the Barton Institute focuses on helping local leaders create places of connections and opportunities, FJNWA was a perfect partner,” says David Miller, CEO of the Barton Institute. “We’re honored to help support the efforts of this community-driven organization.”