FOOD JUSTICE
Have an Impact
We believe that food is a basic human right and that everyone should have the
right and access to healthy, organic, culturally-appropriate food that comes from fair and sustainable means of production.
Do you like affordable, organic, and locally grown food? Visit us every Thursday at the CATA Community Garden in Bridgeton, NJ, at 80 Church St. from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM for our Community Market Day. Throughout the season, we will have fresh organic produce for sale at affordable prices. All proceeds from sales support the garden and CATA's Food Justice work. Check out our Facebook page each week to see what we have harvested and have available.
CATA has Organic Community Gardens in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland that provide the space for people to grow their food, practice cooperative group work, regain sustainable agricultural knowledge and build food sovereignty in their communities.
CATA Community Gardens
If you are interested in volunteering in one of our community gardens, we invite you to fill out the application here. It has no cost.
New Jersey
Bridgeton's Community Garden
Coordinator: Kathia Ramirez
Contact Information: 609-271-8578 (Phone calls, texts, WhatsApp)
Address: 80 Church St. Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Kathia Ramirez
Pennsylvania
Kennett Square Community Garden
Coordinator: Manuel Guzman
Contact Information: mguzman@cata-farmworkers.org
Address: Kennett Square PA: Grant Way and South St Kennett Square PA, 19348
Manuel Guzman
Maryland
Salisbury Community Garden
Coordinator: Leila Borrero Krouse
Contact Information: 410-572-5959
Address: Fitzwater St and Parson Rd. Its the park.) Near the Tabernacle Prayer Church, 143 Mitchell Rd, Salisbury, MD 21801
Leila Borrero Krouse
Food Justice Program
In the Food Justice Program, we fight for a more just food system – an alternative that values workers’ rights and is not dependent on the use of fossil fuels, pesticides, and exploitation.
We have Organic Community Gardens in NJ, PA, and MD which provide the space for people to: Grow their own food, practice working cooperatively in a group, reclaim sustainable agricultural knowledge, and build food sovereignty in their communities.
We provide education on Agro-ecology and Herbal Medicines. Members learn how to identify native plants and what their medicinal properties are and share their home herbal remedies with others.
CATA is also a founding member of the Agricultural Justice Project and helped to create the Food Justice Certification, a set of high-bar standards that when met create a just and fair food system for all.
CATA’S Youth Food Justice Crew
CATA'S Youth Food Justice Crew Has 9 New Interns!
On July 6, 2021, we kicked off our Summer Youth Food Justice Internship. This season we have tripled the number of interns in the program. Now the program has 9 participants. The first week was a success. On the first day, students got a Health and Safety Training around working on extremely high temperatures and a tool safety training.
The second day was a bit more challenging. Certain things are out of our control, like the weather. On this day, it was predicted that there would be a thunderstorm and lightning, so we had to change plans, but it all turned out ok. Students engaged in a lesson around courageous conversations and even got to act out some scenarios.
Kathia, Food Justice Coordinator and Erika, Youth Food Justice Assistant have been working endlessly to ensure our youth get an excellent educational and hands-on experience with Food Justice. The program will run until the end of August. Some of the things planned during this internship include visiting a local lavender farm, herbal medicine workshop, learning about a local organization, and so much more.
Learn to grow food, feed your community, and become a food justice activist! If you are between 14 - 19 years old, you are invited to join CATA's Youth Food Justice Crew at the Bridgeton, NJ, Community Garden!
If you would like to apply to join our program in Fall, please send an email to kramirez@cata-farmworkers.org. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram to receive updates about the application process.
Donate to CATA's Bridgeton Organic Community Garden
In 2020, the CATA Community Garden in Bridgeton started a weekly market with fresh, affordable organic produce. Your donations will be used to build an established infrastructure to support the garden and the market in the coming years. Funds raised will be used to purchase culturally appropriate plants and seeds as well as seeds to support out herbal medicine program.
FOOD JUSTICE ARTICLES
Panning out with Kathia Ramirez to build a U.S. food movement
Farm work is the most dangerous and lowest-paid occupation in the whole country. “Farmworkers labor long hours to earn more money,” Kathia says, “despite the toll it takes on their bodies, which can later lead to long-term illnesses. Common health risks are work-related musculoskeletal disorders and exposure to pesticides.”
Seeking an American Dream in Farm Country
Low pay, long hours, and unsafe working conditions mean the opportunity and security that migrant farmworkers seek often remains out of reach.
Through Her Eyes: The Struggle for Food Sovereignty
This publication honors and amplifies the voices of women around the world who are fighting for food sovereignty and creating just, sustainable communities that benefit all.
The People’s Agroecology Process: Unlocking Our Power Through Agroecology
This publication summarizes the overarching framework, practices and experiences of the protagonists of the People’s Agroecology Process.
El Sueño Americano ― The American Dream
Food Justice Coordinator Kathia Ramirez shares her perspective on the journey of immigrant farmworkers pursuing the American dream and shares why food justice is important on every level.
Community Garden Cultivates Organic Produce for Bridgeton’s Farmworkers
The Bridgeton Organic Community Garden, founded in 2012, is a key part of a strategy by one grassroots organization to ensure that the region’s farmworkers have affordable access to fresh produce for themselves and their families.
U.S Food Sovereignty Alliance - Our Story
Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agricultural systems (Nyéléni 2007).
En La Lucha No Hay Fronteras (In the Struggle There Are No Borders)
By Kathia Ramirez
Organizer, CATA (Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas/ The Farmworkers’ Support Committee)
Closing The Hunger Gap: from Charity to Justice
At the Closing the Hunger Gap conference in 2015, more than 500 food access organizations representing 41 different states and Canada came together to call for a strategic shift from charity to justice in our collective approach to ending hunger. This is their story, presented by WhyHunger
