Setting the table for racial justice: highlights from The Gathering Table summit

In June, we hosted The Gathering Table, a summit on racial justice in food and farming, in collaboration with Eating Better and AFN Network+. This inaugural summit was co-designed with members of our Food and Racial Justice Working Group, responding to a clear need for space where food systems and anti-racism work can unite; to connect, reflect, and take meaningful steps forward together.

Our aims

• Support tangible and lasting change in food justice and racial equity.

• Build a shared understanding and language for collaboration and mutual learning.

• Encourage post-event follow-up, including future sessions and funding opportunities.

• Above all, prioritise genuine connection - with each other, our stories, and the wider community.

This work is a process. We know we can’t solve racism in a single day, and no one left with a tidy to-do list. What we hoped people would leave with was:

• A clearer sense of the change we need.

• Ideas for how we can work together as a movement.

• The energy to carry this work forward.

We invited people to connect meaningfully, set intentions, and consider how we can hold one another accountable in our shared work. We aimed to curate a space that felt warm, open, joyful, curious, connected, respectful, and radical.

The day: stories, connections, action

The day began with a storytelling workshop facilitated by Dawn Dublin, founder of Black Butterfly. Dawn explored the powerful symbolism of food as connection, culture, heritage, identity, medicine, resistance, and more. She shared how food stories have informed her work and create empathy, agency, and solidarity. Participants then shared their own food stories, which wove together into a beautiful tapestry of experience, identity, and meaning by the end of the session.

The programme continued with:

• Panel Discussion: Decolonising the Food System

• Afternoon Workshops:

  • Solidarity & Allyship: How to Create Brave Spaces

  • Decolonial Decision Making

  • Embodying the Power of Food Identities

• Optional Networking & Connection Space

Detailed session summaries will follow soon as part of this blog series.

Outcomes and reflections

Participants left energised and committed to taking meaningful action toward food justice and racial equity. 

Many expressed a strong desire to remain engaged in the network, continue the conversations, and build on the connections they made. They recognise the strength of collective power in driving lasting change. Others are seeking out local food projects to deepen their understanding and get involved on the ground. 

The event sparked deep personal reflection, with participants exploring how their own food cultures, identities, and practices intersect with broader systems of power.

• Commitments included applying a decolonial lens to their professional work.

• Workplaces were identified as key spaces for transformation.

• Attendees plan to:

  • Share their learning with colleagues.

  • Explore ways to embed greater understanding in their roles.

  • Create brave spaces for open dialogue.

• There is a shared intention to use this momentum to feed into longer-term initiatives, helping to ensure the event’s impact continues well beyond the day.

The sense of motivation and connection was clear. As one participant noted:

“Just thank you! It was a really inspiring, energising and informative day that didn't shy away from the challenges of this work. It was well-paced and the efforts to make everyone feel welcome and included were really effective. I left feeling hopeful about change being possible, and I loved how the tone of the day; a gentle, caring, open energy which reflected the changes we want to see in the food system as we work towards decolonising it. Really excellent.”

Further reading and get involved

If you are working on justice issues and are are interested in joining our food and racial justice working work, please fill in this form. 

• Racial Equity Tools Glossary
• Sankofa Report: British Colonialism and the UK Food System
• Jumping Fences: land, food and racial justice in Britain
• Pathways to Land: Exploring financing for BPOC farmers to gain land security in England

Follow us over the coming weeks as we publish deeper dives into the sessions and share resources, reflections, and ways to get involved.