We want to empower people to understand the injustices in the history and current state of our food system and to take action to create a local, culturally-relevant food future.
We founded the Food Justice Initiative in 2021 as a platform to support the new Race, Climate and Food Program at Falmouth High School, MA. This program is hopefully just the first in a series of efforts to engage our community in fully realizing a fair future where we can learn from, and overcome, historic injustices and take action to ensure a fair food future in a changing climate.
We are living and working on the ancestral lands of the Wampanoag People who continue to thrive in the region despite centuries of displacement, land-theft, genocide and enforced assimilation undertaken by white settlers. We are committed to knowing our Wampanoag neighbors better and including their voices in our work.
André is a Marine Resource Management Specialist at NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center. A two-time HBCU graduate, he earned a BS of Marine Environmental Science from Elizabeth City State University and a MS of Marine-Estuarine Environmental Science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. André is a farming enthusiast and has experience in animal husbandry. He is a course contributor to the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program, a diversity effort to bring students from under-represented backgrounds into the environmental science field.
Ben is an Assistant Professor of Oceanography at the Sea Education Association, where he teaches environmental research and communication. He is also the Course Director for the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program. When not teaching, Ben can be found on his home farm in Falmouth thinking of new ways to grow vegetables year round.
Matt is a system designer for Cotuit Solar LLC. Since graduating from Falmouth High and UMass Amherst he has worked in education, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy. He has participated in various local sustainability initiatives, working for Compost With Me LLC and Nobska Farms Inc., and volunteering for various farming and gardening projects across town.
Curator/Co-founding Member, Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum & Cultural Center
Director of Policy and Systems Design at Schumacher Center for a New Economics
Horticulturist
Garden Educator
Teacher, Falmouth Public Schools
Water Program Director and Associate Scientist, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Attorney at Law
Falmouth Selectboard Member
Chief Operating Officer, Mizar Imaging
Co-Director, Woods Hole Partnership Education Program
Falmouth Selectboard Member