Milwaukee Youth Missions Trip
- Israel Tutson
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
From Bronis Perteit - Do Good Community Connections Founder
Two years ago, I envisioned exposing our youth to another community facing poverty, social justice, and racial justice issues to inspire change. I wrote a grant, and we sponsored 14 individuals for our first youth missions trip to Milwaukee, WI. For seven days, they engaged in service-learning projects alongside 60 other youth from across the country, united in spreading love and hope through their service.
One of the organizations we worked with was All People’s Gathering Church, which was founded in 1991 as a multi-cultural congregation rooted in the Harambee community. They’ve been a staple in their community at this site since 1906 and have developed programs that meet the very basic needs of those who are the most vulnerable. It is at All People’s that the idea of Food Justice was birthed in us.
Food justice is the concept that everyone deserves equal access to healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant food, regardless of their race, income, or location.
It’s about fairness throughout the food system, from how food is grown and distributed to who benefits and who faces challenges, such as low wages for farmworkers or a lack of grocery stores in some neighborhoods.
Here’s a simple breakdown:
Equity in Access: Everyone should have access to nutritious, fresh food, not just people in wealthy areas.
Fair Treatment: Farmers, food workers, and producers should be paid fairly and work under safe, just conditions.
Sustainability: Food should be grown and distributed in ways that protect the environment and community health.
Community Power: Local communities should have a say in how their food systems operate. For example, they can support community gardens, farmers’ markets, or food co-ops.
So, food justice connects social justice, environmental justice, and public health. It asks not just “Do people have enough to eat?” but also “Are they being treated fairly in the food system, and is the food nourishing and sustainable?”
It was in this place of learning and serving, that we realized we, too, could Do Good and make a difference in our own community.
The rest was History!
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