Next Economy Now is a weekly social impact podcast sharing stories & dialogue from the front lines of the new economy. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or wherever you find your podcasts.

Food sovereignty is concerned not only with access to food, but also with community power, economic self-determination, and efforts to address historical harms. Ali Anderson, Founder and Co-Executive Director of Feed Black Futures, joins Erin Axelrod to explore how food sovereignty can address the harms of incarceration and land dispossession. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience in public health, birth work, and food justice, Ali shares how her path from doula work to farming led to the creation of Feed Black Futures.

The conversation explores how Feed Black Futures started during the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic and grew into a movement that invests in Black and Indigenous farmers, develops community leadership, and builds collective power. Ali explains how mutual aid can help shift power, why connecting small farmers with values-aligned markets matters, and how solidarity economies offer alternatives to business as usual. She also shares stories of farmers whose work demonstrates the power of food, mentorship, and community investment.

Additionally, Ali examines the relationship between climate resilience, land ownership, and economic justice, highlighting the knowledge Black and Indigenous farmers bring to caring for land and communities. Listen to discover how food sovereignty can help build more resilient, self-determined communities and economies.

---

What You’ll Learn:

Learn how Ali’s journey from birth work to farming led to the creation of Feed Black Futures. [0:01:52]
Discover how mutual aid and community leadership can shift power and strengthen food sovereignty. [0:05:23]
Explore how Feed Black Futures invests in Black farmers and connects them with values-aligned markets. [0:09:42]
Understand how solidarity economies offer alternatives to business-as-usual economic systems. [0:13:22]
Discover how farmer training, mentorship, and investment can help Black farmers and community-led food systems. [0:16:28]
Explore how land, economic justice, and Black and Indigenous agricultural knowledge intersect with climate resilience. [0:23:47]

---

Memorable Quotations:

“At Feed Black Futures, our mission is to nourish communities, advance climate resilience, and build Black food economies as a means of addressing historical harm caused by incarceration and land dispossession.” — Ali Anderson [0:04:40]

“We are feeding those folks so they can participate in the food sovereignty movement, but not just feeding with food, but feeding with political education, with membership benefits. We are building collective power through a Black queer abolitionist lens.” — Ali Anderson [0:09:14]

“The new world is possible, and is already happening.” — Ali Anderson [0:15:52]

“Everyone has a role in the revolution.” — Ali Anderson [0:33:41]

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Ali Anderson – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-ali-anderson/

Feed Black Futures – Website: https://www.feedblackfutures.org/

Feed Black Futures – Resources: https://www.feedblackfutures.org/resources

Feed Black Futures – Mutual Aid Fund: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/peer-to-peer/support-our-mutual-aid-fund

Feed Black Futures – Leadership Council: https://www.feedblackfutures.org/leadership-council

Feed Black Futures – Partners: https://www.feedblackfutures.org/about-us

Huerta del Valle – Website: https://www.huertadelvalle.org/

National Bail Out – Website: https://www.nationalbailout.org/