Food Podcast: Pittsburgh food bank’s mission for equity, diversity and inclusion

On this episode of the Food Podcast presented by Clearview Federal Credit Union, we take a look back at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s Food Justice is Social Justice Initiative.

It has been one year since the food bank launched the initiative. The goal is to create awareness about social inequality while educating the food bank’s service area of numerous organizations in the region that are focused on ending racism and creating equality. The initiative was launched following the death of George Floyd, but it has grown to not only give organizations a platform but also to create partnerships with the food bank.

“We highlighted The Latino Community Center as part of this initiative, and they are distributing boxes of food to the families they serve,” said communications senior specialist Beth Burrell. “Oftentimes the families they serve speak Spanish as their primary language. Sometimes that language barrier can be such a challenge for individuals to get connected to assistance. By removing that language barrier and making food available at an organization where the individual is already comfortable, I think it’s such a win-win.”

This year, the food bank added an expert in equity, diversity and inclusion. Godfrey Bethea is the vice president of Equity, People and Culture at the food bank.

Bethea said it’s important to understand EDI when it comes to the food bank’s mission to feed our communities:

• Equity is having to meet your customers where they are. As far as providing food to the most vulnerable, a one-size-fits-all approach does not meet the needs of everyone. You must know what services they need, where they need it, how they need it.

• Diversity is about understanding that you cannot look at your customer base holistically. Differences exist geographically (between neighborhoods), as well as cultural differences.

• Inclusion is the ability to retain customers. Have we taken the time to know and understand them as individuals and treat them respectfully?

Bethea said EDI is also identifying barriers and eliminating them. Bethea said this is key in not only understanding communities but also breaking down barriers to food access and food security.

“When we’re providing services to the community, we need to understand the community. We need to be reflective of the community. Just like how internally we want to understand our cultural differences, externally it’s important to understand the community’s perspectives and barriers,” Bethea said. “We do that by being part of the conversation. Being out there. When we understand the barriers, the food bank starts becoming that ally.”

To learn more about the initiative, visit pittsburghfoodbank.org.

Listen: The Food Bank’s mission for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion