Skip to content
Northwest Harvest
Donate Now
Find Partner Food Programs

Food is Pride

“Feeling outsidership in your own family creates this difference that I think comes through in my food. There are no rules—to me, that comes a lot from being queer.”

– Preeti Mistry, chef and activist

This story is part of The Meaning of Food, Northwest Harvest’s yearlong exploration of food’s meaning in our lives and communities.

SHARE YOUR STORY

Nourishing Liberation in Queer and Black Communities

June marks an intersectional celebration of queer and Black histories—Pride Month and Juneteenth—both honoring how marginalized communities have led powerful movements for liberation. At the center of these movements? Food.

When Food Becomes Resistance

For communities that have faced systemic violence for generations, keeping everyone fed with limited resources isn’t just about survival—it’s revolutionary. Food insecurity rarely exists alone; hunger intersects with housing instability, healthcare barriers, and employment discrimination.

Yet within this scarcity, something remarkable happens: communities get creative. They grow food in radical ways, organize labor equitably, honor cultural food histories, and share despite having little.

Pride—defined as “respect and appreciation for oneself and others as members of a group and especially a marginalized group”—manifests powerfully through food practices. The ways we produce, prepare, and share meals reflect the resilience and brilliance of our communities.

Forged Family: Breaking Bread Together

“The potluck epitomizes the idea of how much more you can have when you grow together…. Born of economic necessity and nurtured in political struggle […] potlucks fed a vision of a more equal world.”

— Karla Jay, Professor Emerita, Pace University

group of friends shares food at a picnic

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities have faced discrimination in nearly every aspect of public life—from employment to healthcare to religious spaces. Young queer people in particular often navigate the pain of family rejection, with studies showing that up to 40% of youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQIA+, despite representing only 3-5% of the general population.

In response, queer communities created their own safe spaces centered around food. The communal potluck became not just a meal but an act of resistance—a way to forge family bonds where biological ones had failed. These gatherings offered shelter from discrimination, nurtured freedom of expression, and provided unconditional acceptance that society often denied. Breaking bread together became a ritual of belonging.

Group shot of members of Kitchen Table Press wearing green, red, and yellow shirts with the name of the press in black letters

This creation of chosen family through food has deep parallels in Black communities, where Sunday dinners, church gatherings, and community cookouts have long provided spaces of kinship in a hostile world. When both identities intersect, the power multiplies. In 1980, Black lesbian feminists Audre Lorde and Barbara Smith founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. “We chose our name because the kitchen is the center of the home, the place where women in particular work and communicate with each other,” Smith wrote. The kitchen table became a powerful symbol of nourishment, political organizing, and cultural preservation.

Despite—or perhaps because of—marginalization, these food-centered gatherings open doorways to freedom and authentic joy. The safety of these spaces allows people to live openly, expressing themselves through art, politics, fashion—and definitely through cooking.

Alex Titus, Northwest Harvest Internal Communications Manager, finds this belonging through both their queer identity and connection to food:

“I’m just me. In my view of the world, gender is fake, so there is no such thing as being queer because there is no such thing as an assumed binary or default orientation. I’m just authentic to myself. I’m free and joyful and I can be anything I want to be.”

In queer community gatherings around food, Alex has been empowered to express themselves authentically without fear. For them and countless others across both Black and queer communities, meals become more than sustenance—they transform into sanctuaries where family is defined not by blood but by love, acceptance, and the simple yet profound act of sharing food. Read more about Alex’s story.

The Hunger Gap: Food Insecurity in Marginalized Communities

Discrimination drives hunger across marginalized groups. A 2022 survey found that more than one in three LGBTQIA+ adults reported experiencing discrimination in the past year—rising to more than half for LGBTQIA+ people of color, people with disabilities, and transgender or non-binary people.

The numbers tell a sobering story:

  • 15% of LGBTQIA+ adults reported not having enough to eat, compared to 10.4% of non-LGBTQIA+ adults
  • 6% of transgender adults reported food insufficiency
  • LGBT people of color were three times more likely than white non-LGBT adults to face food insufficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • 22% of LGBTQIA+ adults live in poverty

These disparities have historical roots. In 1969, as the Stonewall uprising sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, the Black Panther Party started their Free Breakfast for School Children program after seeing hunger’s impact on Black children. Party members collected grocery donations, consulted nutritionists, and served free meals to kids in Oakland.

Black Panther member serves free breakfast to kids
A Black Panther Party member prepares bags of food for distribution of the Panther Free Food Program at the Oakland Coliseum at the Black Panther Community Survival Conference, March 1972, in Oakland, California.
photo by Stephen Shames

Within a year, they fed more than 20,000 children across the nation. At a Senate hearing, the national School Lunch Program administrator admitted that the Panthers fed more poor school children than the entire State of California. The work the Black Panthers did would ultimately make way for the U.S. government’s free school meals programs.

Growing Change: Reclaiming Our Agricultural Roots

Two young people crouch down and plant bulbs

“Queerness, which is about inclusivity, is about embracing difference, and cherishing it. That’s actually good for agriculture. It’s good for the crops that we’re producing. It’s good for the planet.”

— Benedict Morrison, member, Quinta

Small-scale and marginalized farmers have always struggled to access land, equipment, funding, and resources. These challenges are magnified for queer farmers and farmers of color, who face additional institutional barriers despite often using more environmentally sustainable practices.

Yet today’s agricultural landscape is changing. The National Young Farmer Survey reveals that 63.5% of young farmers in the U.S. are not cis men, and 24.2% identify with some type of queer identity—a dramatic shift from the older farming community dominated by white cis men.

This change represents a reclaiming of agricultural traditions that were disrupted by colonization and enslavement. During the transatlantic slave trade, many enslaved African women braided rice or other grains into their hair or their children’s hair during the Middle Passage to ensure they would have food for the journey. Later, these agricultural skills shaped Southern cuisine, with ingredients like okra and rice becoming essential to dishes like gumbo.

Despite this increasing representation, marginalized farmers continue to struggle financially and psychologically. A University of Illinois study found that LGBTQIA+ people in farm work are over three times more likely to experience depression and suicidal intent than the general population.

Man stands in field row and collects bell peppers

Celebrating Liberation Through Food

“We are powerful because we have survived.”

— Audre Lorde, Black lesbian feminist poet

Both Pride Month and Juneteenth commemorate resistance to oppression and celebrate community resilience through distinctive food traditions.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to ensure all enslaved people were freed—a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Traditional celebrations feature red foods: watermelon, strawberries, barbecue, and red velvet cake. As Chef Chris Scott explains: “The red symbolizes the blood that was shed by Black Africans and Black Americans during slave capture, slave travel, and slave trade here in the States and in the Caribbean.”

Guests filling plates at summer potluck
rear view of person holding up sign with text "Taking Back Our Pride" with graphic of a Black person grabbing a rainbow banner

Pride celebrations similarly honor resistance, commemorating the 1969 Stonewall uprising when queer people fought back against police violence. Today’s Pride events often feature community potlucks and shared meals that embody those revolutionary values.

Food Justice Today: By Us, For Us

“It is time for [Black trans] voices to be heard, bellies to be full, and hearts to be fulfilled”

— Ianne Fields Stewart, Founder, The Okra Project

Modern food justice initiatives continue these legacies of community care and resistance. The Okra Project, founded by Black trans activist Ianne Fields Stewart, provides healthy food directly to Black trans people facing hunger—embodying the intersection of queer and Black identities. Monetary donations enable trans chefs to cook free meals in people’s homes or distribute prepared food to those without shelter. The project also offers cooking classes to foster independence.

These initiatives recognize that the most effective solutions come from within communities themselves, particularly at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities.

Nourishing Our Movements

“I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. It is an act that can be met with hostility, exclusion and violence. It can also lead to love, understanding, transcendence and community.”

— Janet Mock, trans activist and writer

Rear view image of multi-ethnic couple embracing and waving rainbow flag at pride event

Building reliable food access for marginalized communities can seem nearly impossible in the face of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and economic exclusion. Yet these groups understand deeply how food justice strengthens solidarity and pride both within and across communities.

Food is powerful. Pride in our food histories—complex as they may be—and the radical ways we share food fuel both our bodies and our movements. A soup can might change the world, just like the first brick thrown at Stonewall.

We might all navigate food systems differently based on our identities, and our definition of family may vary, but the role of food in expressing pride in our communities remains universal and vital.

Change Makers Leading the Way 

Across Washington, our partner organizations are building more just food systems. Learn more about their work in the community.

ROOTS Young Adult Shelter

ROOTS logoROOTS Young Adult Shelter – [Seattle, WA]: ROOTS Young Adult Shelter is Washington state’s largest overnight shelter specifically for young adults ages 18–25. They provide a safe, welcoming, and affirming space for up to 45 young people each night in the University District of Seattle. The shelter is low-barrier, which means young people don’t need an ID on their first night and don’t need to provide proof of housing or income to stay at the shelter. In addition to a warm meal and a safe place to sleep, guests can access case management, housing navigation, wellness supports, employment help, and connection to community resources. In particular, ROOTS acknowledges that LGBTQIA+ youth face greater risks of homelessness than their peers, and higher rates of assault, trauma, and violence. ROOTS offers all young people a safe community where they are treated with dignity and respect.

ROOTS also runs a program called Friday Feast: an all-ages meal served every Friday. Friday Feast was launched in 1996 by former ROOTS Executive Director Sinan Demirel. It started as a way of honoring the memory of his mother, a woman dedicated to service and hospitality. The program began as an experiment – Sinan started dumpster diving and petitioning local bakeries and grocery stores to glean their throwaways. Since then, Friday Feast has served well over 175,000 meals. Friday Feast is unique in that it aims to provide a restaurant-quality meal for those who need it without question – everyone is welcome. Friday Feast still operates almost entirely on donated materials and volunteer labor.

Martha’s Pantry

Martha's Pantry LogoMartha’s Pantry – [Vancouver, WA]
Founded in 1986 as an outreach of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Gentle Shepherd, Martha’s Pantry is focused on serving those living with HIV and AIDS in Southwest Washington. In the early 1980s, AIDS was devastating the gay community with financial ruin and ending many lives too early. In Vancouver, concerned individuals began buying and distributing food to people from the trunks of their cars. That effort grew to become what is now Martha’s Pantry. Today, Martha’s Pantry provides food for 30-40 client families each month, and distributes personal hygiene items, household cleaning supplies, pet food, food preparation and storage items, as well as clothing and household items donated to the pantry. At Martha’s Pantry, the concern for their friends and community goes beyond basic survival to include personal dignity and quality of life.

Spokane AIDS Network

SAN logo Spokane AIDS Network – [Spokane, WA]: SAN, also known as the Spokane AIDS Network, seeks to empower people at risk of, or affected by, HIV/AIDS through education, outreach, and advocacy. SAN was established in 1985 as an informal network of friends, medical caregivers, and concerned citizens to coordinate services for people living with HIV and AIDS in the Spokane area. SAN hosts a market food pantry that is open weekly and provides protein-rich items and fresh produce and offers delivery every other week. The pantry also includes housewares, hygiene, clothing items, and pet food. SAN prepares and distributes holiday pantry bags so that people can share a meal in community and celebrate together. SAN also provides emergency services, organizes community events, and offers HIV prevention, education and supplies.

SAN marching at Pride

Get Involved:

Get Involved

Food is Pride artwork

True nourishment means bringing our whole selves to the table. What’s a dish you eat or make that makes you feel proud?

Share your Food is Pride story:

SHARE YOUR STORY

Follow along at @NWHarvest on Instagram and Facebook, and join the conversation using #MeaningOfFood.
Together, we’re weaving a deeper understanding of food’s role in creating a more equitable future.

Citations: