This week’s spotlight: all things food.

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Nikki Henderson—Executive Director of People’s Grocery in Oakland, which supports community-driven solutions to food insecurity—was raised by health-conscious community activists in a household with seven older foster brothers. Her whole life has been shaped by the marriage of social justice and healthy eating.

“I can’t detangle them. I’ve never been able to detangle them,” she says. “It lives very presently because Trayvon Martin was going to the liquor store to get Skittles and iced tea. That’s what he was doing when he was out late at night. That’s what many of our kids do.”

Her advice to people interested in getting involved in food justice in their community?

Be a translator who can reach out to people different from you. Don’t be afraid to start conversations about the messy overlap between health, poverty, power, and race.

“If you have the opportunity to be a bridge, be a bridge.”

Watch the video for how to do just that.

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Tell us about a time you were a bridge in conversation about a charged issue.