Mutual aid teach-in for food justice
Passport to Change, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Food Systems Leadership Coalition gathered students, alumni, and campus partners for a teach-in about food insecurity.
School of Social Work | Room 305
Bare-bones agenda
- 6:30 PMDoors open
- 6:45 PMCarmella Stewart, FSLC
- 7:00 PMJustin & Avleen, Husky Nutrition Club
- 7:15 PMMarissa, Food Lifeline
- 7:30 PMPassport to Change
- 7:45 PMKevin Khan, Passport to Change
- 8:00 PMMarcus Mason-Kinsey, SDS
- 8:15 PMCommunity discussion
- 8:30 PMTeach-in concludes
More Details
6:30 PM
Doors open
Attendees arrived early to network with one another and enjoy snacks before we kicked off the teach-in.
6:45 PM
Coalition Building
Presenter: Carmella Stewart, FSLC
Carmella shared how the Food Systems Leadership Coalition mapped out coalition building—identifying a problem, recruiting across communities, crafting a shared mission, gathering feedback, and taking action—to help organizers replicate the model when building their own coalitions.
View presenter slides: Coalition Building7:00 PM
The value of coalition
Presenter: Justin & Avleen, Husky Nutrition Club
Justin and Avleen introduced the Husky Nutrition Club, a student-led group building bridges between hard science, public health, education, and lived experience to make nutrition knowledge accessible to everyone. They showed how their work connected directly with broader campus efforts, emphasizing that community-driven knowledge and collaboration are essential when institutions fall short.
View presenter slides: The value of coalition7:15 PM
Network Capacity, Network Resilience, Risk & Mitigation Strategies
Presenter: Marissa, Food Lifeline
Marissa, a senior social work student who was completing her practicum at Food Lifeline, outlined the organization’s mission to meet immediate hunger needs while building long-term change. She shared insights from their 300+ partner agencies, highlighted network capacity and resilience goals, and invited attendees to consider how collective, student-led action can strengthen local food justice efforts.
View presenter slides: Network Capacity, Network Resilience, Risk & Mitigation Strategies7:30 PM
Understanding Washington State food and security policy
Presenter: Passport to Change
Passport to Change provided a comprehensive overview of Washington State’s food insecurity policy.
View presenter slides: Understanding Washington State food and security policy7:45 PM
Food Insecurity Interviews
Presenter: Kevin Khan, Passport to Change
Kevin Khan presented his work interviewing people navigating food insecurity. Kevin, a Cinema and Media Studies major at the University of Washington, focused on film and documenting the lived experiences of people impacted by homelessness, ensuring their stories inform policy conversations.
View presenter slides: Food Insecurity Interviews8:00 PM
Survival Programs and Solidarity
Presenter: Marcus Mason-Kinsey, SDS
This presentation dug into how today’s student hunger, shrinking basic-needs programs, and attacks on disability rights mirrored earlier eras of austerity. It connected Black Panther survival programs, the 1977 Section 504 sit-ins, and the fractured history of SDS–Panther relations to the challenges campuses face now. The session showed how fragmentation kills momentum, why solidarity is structurally necessary, and how modern survival-program organizing can rebuild power across student communities.
View presenter slides: Survival Programs and Solidarity8:15 PM
Community discussion
Open discussion where attendees shared reflections, named resource gaps, and mapped next steps together.
8:30 PM
Teach-in concludes
Closing acknowledgments and wrap-up; attendees were invited to continue conversations informally.