We belong to the land and to our community.

Five key themes emerged from the stories, which we turned into statements that we will use to guide our work in the HCFPC going forward:

1. Nourishing food is a right of all living beings. 

2. Stories from our community teach us how to build a just and equitable food system. 

3. We get through challenges by taking care of each other. 

4. Food offers us joy, love, and celebration.

5. We belong to the land and to our community. 

Food insecurity and lack of access to fresh food is a complex issue that overlaps with many other social and economic challenges residents face, including high housing costs and limited housing availability, access to transportation, access to the internet, access to outdoor recreation and green spaces, and general ability to meet basic needs. These issues are driven by root causes including structural racism, inequitable distribution of resources, ageism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of oppression resulting in disparities in health outcomes. 

The HCFPC believes that it is people who are most impacted by food insecurity that must lead the way in designing a food system for all. We believe we must build collective power to influence change. Stories shape the way we see the world and highlighting the stories of those typically excluded from public conversations is a key strategy for building the future we dream of. 

We believe that food is an essential human right and until all people have access to affordable, healthy, locally grown food of their choice, we must continue to shine a light on these inequities and work toward changing them.  

We also believe that food is an important part of culture, community, and connection. In 2023 the United States Surgeon General announced the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in the United States. Sharing food is an essential part of our humanity and this project aims to lift up how food offers us joy, love, and celebration, even during times of struggle. 

The project was designed and led collaboratively by the HCFPC's Storytelling Circle, including: 

• Kristen Whitmore, Special Projects Coordinator, CES & Story Keeper, HCFPC

• Alexandra Mello, Community Story Archive Coordinator, HCFPC

• T Sogoba, Inclusive Engagement Specialist, CES & Capacity Building Coordinator, HCFPC

• Robby Armenti, Westhampton resident

• Roz Malkin, Chesterfield resident

• Kia Aoki, Northampton resident

• Laura Sheridan, Cummington resident

• KC Chapman, Northampton resident

• Lillian Baulding, Community Impact Storyteller, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

The project has been in collaboration with Iohann Rashi Vega, Indepedent Project Advisor & Audio Producer. It is also supported by Steve Collicelli, Communications Coordinator, HCFPC.

Most of the project team have lived experience of food insecurity.  

The idea for the Community Story Archive came about in 2022, just after the Hampshire County Food Policy Council launched. A group of two community members, Kia Aoki and KC Chapman, and one CES staff person, Kristen Whitmore, met in Kia's living room and began talking about how important it felt to capture the experiences, knowledge, and ideas of people who so often excluded from public conversations. The Storytelling Circle was formed shortly. The circle began meeting weekly, facilitated by Kristen Whitmore.

Through a collaborative process, the Storytelling Circle applied for funding from Mass Humanities and was awarded an Expand MA Stories grant. This, along with additional funds raised by the Collaborative for Educational Services, allowed the group to hire Iohann Rashi Vega, an audio-producer and adviser based in Holyoke. Together the group planned and implemented the project using HCFPC's shared governance model called sociocracy. 

In 2023, members of the Storytelling Circle trained in story gathering, oral history, and narrative strategy with Food Culture Collective. Two partners also trained with the National Public Housing Museum's Beauty Turner Academy of Oral History. Parters also trained directly with Iohann Rashi Vega. The Storytelling Circle hosted two storytelling workshops - one in Northampton and another in Chesterfield, to raise interest in the project. 

In late 2023 and 2024, partners conducted one-on-one story gathering sessions with over 25 Hampshire County residents. Conversations were audio-recorded by Iohann Rashi Vega and lasted 20 to 60 minutes. Storytellers were generous - sharing their time, wisdom, artwork, photos, and other artifacts to tell their stories. 

Then, the work became focused on editing. Alexandra Mello, a partner in the Storytelling Circle, was hired as the Community Story Archive Coordinator and spent many hours editing story transcripts into short clips and quotes that highlighted each story. Iohann spent many hours turning those into short audio clips that are featured on the website.

Together Alexandra Mello, Kristen Whitmore, Iohann Rashi Vega, T Sogoba (Inclusive Engagement Specialist, CES), and Steve Collicelli (Communications Coordinator, HCFPC) produced the graphic designs and materials for the Community Story Archive's traveling exhibit and online repository. The Storytelling Circle participated in decision-making throughout the entirety of the project. 

The online Community Story Archive will be permanently available on our website! 

From June 6th - June 28th the "Sharing Stories, Creating Change: Hampshire County Community Story Archive" exhibit will be on display at the Forbes Library Reading Room. Featuring visuals, written excerpts, and links to the audio stories stored in the online archive, the exhibit highlights each storyteller as well as themes that emerged from the collection. 

We plan to bring our exhibit to other locations througout the region over the next year! If you are interested in hosting the exhibit, please email Kristen at kwhitmore@collaborative.org. 

The Community Story Archive will be permanently available on our website. We hope that the Community Story Archive will serve as a tool and resource for people interested in engaging in food systems change into the future.

We see opportunities for legislators, public officials, and organizations who care about food justice to listen to these stories to better understand the issues communities are facing and to consider the solutions of those with lived experience of food insecurity when developing policies and programs. 

We hope that community leaders will integrate our values statements into their work, developing policies, systems, and environments that center our fundamental rights to food, land, culture, and community. 

We see opportunities for educators to bring these stories into the classroom to help students understand the systemic root causes of food insecurity, such as low wages, lack of affordable housing, and limited access to health care - and consider these when developing potential solutions.

We see opportunities for community members to listen to these stories to hear their own experiences reflected back and to feel seen, heard, and valued, knowing that their lives are important and their voices worthy of documentation.

Visit hcfpc.collaborative.org or email kwhitmore@collaborative.org