Sowing seeds of justice

In the wake of World War I, Quakers and the newly formed AFSC began providing food for children in danger of starvation in war-torn Europe. In the following years, they would feed hundreds of thousands of children in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Russia. Although they had no way of knowing it, their efforts would grow into a century-long commitment to food justice that continues to this day. 

Rooted in Quaker values, AFSC works for a world where no one goes hungry, where communities have the resources they need to thrive, and where food systems promote equity and stewardship of our environment. 

Today, it would be difficult to find any organization in the world that has worked for food justice for as long, in as many different places and ways. Here’s a look back at our history.

Post World War I to 1930s 

From World Wars I and II to the current crisis in Gaza, AFSC has delivered food aid to people facing war and other disasters. Our efforts have taken different forms to meet community needs. 

In the 1920s and 1930s, AFSC provided food to mining communities in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. We worked with local partners to help people cultivate cooperative gardens to grow food for themselves and their neighbors. 

Our impact grew when AFSC Executive Secretary Clarence Pickett formed a key connection with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. He traveled with her around the country to visit communities suffering from the Great Depression. Their shared concerns helped AFSC influence federal New Deal policies that laid the foundation for today’s social safety net. This was one of the earliest examples of AFSC advocating for systemic change based on our direct work with communities. 

1940s-1960s 

During the mid-20th century, our efforts expanded beyond immediate aid to confront the root causes of hunger and inequality. From Appalachian coal towns to California farm worker camps, we witnessed how hunger intertwined with labor exploitation and racial discrimination. We began to link food security with broader struggles for economic justice and civil rights. 

In the 1950s, AFSC joined with migrant farmworkers organizing for basic services, such as access to water and safe, clean housing. This work evolved into Proyecto Campesino in Visalia, California. This program supported political organizing, offered citizenship classes, and kept immigrants informed on issues affecting them. 

AFSC staff also played a key role in the struggle to establish the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. We provided meeting places, collected funds for strikers, and paid the salary of the union’s chief negotiator. In 1975, UFW head Cesar Chavez acknowledged how essential AFSC’s support had been to the UFW. In turn, we acknowledged the great value of participating in the union’s “practical demonstration of a nonviolent movement.” Today, AFSC’s work with farmworkers is as vibrant as ever in California’s Central Valley, Oregon and Washington, New Mexico, and many communities around the world. 

During the 1960s, AFSC collaborated with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others in the Poor People’s Campaign. The campaign brought hunger and poverty to the forefront of American consciousness, tying them to the broader issues of economic and racial inequity. It also created a coalition of poor and working people. 

The impact of the Poor People’s Campaign was significant. Within a year, food programs launched in the 1,000 neediest counties in the U.S., and Congress appropriated $243 million to expand school lunches to more hungry children, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The federal government also began planning a new nutrition assistance program for mothers and children. That became known as the vital WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program.

1970s-1990s 

Over the years, AFSC has partnered with communities worldwide to build sustainable food systems and promote food sovereignty. Our efforts are rooted in the knowledge that lasting peace grows from well-nourished communities with control over their own resources. 

In the Pacific Northwest, AFSC supported Native Americans in their struggle for fishing rights in the 1960s and ’70s. We published the book “Uncommon Controversy," which championed Native respect for the environment and helped shift public opinion in favor of Native rights. 

In Honduras, AFSC worked in solidarity with liberation movements in Latin America through much of the 1980s and beyond to oppose U.S. military intervention. One result of that work in Honduras was the formation of COMAL (Alternative Community Marketing Network). The independent organization has since helped thousands of farmers access credit and markets while building a more equitable rural economy. 

In North Korea, we have collaborated with local farmers to boost crop production amid food shortages. This partnership has helped farmers improve food security while bridging divides amid geopolitical tensions. These efforts are part of AFSC’s longstanding work to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, which continues to this day.

2000s to the present  

Today, AFSC's food justice work reflects the multifaceted, interconnected nature of global food systems. Our projects span continents and approaches, but they are all rooted in the knowledge that just, sustainable food systems emerge from the wisdom and leadership of local communities. 

In Africa, AFSC has supported community food production in Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, helping build food security and resilience. 

In Guatemala and El Salvador, we have helped Indigenous communities grow traditional crops, reclaim ancestral farming techniques, and move toward food sovereignty. 

In Los Angeles and New Orleans, community gardens supported by AFSC serve as spaces for gathering, community organizing, and growing food to meet community needs. 

In New Mexico, we collaborate with historic land-based communities to protect access to land and water. Our work ranges from helping local farmers develop climate-resilient farming techniques to ensuring more low-income children have access to locally grown food.

Toward systems change 

The right to food goes far beyond charity. It’s a fundamental right recognized by the United Nations. It means having reliable access to enough nutritious, culturally appropriate food to help people live with dignity, free from hunger and fear. 

AFSC’s food justice work includes working for systemic change through public policy. We advocate for expanding free school meals, increasing funding for WIC, and strengthening SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to ensure more low-income people have the nutrition they need. We also work with partners for a just and equitable Farm Bill. This crucial federal legislation protects SNAP; funds climate and conservation programs; and supports small farms, urban food production, and rural communities. 

In 2024, AFSC launched the No Hunger Summer campaign, urging governors to implement the federal SUN Bucks program. This federal program provides low-income families with grocery benefits to help kids get the food they need while school is out. 

Recently we have partnered with the U.S. Right to Food Community of Practice and the Global Solidarity Alliance for Food, Health, and Social Justice. These groups recognize how poverty and corporate-driven food systems fuel both hunger and environmental damage around the world. Instead of normalizing food charity, they call for approaches grounded in rights, justice, and solidarity. 

From wartime relief to systemic change, AFSC continues to evolve to meet community needs. We remain as committed as ever to building more just, equitable, planet-friendly food systems to nourish communities for generations to come.