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Using a Right to Food Narrative Framework: Summer Workshop Series and Next Steps

September 25, 2025


Mahoosuc Land Trust’s “Habitat for All Garden” in Maine
Mahoosuc Land Trust’s “Habitat for All Garden” in Maine

If we are going to advance the right to food in the United States, we need a strong collective narrative around our shared goals and why a right to food approach is important. Each member and partner of our growing network needs to be able to speak about what the right to food means in their local context, knowing that their messages are resonating with and paving the way for others across the country. Sharing collective narratives that promote solidarity and rights will help us build a transformed society that prioritizes equity, compassion, and sustainability.  


As a Community of Practice, we worked together last year to develop a Right to Food Narrative Framework - a practical tool designed to support our members and partners to talk about the right to food in their ongoing work. The framework contains wording and phrases that were co-created and refined through a months-long participative process with our members, led by the Narrative Change Working Group. Each of the Goals, Obstacles, and Solutions in the framework help us tell a story about what the right to food could look like in the United States, what is preventing us from getting there, and what is needed to overcome these challenges.


Whether you are a communications lead who handles social media and writes op-eds about food systems issues, a volunteer coordinator who trains community members in food pantries or gleaning clubs, or a policy manager trying to integrate rights-based framing into your advocacy work - this tool is a resource for you. The Right to Food Narrative Framework can be used as a: 

  • Reference if you’re trying to understand more about what the right to food means; 

  • Resource to share and discuss with members of your team, network, or coalition; 

  • Practical structure for building and crafting messages that help you talk about the right to food with different audiences.  


This summer, we co-hosted a workshop series with UVM’s Institute for Agroecology about using the Right to Food Narrative Framework as a tool to strengthen our collective voice. Across three workshops, we aimed to help members and partners understand more about how often they are already using narrative, how to craft rights-based messages for different audiences, and how we are going to work together to build a stronger, more aligned narrative across our different local contexts in the United States. 


Check out the recordings from each of our workshops below:


Group discussion at a workshop session entitled “Food Charity, Food Justice, Food Rights and Food Sovereignty - what is it all about?” at RAFI’s Come to the Table Conference 2024.
Group discussion at a workshop session entitled “Food Charity, Food Justice, Food Rights and Food Sovereignty - what is it all about?” at RAFI’s Come to the Table Conference 2024.

Next steps


We know that narrative change tools don’t work on their own. They need people putting them into practice in their communities because growing a collective voice requires spaces for people to learn, share, and practice together. 


If you are interested in joining a group of people who are trying to integrate a right to food framing into their work - at any level - we invite you to join the Narrative Change Working Group of our National Right to Food Community of Practice. 


Our next meeting is 3-4pm Eastern, Tuesday September 30th. Please email Chelsea to find out more and sign up. 


 
 
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