BUILD SHARED NARRATIVES
By shaping the cultural conditions in which decisions are made, shared narratives help make policy wins more achievable - and help ensure those wins can take root and last.
Across the United States, efforts to advance the right to food at local and state levels are gaining momentum - from policy advocacy and legal strategies to local programs and community organizing. Yet again and again, these efforts run up against the same challenge: dominant narratives about food, responsibility, and human rights make transformative change feel unrealistic, controversial, or out of reach. We are working to address that challenge by building a shared narrative around food as a human right.
Our Approach
Developing coordinated strategies and accessible tools to strengthen a shared understanding of food as a human right.
Where are we headed?
Strong community of individuals and organizations inside and outside of the CoP who confidently use a human rights framework in their local advocacy.
How will we get there?
Develop coordinated strategies and accessible tools to strengthen the shared analysis that food is a human right.
Motivation
Being able to win hearts and minds of network partners, legislators, and voters through effective narrative and framing is an important part of successful local advocacy for right to food laws, policies, and practices.
Collective Strategy
Narrative work is not an alternative or replacement for policy advocacy or legal strategies. It is an important part of a broader ecosystem of change.
We are being intentional about a collective communications and narrative strategy aimed at long‑term culture change rooted in shared values about justice.
Rather than focusing on short‑term persuasion or isolated messaging, we are working to shape shared interpretations of how the world works, what is considered normal or acceptable, and what kinds of futures we can imagine. By doing so, the Community of Practice helps stretch the boundaries of what feels politically and socially possible - creating the cultural conditions where right‑to‑food approaches can be understood, supported, and sustained.
This work recognizes that narrative change is not confined to one message, one voice, or one sector.
Narratives are reinforced through many dimensions of public life:
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how people communicate,
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how they relate to one another,
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the spaces they create, and
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the ways they practice their values in community.
When these elements align around a shared narrative, they reinforce one another over time.
By committing to long‑term narrative strategy, the National Right to Food Community of Practice can help shift the boundaries of what feels politically and socially possible - laying the groundwork for future advances while supporting the sustainability of current ones. Over time, this shared narrative work strengthens collective voice, prepares the ground for change, and keeps the movement toward the right to food moving forward.
