#5SmartReads - May 3, 2023

Hitha on the nonprofits fighting food insecurity, what abortion bans look like in practice, and Zooey Zephyr

May 03, 2023

Co-op grocery stores have been a huge support for a lot of communities for many decades - and one of the most effective tools to fight food insecurity.

Now, no one should go hungry or without shelter or without healthcare in a dignified society. And as work to achieve that American dream as a society, I’m grateful that we’re seeing more nonprofit grocers helping address the first issue.

‘"Think of those [co-ops] as small businesses. ... Not only am I purchasing my groceries from a small business owner, this small business owner is investing in the community," says [DC Hunger Solutions’ LaMonika] Jones.

She notes that the neighborhoods with a legacy of historic disinvestment are the same ones facing equity barriers in purchasing everyday groceries.’

Sometimes the most effective solutions to our problems are the most simple ones - and I hope to see more nonprofit grocers get the funds and resources they need to do their incredible work.

First of all - if you don’t have some Diaspora spices in your kitchen, please stock up on some (their chili powder and turmeric are staples in mine!). They are delicious and you’ll taste the difference immediately.

Purchasing from Diaspora - a company that’s committed to sourcing its spices from family-run farms that Sana Javeri Kadri has built strong partnerships with - where every worker is paid and treated with dignity and the farming is done sustainably.

And since Kadri spends a lot of time on the road, she’s got a lot of amazing travel stories and travel tips. I loved learning more about her and Diaspora both in this piece, and you will be hungry when you finish reading this.

It’s with a heavy heart that I shift from two heartwarming stories to an entirely preventable tragic one.

Abortion bans do not prevent abortions. They do create entirely preventable healthcare crises that put people’s lives at grave risk - the very opposite of pro-life. And that one’s religious beliefs and a lack of healthcare staffing is causing these problems to worsen is infuriating.

When I was hemorraging from my miscarriage, I was immediately admitted and got the D&C that both saved my life and my ability to have future children. No questions, no denial of care - just healthcare delivered the way it’s meant to.

What Jaci and Dustin Statton was entirely preventable - and yet, they had to endure 3 weeks of fearing she would die from her nonviable pregnancy.

Government has no role in deciding who gets access to healthcare and who doesn’t, and their laws are killing people needlessly. And unfortunately, all the evidence points to this being very American.

But it doesn’t have to be. If you want to be more engaged in the public square and advocating for policies you believe in, please follow and engage with For Facts Sake (and join our Mother’s Day campaign, if you feel inclined!)

Momfluenced is one of the smartest books I’ve read in a while. It’s equally respectful, analytical, and critical of the mom creator juggernaut that permeates our lives today.

If you haven’t picked up your copy of the book yet, this interview with author Sara Petersen will convince you.

“Momfluenced interrogates our notions of the “right kind” of motherhood and how the airbrushed momfluencers of Instagram uphold them. Petersen, in conversation with other journalists, scholars, content creators and consumers, dissects the politics of momfluencer feeds, their place in the American cult of domesticity, and the hold they have on her as a mother. “Our cultural ideals of motherhood are so powerful and so deeply ingrained,” she tells me. “It feels very difficult to carve out one’s own maternal identity without being impacted by [them].””

I also have to give 's newsletter, , a massive shoutout. It's so smart, thoughtful, and just the right amount of rageful in these times.

When someone with lived experience tries to tell you something about that experience, listen to them. Silence others around you to hear what they have to say. Believe them. Support them.

Basically, do the opposite of what Montana’s GOP state representatives did to Representative Zooey Zephyr. When she spoke up against the bill banning gender-affirming care to minors in Montana, Zephyr said:

“I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

Lawmakers have said far worse things on the floor of their respective Capitol buildings, either in support or against of a particular bill. And frankly, Zephyr knows about what trans youth need more than any of the other lawmakers in that chamber. And instead of listening to her previous impassioned pleas for inclusive policies for queer Americans, her colleagues do the exact opposite.

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