The Steering Committee
While FeedBack Nashville is working to build a better food system for Nashville, it is important to ask who makes up FeedBack Nashville? Who is guiding this work? The Steering Committee is the heart of FeedBack Nashville, guiding us towards our mission of a better food future for Nashville.
FeedBack Nashville was born out of a recognition of the fact that systems transformation work cannot happen through a top-down approach. In order to transform Nashville’s food system in a sustainable and healing way, the transformation has to be led by the people, has to be from the bottom-up. Thus, the need for a Steering Committee became apparent. The steering committee was formed to serve as a bridge between FeedBack Nashville and the community. Through leveraging their deep ties within our community, they have been able to lead community engagement activities that help us ensure that FeedBack Nashville's goals and priorities are guided by the desires and experiences of our community members. The Steering Committee is made up of people living and working all over Nashville, people with rich histories and deep ties to Nashville communities. FeedBack Nashville is not trying to impose change upon communities, but, rather, unlock the transformational power already present in communities. This work is relational and personal. Our Steering Committee members have the relationships and personal ties to local communities to be able to tap into that transformational power.
Our Steering Committee was able to leverage their deep community ties to collect more than 500 survey responses about our community's experiences with food.
So, who is on the Steering Committee? Our Steering Committee is made up of thirteen people who work with organizations and communities dealing with homelessness, affordable housing, agriculture, youth development, and many other sectors, all of which both directly impact and are directly impacted by access to quality, affordable food. While there isn’t space in this blog to introduce you to all 13 of them (check out our Instagram or Steering Committee webpage for upcoming individual member spotlights), take a look and see what a few of our committee members have to say about their work with FeedBack Nashville:
Crys Riles (they/them), Tennessee Justice Center
“Food system work is what I am passionate about, so given the opportunity to help guide this project in some small way was a no-brainer. I have enjoyed watching the amount of people willing to engage in giving their thoughts on the food system in Nashville, and I’ve especially enjoyed reading the diverse and interconnected responses people have given.”
Edward Kehoe (he/him)
Open Table Nashville
“Being able to produce our survey has really allowed us as a city to find out how much people care about the food they eat.”
Stephanie Roach (she/her)
Urban Green Lab
“I chose to be a part of FBN because transforming our local food system to reflect a more equitable, healthy food system is vital to the sustainable future of Nashville. Serving on this steering committee has helped connect more of the dots and helped us better understand the unique food landscape we have here in Music City.”
Olivia Jimenez (she/her)
Urban Housing Solutions
“In my work at Urban Housing Solutions, one of the things that comes up over and over again is food. After having a place to live, the next thing is food. It’s great to have a kitchen, but, if there’s no food in it, what’s the point?”
Over the past several months, Steering Committee members have hosted a variety of different community engagement events. One of these events was at the Brooklyn Heights Community Garden. Former Steering Committee member, Ashley Brailsford invited FeedBack Nashville to join the Brooklyn Heights community at their recent event. We were able to share about FeedBack Nashville’s mission and give dozens of community members the opportunity to share their experience with Nashville’s food system through filling out our survey.
Another one of our Steering Committee members, Crys Riles, joined us at the Community Garden and was able to table and provide information to community members about their organization, the Tennessee Justice Center.
Crys is also working to host a Community Listening Session this June to provide an opportunity for their community to provide input on FeedBack Nashville’s process!
From meeting regularly to hosting community events to developing and administering a city-wide survey, our Steering Committee is working hard to learn about and highlight the ways in which the food system intersects with all communities and service areas. The food system is not an isolated one, rather, it is deeply interwoven with issues of housing, transportation, education, art, and healthcare (just to name a few). Join us in giving a HUGE thank you to all of our Steering Committee members for all of the work that they are doing to make Nashville a better place for all people to be able to live and grow!
In the coming months, the Steering Committee is working to host a series of community listening sessions. After facilitating surveys, interviews, and workshops, they’ve worked to synthesize a variety of themes from the data. The next critical stage in this work is sharing these themes with community members and receiving feedback to guide us going forward! Check out our Events Page to make plans to attend a community listening session near you!