Whether you’re gifting a foodie who is passionate about equal access to healthy foods or the rights of immigrant farm and food workers, or a food and drink lover newly woke to how food can bring us together around issues of social justice beyond the food system, these gifts can help support their cause or maybe expose them to a new one.
Because at the end of the day, nothing nourishes and brings us together the way that food can — which puts food smack dab in the middle of social justice and do-gooding. If you ask us, right where it belongs.
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Related: The hottest gifts for the coffee-obsessed | gift guide 2017
Feed the Resistance Cookbook
We knew that we’d love Feed the Resistance: Recipe and Ideas for Getting Involved before it was even released given that it was written by one of our favorite cookbook authors, Julia Turshen. A practical handbook with moving essays full of tips and delicious recipes for organizing and community building contributed by other fantastic cookbook authors and chefs, this is a must-have book for any social activist. Proceeds are donated to the ACLU ($10.06, Amazon)
Supporting Donation to World Central Kitchen
If you follow us on Twitter, you know that we’re obsessed with Jose Andres, the famous Spanish chef turned activist who, most recently, helped feed 3 million people in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico through his World Central Kitchen organization, which has been around since 2010, after a devastating earthquake in Haiti. The org uses it’s powerful chef network to empower local people to participate in solutions around food health, education, jobs, and enterprise, and they do amazing work all around the world that your foodie giftee will be proud to help support with a donation made in their name. (Donate, World Central Kitchen)
Wine for a Cause through Cellar Angels
Every time you buy wine from Cellar Angels, an online seller of non-distributed Napa and Sonoma wines, 10% of your purchase proceeds go to a cause from which you can choose (including a California Wildfire Relief fund to help rebuild the affected Napa and Sonoma areas). Buy a few bottles of award-winning wine, choose a charity, and introduce a wine-loving friend to a fantastic new source of vino that can help them drink well and do good all year long. (Prices vary, Cellar Angels)
ONEHOPE Taster Set
We love ONEHOPE, creators of products and gifts that include award-winning wine, gourmet coffee, and delicious foods that do social good. This year, we featured their 12-Bottle Mini Sparkling Brut Case in our gift guide of glam gifts for your BFF, but here we’re focusing on their new line of foods. The Napa Taster Set looks particularly delicious and every box provides five meals to a child in need. If this doesn’t float your boat, check out their other gift options — every single one gives back. ($69.99 for the Napa Taster set, other gift sets vary, ONEHOPE)
Related: More holiday food gifts that give back. Because more of that, please.
Supporting Donation to La Cocina
La Cocina provides affordable commercial kitchen space, technical assistance, and access to market opportunities to help low income food entrepreneurs — primarily women from communities of color and immigrant communities — in and around San Francisco so that they can grow their businesses to be self-sufficient. While they focus only on the San Francisco area, their success can hopefully become a model for supporting women in the food industry across the country, something much needed in the business. If you have a food entrepreneur in your life — especially a female one — either support her directly or give to this organization in her name. She’ll surely be proud to help support another woman’s food industry endeavors. (One-time or monthly donations possible, La Cocina)
A Komeeda Cultural Dining Experience
Komeeda is a cool new dining experience — currently only available in the New York City area (but trying hard to expand!) — designed to bring together people from different countries and walks of life over food without worry or fear of judgement. There’s no financial donation here or support for a specific cause, just tickets to a dinner. But many of their dining series focus on bringing people together over the cuisines of displaced peoples to discuss issues related to being immigrants and refugees, and we love that. ($65-75 per person, Komeeda)
Supporting Donation to Civil Eats
Civil Eats has long been one of our favorite online reads and among the only longstanding sources of dedicated news around food policy, farming, health, and environmental issues. A not-to-be-missed daily news source for anyone interested in food justice started by the venerable Naomi Starkman in 2009, the site has become a critical voice covering the American food system. Just like political junkies donate to the Washington Post and local news geeks to their local NPR, food activists should be donating — or have donations made in their name — to this important publication to help keep it going without advertising. (Donate, Civil Eats)
The Cooking Gene
This year, Michael Twitty, a renowned culinary historian, released one of the most important books of our time on American food: The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South. In it, Michael traces his own family’s roots to explore issues of culture and race as they relate to slavery and food in the south, which is at the heart of America’s culinary tradition. This book is a brilliant, must-read for anyone looking to understand a deeper historical context for where food and social justice intersect in the United States. ($18.89, Amazon)
Related: 7 black food bloggers you need to follow now.
Supporting Donation to Nourish | Resist
Nourish | Resist is a group of social justice minded People Of Color (POC) working to activate transformative actions using food as a platform. They see food as a strategy for resistance and seek to unapologetically use food spaces to nourish and organize. According to their site, they had two events in 2017. Though none seem to be planned for 2018 so far, we’re certainly rooting for them to remain active, so we hope that supporting donations help make that possible. If nothing else, we hope that you’ll visit their site, follow them on social, and share them with the activist foodie in your life. Spread the word that hate won’t feed us. (Donate, Nourish | Resist)
