Restore Forward and its partners are guided by the following tenants:
“Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys: the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work”.
“Reparations is a process of repairing, healing, and restoring a people injured because of their group identity and in violation of their fundamental human rights by governments, corporations, institutions, and families. Those groups that have been injured have the right to obtain from the government, corporation, institution or family responsible for the injuries that which they need to repair and heal themselves.” specifically, “The food system was built on the stolen land and stolen labor of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and people of color”, who have been consistently denied land rights throughout US history.
Restore Forward has a large network of community partners. They are working to support their local community and provide a space for healing, access to resources, and a place for exploratory farmers who have historically been denied land rights and exploited for labor and food production.
On the 300-acre Ava farm, the land will be allotted to community partners, like Sheryll Durrant, with Just Food. Just Food is an organization focusing on urban planning and urban land, whose aim is to “shift the power, health, and wealth of historically marginalized communities that have been purposely diverted from by developing community-driven solutions to inequities within the New York regional food system. We catalyze action and create change through our learner-centered training, annual conferences, and vibrant network of small- to mid-scale regional farmers. We have made racial, economic, and environmental equity our north star.”
The inclusion of Just Food will help the Restore Forward Institute address food insecurity in Central New York, as one way they will be a supportive member of the community. In Central New York, 1 in 8 people experiences food insecurity, which is higher than the state average. In Oneida County (where the farm is located), fast food restaurants are increasing by roughly 10% every 5 years, making access to healthy, ethically sourced, and sustainable food more and more difficult. Just Food’s partnership with Restore Forward will help address this food insecurity, and promote access to healthy, organically grown produce.
Another notable Partner is Melissa Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes, of the Haudenosaunee Mohawk Nation. Restore Forward is prioritizing land stewardship, and working with the Mohawk Nation to plan the stewardship of the Ava farm. They will work together to use a significant portion of Restore Forward’s farmland for traditional indigenous farming and to support the Haudenosaunee in rebuilding their land sovereignty on their historical land. Additionally, this partnership will guide environmental management of the land to promote sustainability and move away from white, western standards of environmentalism. Currently, Restore Forward is “working with partners to correlate what their future land will be and how they will connect with the hub of Restore Forward: cultural center, passive education, exploration” (Alicia Luhrssen-Zombek).
The restoration and stewardship of the land, the restoration of land sovereignty, and the participation and healing of marginalized, disenfranchised people is the core goal of Restore Forward.
