TIPS & TOOLS FOR YOUTH ADVOCACY

How to Engage Your Community on Food System Issues

Four teenagers talking at a table

Photo: fizkes/shutterstock.com

TIPS & TOOLS FOR YOUTH ADVOCACY

How to Engage Your Community on Food System Issues

Photo: fizkes/shutterstock.com

Harness the power of your unique community by organizing friends, family members, and neighbors to take action for a more just and sustainable food system. There are many ways to engage people in your community to work for positive change.

  • Host a letter writing party: Gather community members to write letters to your local, state, or federal representatives, urging them to support bills that hold factory farms accountable for the harms they cause and increase access to plant-based foods. The best activism speaks from the heart, so find a topic that interests you. To start your research, visit our Action Center.
  • Organize a protest: Speak truth to power by organizing community members to protest the harms caused by irresponsible companies or organizations that oppress farm animals, farmworkers, farmers, communities, or the environment. Before your protest, identify goals for positive change. Engage peacefully and with compassion.
  • Movie screening: Who can resist a movie night? Host a screening of a movie that highlights the need for food system transformation. Provide vegan snacks and prepare discussion questions to engage the audience after the viewing. For movie recommendations, check out our list of Movies, Books, and More!
  • Meet People Where They Are: Request more plant-based food in your local schools and hospitals, attend town halls, and look for opportunities to learn from and join movements for local change that reflect your values.

One high school student’s journey in community activism

Josephine-YLC

By Josephine

11th grade, Great Falls, VA