By: YoloArts
What does it look like when a community actively takes care of itself? It looks like this: the work of the Yolo Food Bank.
Eighty-four partner organizations. Ten million pounds of food distributed per year. Twenty-three thousand clients per month. It’s a system that operates at scale, but also deals with the most personal, minute and profound moments between people—growing food, preparing food, sharing food, sharing a meal. There’s also so much urgency in this work—we still aren’t meeting the need in our county. There are still hungry community members every day.
In the fall of 2023 the Yolo Food Bank commissioned Eliza Gregory and seven recent graduates of the Sac State Photo program to tell visual stories about food and justice in Yolo County. Each was connected with one of the food bank’s partner organizations. Thanks to the energy and goodwill of staff members from each of those organizations, and the energy and resources of the Yolo Food Bank, the artists were able to shadow activities and document the process of food distribution, with individual permission from the clients receiving food.
Photography has a complex relationship with justice stories. It can often exacerbate the issue it seeks to combat. It makes people into objects, and it flattens them—it can similarly flatten wicked, layered problems into trite polarities. Therefore permission and collaboration were key elements in this work. Trust had to be built and extended. Relationships were central. The organizations the artists partnered with are run by remarkable people, deeply committed to this community and the individuals they support within it. Those staff members were the key to making this project into something that could hold contradiction, tenderness and care.
“I am so proud to offer this view of Yolo County back to itself,” Gregory said. “What an amazing place to live in, where this many people mobilize on a daily basis to care for each other.“
The Barn Gallery’s exhibition FOOD AND JUSTICE STORIES: The Yolo Food Bank x Floodplain Projects is led by Eliza Gregory with photographs by Charles Brewer, Vicky Chaebin Yoon, Binh Nguyen, Joseph Roman, Seren Fernandez, Bibi GarcĂa and Sammy Reyes.
Partner organizations include: Meals on Wheels, Short Term Emergency Aid Committee (STEAC), Fourth and Hope, the UC Davis Food Pantry, Mercy Coalition, and Yolo County Children’s Alliance.
FOOD AND JUSTICE STORIES continues at The Barn Gallery through August 23.
The Barn Gallery and the Gibson House are located at 512 Gibson Road in Woodland. Hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 12p—5p and Saturdays 12p—3p. Free monthly tours are offered on select Saturdays (8/9, 8/23) at 1p and 2p.
