Jaylen Cates
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
One of the NCLFC Local Food Champions of 2019
Through many years of community organizing, Cates gained a piece of wisdom that he shares with local food councils.
“Don’t be afraid to try, even if you don’t see a clear path to winning.”
As a child, gardening felt like a chore for Jaylen Cates. Their parents would send them out into the large garden they kept at their home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Cates was tasked with removing Japanese beetles from the plants and they paid them a quarter for each full jar that they gathered.
Despite dreading garden chores, Cates also learned in childhood that eating could be a special experience. Their father was a chef at Pyewacket, one of the first all-vegetarian restaurants in the area. They would try out new recipes on the family at home and once a week they ate for free together at the restaurant. This was a treat that they would not have otherwise been able to afford.
In college, Cates studied political science. It wasn’t until after graduating, when they started working at community gardens with teenagers completing court-ordered community service, that they began thinking about the importance of food.
“The kids did not know that French fries come from potatoes and potatoes come from the ground,” Cates remembers. It impacted them deeply to see kids without a connection to their food.
Cates began thinking and reading about food systems and returned to school for a Master of Social Work degree. They became passionate about the idea of bringing more equity to the complex food system.
“Food is a pathway to change and a vehicle for having conversations around social equity,” says Cates.
For Cates, increasing equity across the food system means “the elimination of policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by categories like race, cultural group, sexual orientation, and class.”
Currently, Cates has two roles in their job with the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) in Pittsboro, NC. The first is community organizing and grassroots advocacy for issues that matter to CFSA’s members. In this role, they supports CFSA’s efforts to build relationships with lawmakers and influence state and federal level policy.
Cates’s second role is supporting local food councils across the state as a member of the Community Food Strategies project team. Local food councils are cross-sector, community organizations that help promote more resilient food systems. Cates shares methods and frameworks with the local food councils, giving them the tools to be their own advocates.
Local food councils are important, Cates believes, because they create community connection by focusing on universal issues like health and economic development. Cates is encouraged to see food councils beginning to convene and collaborate on issues like farm to school, land use, and food recovery.
Through many years of community organizing, Cates gained a piece of wisdom that they shares with local food councils. “Don’t be afraid to try,” they say, “even if you don’t see a clear path to winning.” Cates has learned that engaging in an issue and “failing” can be a success. The complex work of changing the food system requires lots of attempts and sustained effort.
These days Cates feels differently about gardening and they love to cook, including some of their father’s recipes. “I can’t wait to go outside and harvest something at the end of the day,” they muse. Cates knows that their goal of changing the food system is the work of a lifetime and gardening reminds them to stay grounded and practice patience.
Learn more about NC Local Food Councils’ champions and their work at http://www.nclocalfoodcouncil.org/.