Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) is excited to announce our latest collaboration.

Over 4,000 plant-based meals will be delivered free of charge to North Minneapolis residents between now and the end of 2020. Heather Klein, founder and chef at Root to Rise Kitchen, conceived of the project and got funding from a CARES act grant to pay for the food and her administration of the project.  If you live in the Northside Green Zone, you can sign up to receive free meal delivery here.

She immediately reached out to others to help make the project a reality. For planning and promotion support, she has enlisted CAA’s community organizer, Tamuno Imbu, and Michael Cheney, founder of project Sweetie Pie, a North Minneapolis food justice organization. 

Now Root to Rise, Project Sweetie Pie, Vegan Byy Nature, Blk Market, Cookie Cart, CAA, and students from the University of Minnesota Leadership Minor program are collaborating to achieve five goals:

1. Feed our neighbors who have been disproportionately affected by both Covid-19 and, for many, systemic racism. 
2. Introduce people to just how delicious plant-based food can be. Many may not have had access to pre-made, plant-based meals previously.
3. Gather data that will help illuminate barriers to plant-based eating in the community, such as lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables or affordable ready-made vegan meals.
4. Begin a dialogue around connections between diet and health for Black Americans. Do this through CAA’s upcoming screening of The Post-Traumatic Slave Diet, where project Sweetie Pie founder, Michael Cheney (also known as “the Johnny Appleseed of North Minneapolis”) will be a panelist.
5. Enable CAA to be effective in supporting people in North Minneapolis to move toward a plant-based diet. This will be done through the Explore Veg Challenge and collaboration with other organizations in 2021.

Learn more about partner organizations by following the links above.

CAA has been able to support this project through the work of Tamuno Imbu, Laura Matanah, and University of Minnesota Leadership Minor Students working on a project on Black health and plant-based eating with us. Tamuno’s work and the community connections he has built have been critical to the project. His position was funded for just a single year through a grant from Animal Charity Evaluations Effective Animal Advocacy Fund.

Please consider making a gift or increasing your annual giving to support the continuation and expansion of this vital effort to benefit both animals and our human neighbors. We truly appreciate all the ways you move our work forward.