MILWAUKEE (June 4, 2026) — The African American Roundtable (AART) officially launched its Feed the Change MKE campaign on Saturday, May 30, bringing together residents, community leaders, partner organizations, elected officials, and advocates to advance a bold vision for equitable food access and long-term investment in community-led food systems on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side.

The campaign launch fair featured community resources, family activities, free food, giveaways, and a press conference highlighting the urgent need for greater investment in neighborhood-based food access solutions. Feed the Change MKE is calling for a $1 million investment in Milwaukee’s Healthy Food Establishment Fund to support locally owned grocery stores, community gardens, farmers markets, nutrition education and other resident-led initiatives.

“This campaign is a vision of residents, primarily on the far Northwest Side, about a localized food system that gives them agency, dignity, choice, health and safety,” said Ryeshia Farmer, AART’s Community Program Manager.

“We’ve been having conversations with Northwest Side residents since 2021 about what they need to make them feel safe,” said Markasa Tucker-Harris, AART’s Executive Director. “In summer 2024, residents said they wanted to fight for access to healthy and fresh food and to end food apartheid. AART members and Northwest Side leaders were pivotal in developing our campaign and answering the call of their neighbors.”

Feed the Change MKE frames food access as a justice issue connected to public health, economic opportunity, housing stability, environmental justice, and neighborhood well-being. The campaign seeks to build momentum around community-owned and community-driven solutions that strengthen local economies while improving health outcomes.

Throughout the event, residents shared stories about the challenges and opportunities facing their neighborhoods and expressed support for greater investment in food justice initiatives led by the communities they serve.

“Feed the Change MKE recognizes that food justice is public safety work. When neighborhoods are empowered, resourced, connected, and invested in, people feel safer and communities thrive,” said Shirley Tucker, Northwest Side leader and AART member. “For too long, major decisions impacting Milwaukee’s Northwest Side have been made without meaningful input from the people who live here.”

“If we have no say in how the funds are allocated, we will continue to see the same disparities within our communities,” said Sierra Lyle, AART’s Senior Youth Organizing Fellow. “If there are no pharmacies, who will help our sick? If there is no food security, who will feed our young?”

Feed the Change MKE is rooted in the belief that every Milwaukee resident deserves dignified access to healthy food and that the Northwest Side deserves the same level of investment, opportunity, and care as every other part of the city.

Media Contact:

Anastasia Douglas, as@maximizedcommunications.com

Event Photos

Download event photos here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SfXGaeHNVe_hj9ZJwqU87TtrviKNxNk1?usp=sharing

Watch the Press Conference

View the full press conference here: https://youtu.be/gmrPdkZbcDI

Learn More

To learn more about Feed the Change MKE, visit:
https://aartmke.org/feed-the-change-mke