TUCSON, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity will host a free virtual Food Justice Film Festival Sept. 24-27 featuring the award-winning films Gather, The Invisible Vegan, Dolores and Urban Roots. Each film explores the links between environmental justice, climate change, food insecurity and white supremacy.

“Food justice is environmental justice,” said Jennifer Molidor, senior food campaigner at the Center. “These films explore the ways our unjust food system harms communities and strains our planet.”

Accompanying each film is a speaker panel of activists, organizers and directors discussing topics like urban gardens, farmworkers’ rights and plant-based food movements. The prerecorded panels are free and available to the public via FoodJusticeFilmFestival.com or on the Center for Biological Diversity’s YouTube channel.

“Because of the racism in our food system, eating healthy food that’s good for the planet is not an option for everyone,” said Molidor. “These films highlight grassroots community activists who are creating powerful and inspiring resistance movements to fight this lack of access to healthy and sustainable food.”

The Food Justice Film Festival is free and open to the public. Participants can sign up to receive a link unlocking access to each film for 24 hours on the day of its screening at: FoodJusticeFilmFestival.com.

Food Justice Film Festival Schedule & Speaker Lineup:

Gather—Sept. 24. Documents the growing movement among Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through traditional foodways. Panel speakers include Director Sanjay Rawal; Twila Cassadore, San Carlos Apache tribal activist and Samuel Genshaw, III, director of the Ancestral Guard.

The Invisible Vegan—Sept. 25. Explores the problem of access to healthy food in African American communities, foregrounding the health and wellness possibilities plant-based foods can offer. Panel speakers include director Jasmine Leyva; lauren Ornelas, founder and director of the Food Empowerment Project and Kat Lopez, organizer at Veggie Mijas (Activistas de la Tierra.)

Dolores—Sept. 26. A portrait of farmworkers’ rights activist Dolores Huerta, one of the most important labor and civil rights leaders of the 20th century. Panel speakers include Dolores Huerta, Neza Xiuhtecutli with the Farmworker Association of Florida and Alfonzo Chavez, food justice advocate.

Urban Roots—Sept. 27. Follows the urban farming movement in Detroit. An inspiring film that shows the impact of collapsed industrial towns and the need to forge a sustainable and prosperous food system. Panel speakers include Jacqui Patterson of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program; Jo’Vonna Johnson Cooke with Maitu Foods and Eugene Cooke with Grow Where You Are.