The COVID-19 pandemic and the continuously volatile political environment have centered Americans’ focus on vast fissures in systems of government, capitalism, and inequality. Throughout the spring and summer, it spurred grassroots activism and uprisings calling for racial justice across the country. Every industry — but especially the food industry — has been impacted by these upheavals. Businesses are closing at a high rate due to diminished income.
You can’t talk about restaurants [without thinking about] who gets attention and who doesn’t. You have to think about providing restaurateurs and chefs with the ability to democratize narratives of storytelling. Who gets to tell that story and how would a chef or restaurant tell the story? It’s complicated. Because by the time we see an artisanal coffee shop or farm-to-table restaurant or an Italian mercado, or even Whole Foods, for that matter, enter in some of these neighborhoods in the city of Detroit, we need to understand that there were policies already put in place behind the scenes long before you saw that development in your community.
A lot of folks misunderstand how the cycle and the process of gentrification works.
When I think about what it looks like in five and 10 years and how we sustain these restaurants and our neighborhoods and our communities… it’s going to be a competition for resources. So, how do we make sure that we value the restaurant, the deli, the takeout spot, the delivery spot, just as much as we value? And value them so much that we are able to give them some tax abatements, some credits, some resources. Because they’re caregivers of our community.