F12 People’s Kitchen is a collective of current and former food service workers making and distributing meals to unhoused neighbors and political allies in Minneapolis. We are a queer, multi-racial group that believes in the power of food to gather people together emotionally and politically. For our kitchen, preparing and serving food is not just an act of solidarity to meet basic human needs, but a model for mutual aid and building community. 

 

We are committed to the abolitionist struggle, which means food sovereignty and nutritious meals freely available to all. Born in the midst of the Minneapolis Uprising, F12 People’s Kitchen supports all working-class movements for Black liberation. 

 

Our unhoused neighbors are primarily Black and Indigenous. Despite making up around 14% of our

county’s population, Black folks represent 65% of those living in shelters and 49% of homeless

adults living in the county total. Native Americans represent 1% of the state population, but 13% of the houseless population. There is an HIV epidemic and opioid crisis primarily affecting communities of color with unstable housing and unreliable access to health care. These communities continue to be displaced in precarious conditions because of the lack of resources provided by the city. When the 2020 COVID pandemic started, these resources became even less available. 

 

Our goal as a collective is to continue to answer the growing demand for food justice in our city. Alongside harm reduction services and mutual aid efforts, our foremost mode of care is nutritious meal delivery. Over the past two years, F12 People's Kitchen has made over 60,000 meals for unhoused people in Minneapolis. We have also driven through slush and snow, constructed yurts, helped defend those living in encampments from eviction, brought meals and first aid to protesters in defense of Black lives stolen by a racist police system, built and tended a luscious urban garden, catered community events, and so much more. We cherish the relationships we have built in this endeavor and the fresh faces who have joined us and brought new ideas and skills with them. 

 

A stronger, more secure financial infrastructure would ideally support expanding our food delivery to unhoused people, working alongside other groups already engaged in this work. It would allow us to continue to work towards building F12 People’s Kitchen into a long-term resource for the community. Until the City of Minneapolis prioritizes the well-being of those forced to live in poverty we will keep needing money to do what we do. Right now, we are attempting something HUGE which is to invite folks to be sustaining members of F12 People's Kitchen because WE'RE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL!!! We love doing what we do, and we cherish the community we've built through this endeavor.