The Truth About Our Food System

And Why ILFJL Collective Is Taking Action

By the Founder of the ILFJL Collective

Across our community — and in communities everywhere — people are facing a crisis that most still cannot fully see: a broken food system that is failing the very people it is supposed to feed.

Grocery stores appear full. Shelves look abundant. But behind that appearance lies a reality shaped by declining nutrition, chemical exposure, misinformation, and increasing inequity.

This is why FIFE – Food Is For Everyone exists.
This is why the ILFJL Collective continues to grow, teach, support, and take action.

This is more than food insecurity.
It is nutrient insecurity, environmental insecurity, and truth insecurity.
And the only way forward is through honesty, education, community, and love.

A Broken Food System: The Truth We Can No Longer Ignore

For decades, our food system has prioritized profit, appearance, and shelf life over human health.

The consequences are now unavoidable:

• Soil depleted of essential minerals
  
  
• Produce bred for size instead of nutrient density
  
  
• Widespread chemical fertilizers and pesticides is entering our bodies
  
  
• Ultra-processed foods are replacing real nourishment
  
  
• Misleading labels hiding harmful ingredients
  
  
• Municipal compost and urban soil contaminated with toxins
  
  
• A medical system focused on symptoms while ignoring nutritional root causes
  
  

These issues disproportionately harm:

• Low-income families
  
  
• Seniors
  
  
• People with disabilities
  
  
• Those living in food deserts
  
  
• Anyone struggling to afford healthy options
  
  

People are not failing the system — the system is failing the people.

This truth is the foundation on which FIFE was built.

Why FIFE Exists: Because Food Is a Human Right

Food should strengthen the body, not slowly harm it.
Food should be accessible, not a privilege.
Food should be understandable, not confusing.
Food should empower communities, not divide them.

To create real change, we must speak the truth:

• The nutritional value of our produce has declined.
  
  
• Chemical residues make their way into our meals.
  
  
• Processed food dependency is created by affordability barriers.
  
  
• Soil contamination is widespread and ignored.
  
  
• Marginalized people carry the heaviest burden of these realities.
  
  

FIFE is not charity — it is empowerment rooted in truth and education.

We help people grow safer, cleaner, nutrient-rich foods anywhere, even in tiny apartments using simple hydroponic systems like Kratky setups.
We teach what communities were never taught but always deserved to know.

Learning, Growing, and Healing Together

A core value of the ILFJL Collective is continuous learning — from nature, from each other, and from lived experience.

Most people were never taught:

• how soil becomes depleted
  
  
• how chemicals move through the food chain
  
  
• how medications deplete essential nutrients
  
  
• how to grow nutrient-dense food at home
  
  
• how to build wellness without privilege or resources
  
  

FIFE fills these gaps through practical education, including:

• clean indoor growing methods
  
  
• safe soil and water awareness
  
  
• micro-space gardening
  
  
• seed saving and seed sovereignty
  
  
• wild and local plant medicine
  
  
• detoxifying herbs
  
  
• Kratky hydroponics for small spaces
  
  

Knowledge creates independence.
Independence creates justice.
Justice creates healthier communities.

The ILFJL Commitment: Love in Action

ILFJL stands for Love Is For Everyone — not as a slogan, but as a living practice.

Every seed shared, every workshop held, every plant grown, every conversation, every wellness post, every meal prepared for the Not Just A Food Program — each one creates a ripple of love:

• A ripple of dignity
  
  
• A ripple of education
  
  
• A ripple of hope
  
  
• A ripple of belonging
  
  

Love is not passive.
Love is truth.
Love is showing up for those forgotten by systems that were never built for them.
Love is helping someone grow food when they believed they couldn’t.
Love is providing tools, skills, and access — without judgment and without conditions.

A New Phase: Fundraising for Community Space and Education

To continue this mission, the ILFJL Collective is now working toward a dedicated community education space — a place where:

• individuals can learn indoor growing hands-on
  
  
• families can attend live workshops
  
  
• online training sessions can be filmed and shared
  
  
• seeds, plants, and wellness resources can be distributed
  
  
• volunteers can prepare support packages for those most in need
  
  
• growing tents, demonstration setups, and hydroponic stations are accessible to all
  
  
• people can walk in, learn, grow, heal, and belong
  
  

This space represents the next major step:
from online education and home-based growing demonstrations to a physical teaching hub that serves the entire community.

Fundraising is ongoing because this space will allow us to:

• run in-person and virtual workshops
  
  
• offer free hands-on growing classes for low-income families
  
  
• expand the Not Just A Food Program
  
  
• teach seniors and youth how to grow nutrient-rich herbs and greens
  
  
• host wellness and truth-based education sessions
  
  
• create a model that can be replicated in other cities
  
  

This is not a dream.
It is the next necessary action.

Building a Future Where Everyone Eats Well

We cannot fix the entire food system overnight — but we can build something better, starting right here:

• Clean food grown at home, even in small spaces
  
  
• Nutrient-dense meals for those who need them most
  
  
• Honest education about food quality and health
  
  
• Reduced reliance on contaminated soil and unsafe produce
  
  
• A community empowered with knowledge and choice
  
  
• Long-term wellness over temporary band-aids
  
  
• A model of love-driven food justice that others can follow
  
  

Each step becomes part of a larger movement — one rooted in truth, compassion, and empowerment.

This Is Only the Beginning

The ILFJL Collective and FIFE carry a shared commitment:

• To speak the truth about our food system
  
  
• To empower instead of simply provide
  
  
• To build a healthier future through education
  
  
• To grow year-round food for those most in need
  
  
• To create spaces for learning, connection, and support
  
  
• To plant seeds — literally and metaphorically — that nourish generations
  
  
• To ensure that love, food, and dignity reach everyone
  
  

Food Is For Everyone.
So is truth.
So is learning.
So is community.
So is love.

And we will continue planting these ripples of change —
one seed, one workshop, one act of compassion at a time.