It’s pretty clear that those who have the most control over Detroit’s food system—its local growers, non-local growers, suppliers, producers, grocery store owners, distributors, restaurateurs, food writers, chefs, and so on—are mostly white.

That’s despite that the city’s population is nearly 90 percent people of color.

So it’s worth asking: How would things look if the food system centered around people of color and other marginalized groups instead of white people? A new project called the Dream Cafe and Community Food Hub spearheaded by FoodLab Detroit and Allied Media Conference (AMC) is not just imagining that, but developing a model of “food production and service that is truly equitable, sustainable, cooperative, and community driven.”

Brittiany Peeler Of Relish Catering. (Photo courtesy of V.W. Photography.)

And though there’s a deeper goal in the Dream Cafe, the June 14 through June 19 event is a welcoming celebration that includes a temporary full-service cafe run by local black-owned businesses that will take over the Cass Cafe; a series of pop ups featuring local and visiting chefs; hands-on cooking workshops; and an outdoor market showcasing local producers.

The entire event is made possible by collaborative partnerships among urban farmers, local producers, local chefs, visiting chefs, the chefs’ crews, and food sovereignty organizers. In that way, the event not only imagines how things could look, but also celebrates all the work that people of color who live here are already doing.

Diners will find a wide range of foods and meals, from a Palestinian brunch to a pan Caribbean feast to a cooking exchange hosted by a multigenerational group of indigenous chefs. Beyond the food, there will be comedy, music, meet ups, a dance party, screenings, workshops, talks, and more.

The end game is culinary and economic sovereignty for marginalized groups, and the laying of a foundation for a stronger local food economy that benefits groups the food system often exploits. In that way, the Dream Cafe is looking at food not just as “food,” but as a strategy to build community resilience and autonomy.

As FoodLab Detroit director Devita Davison puts it, Dream Cafe seeks to deconstruct and decolonize the food system, and instead center it around different cultures in a way that we don’t often see in Detroit, or elsewhere.

“What does it look like when you have folks not only from here but from all over the country who are Black, brown, queer, non-conforming people—what does it look like when they dream about what the local food system can look like?” Davison asks. “This is what it looks like when you are dreaming about a food system that puts these people in the center, and you have a food system that represents them.”

“What does it look like to tear up every single negative notion about Black and brown people, about their labor being undervalued, and start talking about how we can build something better together? This is what it looks like when you tear all of that shit up and come together and build,” she says.

Chinchakriya Un of the Kreung pop up. (Photo courtesy Detroit Metro Times)

The project grew out of Allied Media Conference and Feeding Emerging Resistance Movements, Envisioning Nourishing Traditions’ (FERMENT) effort to develop a food component. Last year, FERMENT held a dinner that brought together Earthworks Farms and visiting Cambodian-American chef Chinchakriya Un and her Kreung pop up, but this year’s event is on a whole other level according to Ora Wise, AMC’s culinary director. She notes that the program is in line with AMC’s core principles that include cooperation, sustainability, network building, creativity, autonomy, and interdependence.