Issue No. 6:
Eating Good

ABOUT THE ISSUE

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities offers a thoughtful look at how we nourish ourselves and each other, blending practical guidance with lived experience.

Explore interviews with food activists, articles on food systems—from families to schools and prisons—and narratives on food sovereignty and reclaiming cultural identity. You’ll also find recipes, intuitive eating guides, and creative work that captures the emotional and cultural sides of food.

Alongside this, discover accessible resources on nutrition labels, food assistance programs, and key health topics like diabetes, sugar, and food allergies—designed to support informed, everyday choices and expand access to nourishing food.

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

A Conversation with Farmer and Activist Karen Washington

Karen Washington is the farmer activist who coined the term “food apartheid.” amy woehling speaks with the farmer and activist about food justice and advocating for access in Black and Brown communities.

Gardening, Foraging, and Prep — Food Photography by Meech Boakye

Meech Boakye explores practices of gardening, foraging, and preparing food both as a form of communal care and as a medium to question the ordinary.

Latched On: The Realities of Breastfeeding — A Photo Essay on Black Motherhood and Access to Breastfeeding Support

A powerful photo essay featuring Black mothers’ voices on breastfeeding, exploring barriers, cultural realities, and the need for more inclusive, supportive maternal care.

Finding Balance: How to Use a Plate Diagram for Healthy, Balanced Daily Meals

Learn how to build balanced meals using a simple plate diagram. A practical guide to portioning food groups for better nutrition and everyday wellness.

Womanly Magazine is a health and arts publication providing accessible health information to women and non-binary people.

About Us

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

On Food and Freedom — An Essay by Dawn Henderson

An essay on gardening as a Black woman and the history of Black people in the United States as it relates to cultivating land and gardening.

Poop 101: What Your Poop Color and Texture Says About Your Health

Bowel movements can tell you a lot about your nutrition and digestive health. Things like texture, color, frequency, and smell can help indicate if you have any dietary needs or digestive issues.

Lessons in Rotting — An Essay by Lune Ames

A reflective essay on family, place, and seasonal rituals, centered on harvesting persimmons in rural Indiana and the quiet joy of food traditions.

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

Scream Inside Your Hearts — A Painting by Amber Vittoria

A painting by Amber Vittoria

Food Journey — An Illustration by Nan Cao

A food painting by Nan Cao for Issue No. 6. Nan Cao is an award-winning illustrator working across children’s books, editorial illustrations, and posters.

Shared — An Illustration by Joy Velasco

Shared is a food Illustration by Joy Velasco—a New Jersey based illustrator and animator. She works in editorial and children's media illustration.

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

Reclaiming Culture Through Food Sovereignty — An Essay by Cheyenne Diaz

An essay on food as survival throughout history and the cultural complexities of growing up in a mixed-race family.

Why the U.S. Needs Universal School Meals Now: Benefits, Policy, and Urgent Action

How COVID-19 school closures exposed gaps in student nutrition—and why school meal programs are essential, serving billions of breakfasts and lunches each year to support learning.

SNAP and WIC Explained: A Complete Guide to Food Assistance Programs

What you need to know about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps, a nutrition governmental subsidized food program for families in need that is subsidized by the U.S. government.

Personalized Nutrition: How to Listen to Your Body and Build a Diet That Works for You

Discover how to personalize your nutrition by listening to your body, tracking food responses, and building sustainable habits that support energy, digestion, and overall well-being.

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

Common Food Allergies: Symptoms, Triggers, and How to Stay Safe

Learn what a food allergy is, common symptoms, how to treat them, how to avoid them, and the common foods people are allergic to.

What Is Diabetes? Symptoms, Causes, and Types Explained

Learn what diabetes is, including its symptoms, causes, and types—plus tips for managing your blood sugar and overall health.

Digestive System 101: What It Is, How Digestion Works, and Common Digestive Disorders Explained

Learn how the digestive system works—from mouth to intestines—plus common conditions like GERD, IBS, and colon cancer, with tips for maintaining digestive health.

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

Community Garden — An Illustration by Joanna Blémont

Illustration by Joanna Blémont/Jozinnol.

Pink Oyster — A Photograph by Julia Gartland

A food photograph by Julia Gartland—a commercial photographer based in NYC, specializing in food & still life.

Taste of Summer — An Illustration by Jen Yoon

A bright, summery illustration capturing connection and shared moments over refreshing drinks by illustrator and animator Jen Yoon.

Editor’s letter Masthead Disclaimer Sources

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Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

Passing It Down: Food and Influence Through Generations

A Conversation with Brenda Horton-Harris, Attia Taylor’s aunt.

Treasuring Guyanese Cuisine in Los Angeles

Food photography by Cara Elise Taylor of Chef Yonette Alleyne—owner of Caribbean Gourmet in San Gabriel, California.

Movement — Learning Food Photography with Justine Brown

Food photography by Justine Brown, founder and owner of Vegan Justine.

Issue No. 6: Food, Nutrition, and Access in Our Communities [MASTER]

A Call to Home — A Poem by Ośunkoya Chavon

A call to home is a poem by Ośunkoya Chavon on culture, eating disorders, and ancestral healing.

As Her Daughter — A Generational Conversation on Food and Recipe for Egyptian Falafel

As my mother’s daughter, it’s nearly impossible for me to separate my relationship with food from her influence over it. My appreciation of herbs and spices, the inner peace I get from a well-stocked market, making sport out of trying new fruits and vegetables—I can directly attribute these things to seeing the joy they brought her.

Our Hunger Is Political: How Food Insecurity and Mutual Aid are Changing the Political Landscape

How grassroots responses to food insecurity, especially mutual aid networks, are reshaping local political dynamics, community power, and public policy from the bottom up.

why is it that our grandmothers are cooks but white men are chefs

A poem by Mari Santa Cruz on cultural inclusivity in fine dining and chef culture.

Coping — An Essay on Food as a Coping Mechanism for Childhood Trauma

A personal essay exploring how food became a coping mechanism for childhood trauma, tracing a journey from survival and self-soothing to healing, self-awareness, and redefining comfort on your own terms.

Global Food Insecurity: Key Statistics, Causes, and Countries Most Affected

Explore global food insecurity statistics, key causes like conflict and climate change, and the countries most affected by hunger worldwide.

Prison Food in the U.S. — A Hidden Public Health Crisis

Explore how prison food impacts public health, nutrition, and chronic disease, and why improving meals in correctional facilities matters for long-term health outcomes.

Fine Dining and Its Colonial Legacy by Serena Juhui Suh

An exploration of fine dining through a critical lens, examining its colonial roots, cultural power dynamics, and evolving relationship to identity and food.

Shopping for Gochujang — An Essay by Emily Mei Ling Chan

An essay on generational connection, memory, and longing through a trip to the grocery store for gochujang.

Birthing Seeds — A Poem by Tanagidan To Win (Tara Perron)

A poem on our ancestral connection to earth by Tanagidan To Win (Tara Perron).

Intuitive Eating Guide: How to Listen to Your Body and Build a Healthy Relationship with Food

Learn the basics of intuitive eating and how to build a healthier relationship with food by listening to your body, rejecting diet culture, and embracing balanced, sustainable habits.

home — A Poem by Kristen Jeré

A poem on the comforts of home by writer Kristen Jeré.

Salt Intake — A Personal Essay by Tash Moore

Tash Moore shares a personal reflection on food, family, and health, exploring how childhood experiences and emotional coping shaped a relationship with eating—and the ongoing journey toward balance and healing.

Food Bloggers Lack Nuance Towards Cuisines of Asia — An Essay by Mei-San Janey Wong

An essay examining how food bloggers often oversimplify Asian cuisines, exploring issues of representation, cultural nuance, and the impact on how these foods are understood and valued.

Notes on Body Dysmorphia and the Lies We're Told to Swallow

Notes from Womanly editors on the effects of body dysmorphia.

Cleansed — A Poem by Abigail Lalonde

A poem about living with anorexia by Abigail Lalonde.

Featured

Eat Healthy and Be Healthy — A Painting by Nonja Tiller

A food painting by disability rights advocate and artist, Nonja Tiller.

Nutritious Summer Fruits

Illustration by Jen Yoon.

Fear of Sugar — An Illustration by Nan Cao

Illustrator Nan Cao explores sugar addiction through illustration.

Anthropology 102: Race and Food — Guided by Octavia and Ursula

Transcript from Anthropology 102: Race and Food at Howard University, November 10, 3411, guided by Octavia and Ursula.

Ichi Ju San Sai: Japanese Cooking in North Carolina

In a conversation, Kaori Sueyoshi uncovers her mothers unwavering dedication to keeping Japanese cooking alive in North Carolina even with limited access to resources.

Decolonizing Food: An Antidote to Oppression

An exploration of how decolonizing food can support healing, reclaim cultural identity, and challenge oppression through ancestral knowledge, traditions, and storytelling.

Daily Specials: Film Photography of California’s Lost Food Scene by Kendall McKenzie

Film photography of a once-was California food scene by writer and photographer Kendall McKenzie.

Bowls — An Illustration by Elizabeth Fortnum

Elizabeth Fortnum is an illustrator, printmaker, and researcher with a particular interest in education, language, food and identity.

Zenat Begum of Playground Coffee Shop on Community Fridges and the Power of Mutual Aid

An interview with Zenat Begum of Playground Coffee Shop on community fridges, mutual aid, and how grassroots efforts are expanding food access and community support.

How To Go Vegan When You're Melanated Young and Broke

I try to be nice to my body. To accept that it needs more than rest and sleep to fend off disease. I am constantly thinking about my grandmother, who beat two types of cancers and lived to tell me that sugar is the devil.

Featured

To The Land: A Short Film by Biz Young

A short film on Olivia Nava's work with Our Harvest to cultivate community through locally grown food. The family-owned cooperative has been standing for over 100 years in the city limits of Cincinnati, OH.

The Junk Yard — A Painting by Xavier Xcel Lightfoot

Painting by Xavier Xcel Lightfoot.

Spring Mood — An Illustration by Nan Cao

An illustration by award-winning illustrator, Nan Cao. Cao works across children’s books, editorial illustrations, posters, and toy designs.

Sweet Autumn — An Illustration by Nan Cao

A food illustration by artist and children's book author, Nan Cao.

Chrissy's Garden — A Photo Essay by Lucy Murray Willis

Photo essay by Lucy Murray Willis on painter and artist Chrissy’s relationship to her garden in London.

Food Justice in Action: A Conversation with Education and Food Justice Advocate Christine Tran

An interview with Christine Tran, former Executive Director of the LA Food Policy Council, on food justice and how policy and community action intersect to improve equitable food access.

Breastfeeding vs. Formula: Benefits, Challenges, and How to Choose What’s Best for You and Your Baby

A comprehensive guide to breastfeeding and formula feeding, covering benefits, challenges, safety tips, and alternatives to help parents make informed choices for their baby’s nutrition.

How to Read a Nutrition Label

Learn how to read a nutrition label, understand ingredients, and make informed, healthy food choices with this simple guide to food labeling basics.

An Illustration by Jemima Muir

A whimsical food illustration by Jemima Muir for Issue No. 6. Jemima Muir is a freelance illustrator and lecturer living in Birmingham, UK.

Dinners Served — Spray Paint on Canvas by Xavier Xcel Lightfoot

Gesso, acrylic paint, sharpie, graphite, and spray paint on canvas by artist Xavier Xcel Lightfoot.

Growing a Garden at the End of the World — An Essay by Deja Beamon

A reflective essay on gardening, community, and food as acts of care and resistance, exploring how nourishment, land, and collective rituals support healing during times of unrest.