The Mississippi Free Press is committed to fostering dialogue across race, ethnicity, economic status, political parties, gender and religious beliefs. MFP returned to Jackson for the third time for another Solutions Circle on July 28, 2026. Seventeen attendees discussed issues including health and economics.

Health

Issues

  • Poor produce quality in underserved areas
  • Jackson youth should be educated on maintaining their health 
  • Sexual reproduction classes should be in JPS
  • Quality foods plays a part in maintaining health 
  • Food desserts/ No accessible healthy
  • Bioengineered foods don’t contain the same nutritional value as real food
  • Access to medical care
  • Racial bias plays a part in access to better medical care and quality food
    Policies disregarding whole segments of people

Solutions

  • Jackson need public option grocery stores
  • More farmers markets
  • Food vouchers for farmers markets
  •   Classes teaching healthy recipes – free/community accessible
  • Health Solutions
  • Come together to confront poor healthcare and produce 
  • Churches should collaborate to implement community solutions 
  • Stay involved in your community/support all that you can 
  • How do we sustain our progress?
  • Community leaders working together with pastors
  • Coming back together as a community
  • Communicating with our politicians
  • What solutions have data to back them? 
  • Knowledge sharing

Economics 

Issues

  • Low minimum wage/ high prices
  • Lack of unions
  • Data centers
    • Health enviro concerns
    • Jobs?
  • History repeating itself?
  • Corporate greed/capture
  • Economic development of ALL Jackson
  • Why did West JXN Change so fast
  • Lack of support for small biz
  • Brain drain
  • What generates jobs? 

Solutions

  • Community use of abandoned areas
  • Paid community service (day labor)
  • “Peoples platform”
  • Empowering local folks over outsiders
  • Antitrust enforcement
  • Anticorruption/Cleaning up government
    • Getting money out of politics
  • Dual power
  • More government review and transparency
  • Civic education
    • Start small and local

Read more about our Solutions Circles here.

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The mission of the Mississippi Free Press, a new nonprofit journalism website and multimedia network that launched in March 2020, is to publish deep public-interest reporting into causes of and solutions to the social, political and structural challenges facing all Mississippians and their communities. Mississippians need to know each other across regions and share our challenges and solutions despite geographic and other differences. We are introducing Mississippians to each other through our deep accountability reporting and compelling people-focused storytelling, and by convening online and physical “solutions circles,” using our statewide networks to ensure inclusivity and representation.