Introducing A New Podcast Series with an FAS Food Impact Fellow and the Racial Equity in the Food System Working Group

In October 2023, Federation of American Scientists launched a multi-year Food Supply Chain Impact Fellowship that placed 28 food systems professionals dedicated to strengthening mid-tier agriculture value chains across the U.S. Many of these Fellows are currently working to support the Regional Food Business Centers, the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program and advance local and regional food systems research.

I serve as one of the FAS Fellows contributing to local and regional food systems efforts at the national level. During our initial fellowship onboarding, we developed research proposals that could tie directly to or prepare us for our future federal service. I am not new to understanding and addressing the issues that plague regional agricultural value chains and mid-tier agriculture. With much of my previous work in food systems focused on strengthening regional processing (think hops growing and processing for craft brewing operations, or capital access and sourcing for a startup food manufacturing business), I was up for the challenge of researching and discussing food systems transformation and the pathways we might all consider reaching for a more resilient regionally-focused food system.

One of the major questions around food systems transformation and successful models of local and regional food systems success has been right-fitting technical assistance and investment in technical assistance to meet the diverse needs of producers, particularly Black, Hispanic, and Tribal producers. Not all agricultural education is built the same and many of the long-standing methods of engaging with farmers, producing education, investing in technical assistance, and marketing the access to the public, do not meet the needs of farmers long un-prioritized by local, state, and federal resources. 

There is not only personal value to farmers, but also intrinsic value to mid-tier agriculture in ensuring resources are widely available and unbiasedly accessible. Diversifying and centering equity in agricultural technical assistance can improve the resilience and market growth of mid-tier agricultural value chains. The first value factor, according to the Local and Regional Food Systems Playbook (LRFSP), is that systemic injustice can impair people in responding to food system disruptions, and not having a disaster response that is fast, nimble and widespread is in itself disastrous.

A second value factor focuses on generational wealth for agricultural producers. Economists suggest increases in programmatic capital and long-term investment in resources that create wealth generation, like land and business ownership, will more effectively support historically underserved and low-resourced Americans in building agricultural, generational wealth long-term.

Finally, a third value focuses on the critical link between food insecurity and nutritional disease rates. The rates of food insecurity and detrimental health outcomes are all highest in BIPOC communities. Moving towards program funding that begins to reverse historical food insecurity and loss of food sovereignty, which will take years and generations to reverse, will more consistently contribute to advance human health across all people and across our economic and biological lives.

To contribute to forwarding research-based discussions, I took this topic to colleagues with the Racial Equity in the Food Systems Working Group (REFS). REFS is a Community of Practice of extension educators, rural sociologists, economists and other agricultural and food systems professionals, and community stakeholders who connect, learn, and collaborate to facilitate change within our institutions and society to build racial equity within the food system. The result is a 3-part podcast series hosted by Kolia Souza and me with REFS guest experts exploring the value of increasing long-term investment in mid-tier technical assistance for historically underserved producers. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems produced three episodes as an extension of their Reaching for Equity in All Lives (REAL) Talks Series, with two episodes currently available on all podcast platforms. The first two episodes focus on Scaling Up with Trust and Relationships and Systems are People. 

The podcasts are real conversations with experts in the field of agriculture and equity and include Dr Marcus Coleman, Professor of Practice in Economics at Tulane University; Keesa V Johnson, MDes, Food Systems Strategy Design Specialist at Michigan State University; and, Rachel Lindvall, MLIS, Consultant on Sustainable and Indigenous Food Systems. The third episode of Real Talks will launch in August and all eight episodes of the REAL Talks podcast will be available at the link or across Apple and YouTube podcast platforms.

Equitable resources are ones that center historically underserved producers; they focus on longitudinal access, higher funding caps, lowers barriers in application processes, and provides the direct technical assistance to support diverse applications from historically underserved organizations. Equitable resources include debt-financing mechanisms specifically tailored to historically underserved producers and crop insurance that is accessible and affordable. I welcome you to check out all the podcast episodes and review the additional resources in this post along with the body of evidence and knowledge that examines historical inequities in funding and access within our food systems. 

To learn more about the work of the Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University, you can check them out here. You can reach out about this blog post to Maria Graziani, Food Supply Chain Impact Fellow, mgraziani@fas.org

Cover image: Corona Farmers Market in Queens, New York is one of the most dynamic and diverse farmers markets in the city and is steps off the subway and mass transit system for the city | USDA Photo by Preston Keres

One of the most urgent challenges discussed the past few weeks at COP27 was climate adaptation—how to secure and empower communities worldwide that are already in the throes of climate change’s worst impacts. U.S. policymakers have rightly recognized climate adaptation and food security as growing intertwined national security and development aid priorities.

Yet most acute climate adaptation challenges like climate-driven food security lack creative, well-resourced policy responses. Exacerbated by pandemic-driven supply shocks and price volatility from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, climate-driven food security challenges may only worsen as weather patterns and natural disasters become more extreme and frequent. The U.S. government and the global development community have a critical opportunity to craft policy solutions for these intertwined challenges that generate innovations while supporting scaling what already works, an entirely new way of thinking about global development.

As policymakers seek new policy solutions, entrepreneurs and NGO leaders already doing effective and outcomes-driven work around the world are the best place to look for ideas.

Earlier this year, the Federation of American Scientists partnered with Unlock Aid, working side by side with innovators to host the Global Development Moonshot Accelerator, a policy workshop to reimagine the future of global development. This workshop was an initial opportunity to expose global development experts to the idea that policy, like seed funding or infrastructure investment, is an input that supports scaling.

Innovators don’t see policy as a pathway to scale

An underlying theme of this workshop was the importance of policy as a growth enabler. Innovators may not recognize policy as a viable, flexible, and rapid enough pathway to scale the solutions that have been proven effective. Good policy is needed to build a flourishing global development environment—a rising tide that lifts all entrepreneurial ships.

Policymakers have not provided adequate growth pathways in development

Solutions and evidence of what works exist but they do not always make it into policy. Policymakers have not created consistent, streamlined pathways to accelerate innovation—often limiting start-ups by shunning proven government procurement and scaling models that were built into domestic infrastructure and climate mitigation legislation.

Collaboration between innovators and policymakers must be intentional and collaborative

Most innovators are understandably hyper-focused on scaling up their individual ideas or products. The field of global development can be individualized and competitive—grants are few and far between, which doesn’t always foster shared best practices. Entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders in the field engage with communities experiencing climate change or food insecurity directly, yet they often do not have incentives or mechanisms to engage directly with policymakers. Meeting these challenges and achieving the SDGs by 2030 must be a more collaborative effort.

Moonshots offer opportunities for innovators to contribute big policy ideas

This is where policy moonshots can surface big ideas, reimagine how policy can catalyze real change, and play a meaningful connective role from those innovators most able to diagnose current barriers to scale to policymakers. Through the workshop, innovators and the Day One Project developed three promising, ready-made food security policy moonshots that provide actionable plans and model new ways of development.

Each moonshot proposes innovative ways that the U.S. government, multilateral organizations, and philanthropy should create new markets, innovations, and an ecosystem for scaling development solutions. They build off previous successful models of government-led innovation programs—some in development, others from analogous challenges.

Policymakers can find inspiration from these creative approaches. But they can also find models for how to better align their activities with the needs and ideas of the development community that works to deliver positive outcomes from foreign assistance. If we want to meet the challenges climate adaptation and food security present with policy solutions, we must include everyone and their ideas at the table.

Unlocking the U.S. Bioeconomy with the Plant Genome Project (Mary Fernandes, Solis Agrosciences)

The Plant Genome Project (PGP) would be a Human Genome Project-style, whole-of-government initiative to unlock a new era of plant science and innovation. PGP will build a comprehensive, open-access dataset of genetic and biological information on all plant species, starting with the 7,000 species that have historically been cultivated for food. By convening key stakeholders and technical talent in a novel coalition of partnerships across public and private sectors, PGP can spur growth in the bioeconomy and food security innovation.

Investing in Digital Agriculture Innovation to Secure Food, Yields, and Livelihoods (Jonathan Lehe, Gautam Bastian, & Nick Milne, Precision Development)

To spearhead USAID’s leadership in digital agriculture and create a global pipeline from tested innovation to scaled impact, USAID and its U.S. government partners should launch a Digital Agriculture for Food Security Challenge, a long-term innovation pipeline for digital-enabled agriculture solutions. With an international call to action, USAID can galvanize R&D and investment for the next generation of digitally enabled technologies and solutions to secure yields and livelihoods for one hundred million smallholder farmers by 2030.

Saving 3.1 Million Lives a Year with a President’s Emergency Plan to Combat Acute Childhood Malnutrition (Justin Graham, Olivia Shoemaker, & Dr. Abubakar Umar, The Taimaka Project)

Like PEPFAR galvanized the global fight against HIV/AIDS, the President’s Emergency Plan for Acute Childhood Malnutrition (PEPFAM) would elevate the problem of acute childhood malnutrition, leverage new and existing food security and health programs to serve U.S. national security and humanitarian interests, and save up to 3.1 million lives around the world every year. PEPFAM would serve as a catalytic initiative to coordinate the fight against malnutrition and direct currently fragmented resources toward greater impact, cost savings, and innovation.