Overcoming Historical Barriers in Mid-Tier Agriculture
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
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