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What is American Food?Stories that illustrate the value of the food we eat, dont eat and why. Author: Hannah Semler & Ali Berlow
What is American Food? is a podcast exploring the many stories that make up our food system. Through storytelling, we reveal how our U.S. food system is designed - identifying where we can most impact hunger relief, climate change, and economic stability for families everywhere. Co-hosts Hannah Semler and Ali Berlow take a broad and deep dive into food systems, in a format that questions, informs, and discusses the nature of how we understand where our food comes from in the U.S. The first four episodes focuse on produce production in Mexico, developed over the last century to feed the U.S., and the food bank efforts that support millions of families who are food insecure in the U.S. We speak with business owners, nonprofits and funding institutions, as well as food systems practitioners in different sectors. Our focus is on lesser known stories about where the food we eat comes from and why, and the value of food for people and planet, in order to inform our future food systems design. What Is American Food? is grateful for the financial support from the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation. Language: en Genres: Business, Non-Profit, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Red Tomato and Shirley Sherrod: Supporting Black-Owned Farms
Episode 5
Friday, 17 September, 2021
It can be hard to perceive the ways that systemic racism affects food you eat, whether it's the inequitable efforts behind getting a package of pecans to market, or noticing the farmers who aren't present at the local farmers' market. It's a sad irony, that racial discrimination, largely based on skin color, is not, in fact, observable. But if we look hard enough, with a better understanding, we will see and maybe we will act. In Season 2, Episode 2, of "What is American Food?" - co-hosted by Hannah Semler and Ali Berlow-- you will hear the incredible story of activist Shirley Sherrod and her decades of partnership with Red Tomato. We hear how black farmers in Georgia sought out Red Tomato-- a small hybrid nonprofit food hub in the northeast-- to help get their watermelons, and years later their pecans to market. Shirley Sherrod, co-founder of New Communities, Inc., and Michael Rozyne, founder of Red Tomato, built a relationship of trust around fair food supply chains. Shirley Sherrod is a warrior for black land ownership and farmer equity. She's served as an activist, elected official, and community member addressing systemic racism in farming for the last 40 years. Shirley was born 1948, the daughter of black farmers in Georgia. After her father was murdered by a white farmer-- who was never convicted despite multiple witnesses-- Shirley chose to dedicate her life's work to community food systems and black farmers. She turned her experience of injustice into a quest for justice for others. During the Obama Administration, she was appointed to Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture-- only to be forced to resign after a smear campaign by Breitbart. She persisted, in pursuit of justice. Through it all, Shirley co-founded and continues to operate New Communities, Inc., which oversees a 200-acre pecan orchard on land that was once one of the largest and richest slave-labor operations in Georgia. In listening to Shirley's story, we feel that there is hope for restoration. And we hope that Shirley's passion and sacrifice, her resilience and joy, will bring you new light and understanding. You can learn more about New Communities at www.newcommunitiesinc.com. You can subscribe to new episodes and sign up for our newsletter at www.whatisamericanfood.com. We are so grateful to The Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation for their ongoing support to make this podcast happen. Check out more of their work at www.BJFFF.org. To continue learning about Black-owned land loss, systemic discrimination, and Shirley Sherrod, check out the following resources. Read about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigford_v._Glickman (The Pigford Case) Listen to https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1619/id1476928106 (The 1619 Podcast), episodes 5 (part 1 & 2) https://shop.equalexchange.coop/collections/fruits-nuts/products/natural-pecans-10oz (Order pecans) from New Communities Inc. https://www.federation.coop/ (Check out events) by The Federation of Southern Cooperatives
