Welcome back to REAL Talks, Reaching for Equity in All Lives. In this episode, Kolia Souza, Food Systems Equity & Advocacy Specialist of CRFS, and Maria Graziani, Food Systems Specialist and Food Impact Fellow with the Federation of American Scientists, host a conversation about historical barriers to equity and access to resources for producers of color.  

In this episode, they were joined by:  

• Marcus Coleman, Ph.D. Professor of Practice, Economics + Strategy, Leadership, & Analytics at Tulane University
• Rachel Lindvall, Retired Extension Specialist at South Dakota State University
• Keesa V. Johnson, M Des, Food Systems Strategy Design Specialist at MSU Center for Regional Food Systems

The relaunch of this podcast series will focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, across the food and agriculture system. Through this and future episodes, different aspects of this topic will be discussed with members of CRFS and the Racial Equity in the Food System (REFS) National Workgroup. REFS brings together Cooperative Extension professionals and community stakeholders to connect, learn, and collaborate to facilitate change within our institutions and society to build racial equity within the food system. 

These episodes will explore the following questions: 

• Is there adequate funding for programs that are centering Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous voices? 
• Is the technical assistance that is being funded adequate for supporting these producers when they are scaling up their businesses?

Listen to their discussion on the podcast!  

Please find the transcript of their discussion on the CRFS website at https://www.canr.msu.edu/podcasts/real-talks-episode-7