“Building Equity in the NC Food System Through Community Practice” is a document authored by Christopher J. Gillespie, a 5th-year doctoral candidate at North Carolina State University and Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System (CORE) Fellow. The document addresses challenges and opportunities within the North Carolina (NC) food system, emphasizing the need for strategic partnerships and community-driven initiatives. Download the document here.

The Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System (CORE) is implementing a peer review process that will continue to inform this student document. Please visit the CORE events page to learn more about opportunities to join this conversation.

Disclaimer: The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) is a partnership of North Carolina State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The conclusions and recommendations in this document are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of CEFS leadership, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, or the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Bevelyn Afor Ukah, coordinator of the Food Youth Initiative (FYI), and Ree Ree Wei, Executive Director of Transplanting Traditions Community Farm, were featured on an episode of The Leading Voices in Food Podcast from Duke University World Food Policy Center.

Check out this fantastic interview to learn more about FYI and hear discussions around topics such as food justice, youth and community engagement, and storytelling. Click here to listen to the podcast or to read an interview summary.

CORE In-Between Guide (2020)

In-Betweens were developed as a follow-up to our racial equity trainings. Participants of our introductory trainings asked for ways to continue practicing our shared language developed from the intro training and deepen our collective analysis. We meet monthly to have a group reading and discussion session, featuring readings, video clips and other “story prompts” that intersect food and race, as a way to create a community of learners and practitioners working towards racial equity.

This guide is designed as a “grab and go”, for you to pick up and use with your own crew of practitioners or as a template to create your own guide based on resources and learning styles most relevant to you, your community and your region.

Because of COVID-19, most of our In-Betweens in 2020 took place virtually. This guide includes summaries and resources from each of the 2020 In-Betweens.

• Download.pdf
• Back to Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System page
• Back to All Resources page

CORE In-Between Reading and Discussion Guide (2019)

In-betweens were created as a follow-up to our racial equity trainings. Participants of our introductory training asked for ways to continue practicing our shared language developed from the intro training. So we started meeting monthly to have a group reading and discussion session as a way to create a community of learners and practitioners working towards racial equity.

This guide is designed as a “grab and go”, for you to pick up and use with your own crew of practitioners or as a template to create your own guide based on resources and learning styles most relevant to you, your community and your region.

• Download .pdf
• Back to Committee on Racial Equity in the Food System page
• Back to All Resources page

Shining a Light in Dark Places: Raising up the Work of Southern Women of Color in the Food System (2014)

In this report from the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI), CEFS Community Food Systems Outreach Coordinator and 2013 CSI Food Equity Fellow Shorlette Ammons describes the realities of current and past food systems from the perspectives of Southern women of color. Shorlette argues that we can achieve equitable food systems change by 1) changing the narrative; 2) identifying food systems policy that directly affects women and children; 3) developing women of color leadership to lead the policy change; 4) building capacity and developing organizations; and 5) finding ways to sustain family farms.

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Structural Racism and Food Inequity (2014)

This webinar discusses the past, current and future work at NC A&T State University as a part of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems to address food system inequities. The discussion covers our history of youth work and community engagement in eastern North Carolina as well as statewide efforts and national engagement with organizations like the Inter-Institutional Network for Food and Agricultural Sustainability (INFAS) and the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI) as well as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to build shared language, a shared analysis and frame for food equity using race as a lens.

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