RAFI’s Come to the Table program presents its Equity at the Table Speaker Series, featuring varied perspectives on diversity, equity, and inclusion, while educating the community about food security issues. RAFI will host the Equity at the Table Speaker Series in locations across North Carolina from March through August 2018. The series is designed for people who are working in the intersection of equity and food security and for those with the desire to think more critically about equity in their work and volunteerism.
RAFI invites people of faith, farmers, activists, and journalists to come hear these perspectives. All events are FREE and open to the public.
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March 3, 2018 ¦ Durham, NC
Malik Yakini: “Creating a Just & Equitable Food System”
The first talk in the series will take place on March 3, 2018 at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham NC and will be delivered by Malik Kenyatta Yakini, co-founder and Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN). DBCFSN operates a seven-acre urban farm and is spearheading the opening of a co-op grocery store in Detroit’s North End. Yakini has presented at numerous local community meetings and national conferences on food justice and implementing community food security practices. He has an intense interest in contributing to the development of an international food sovereignty movement that embraces Blacks communities in the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa. Yakini is featured in the book “Blacks Living Green,” and the movie “Urban Roots.”
The opening remarks will be given by Savi Horne, Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers’ Land Loss Prevention Project (LLPP).
LLPP is a non-profit law firm that, for more than thirty-five years, has offered legal representation of clients, community economic development, and professional outreach in the effort to promote wealth, land preservation, and rural livelihoods. As a state, regional and national non-governmental organization leader, Horne has been instrumental in addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged farmers and rural communities. She graduated from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark, New Jersey and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1990.
Speaker: Malik Yakini, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN)
Opening Remarks: Savi Horne, North Carolina Association for Lawyers’ Land Loss Prevention Project
Date/Time: March 3, 2018 // Durham, NC // Hayti Heritage Center, Performance Hall @ 3:00 PM
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March 9, 2018 ¦ Pittsboro, NC
Dr. Sacoby Wilson: “Environmental Justice, CAFOs, and Community Health”
Dr. Sacoby Wilson will give the second talk in the Equity at the Table Speaker Series. This talk will be by invitation only, due to limited seating.
Dr. Wilson is an assistant professor with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health (MIAEH) and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland-College Park. He is an environmental health scientist with over ten years of experience working in community-university partnerships on environmental health and justice issues. Dr. Wilson has expertise in exposure science and applied environmental health including community-based exposure assessment, environmental justice science, social epidemiology, environmental health disparities, built environment, air pollution monitoring and community-based participatory research (CBPR). For the past two years, he has been building a program on community engagement, environmental justice, and health (CEEJH) to engage impacted communities, advocacy groups and policymakers in Maryland and the Washington DC region on environmental justice issues and health disparities.
Speaker: Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health (MIAEH) and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland-College Park
Date/Time: March 9, 2018 // Pittsboro, NC // By invitation only due to limited seating
March 14, 2018 ¦ Wilmington, NC
Scott Marlow: “Finding Your Story in the 2018 Farm Bill”
Farm Bill 2018: Your Story is the third talk in the Equity at the Table Speaker Series, and it will be delivered by Scott Marlow of RAFI. The talk will take place on March 14, 2018 in Wilmington, NC. Scott Marlow is the Senior Policy Advisor at RAFI. He is a strong advocate for small and mid-scale, sustainable farmers on topics like credit access, disaster relief assistance, financial counseling, and crop insurance. Marlow will discuss the 2018 Farm Bill process, what’s included in the bill, and its impacts on food security and equity. Attendees will learn how they can translate their stories into political action around agriculture and food policy.
Speaker: Scott Marlow, Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI)
Date/Time: March 14, 2018 // Wilmington, NC // UNC-Wilmington, Deloach Hall @ 6:30 pm
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April 28, 2018 ¦ Saxapahaw, NC
Vanessa Jackson: “We Are Seeds: Land, Meaning and Money”
Vanessa Jackson is a licensed clinical social worker, Soul Doula and owner of Healing Circles, Inc., a healing practice based in Atlanta, GA.
Ms. Jackson has authored numerous books on mental health and therapy with marginalized populations. She is a nationally recognized speaker on mental health issues, with a focus on culturally conscious therapy and therapy with marginalized populations. Ms. Jackson has developed a concept, “fiscal trauma”, which served as the foundation for an economic empowerment recovery program for survivors of domestic violence. Her passion is supporting activists in creating healthy and balanced lives. She offers an Activists Assistance Program to provide politically conscious and clinically sound counseling and healing workshops to Atlanta-area feminist non-profit organizations. Ms. Jackson holds a Master Degree from Washington University-George Warren Brown School of Social Work.
In her presentation, Ms. Jackson will examine what meaning working the land has and the fiscal trauma which may emerge from the financial struggle to make a living or feed oneself. Participants will engage in conversations of how money shapes their lives and discuss tools for how to address and heal the emotional impacts of fiscal trauma.
Speaker: Vanessa Jackson, Healing Circles, Inc.
Date/Time: April 28, 2018 // Saxapahaw, NC // The Culture Mill Lab // 2:30 pm
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May 8, 2018 ¦ Carrboro, NC
Andy Fisher: “Can the Anti-Hunger Movement Solve Hunger, or Just Feed People?”
Andy Fisher is a leading national expert on community food security. In 1994, he co-founded and led the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), the primary national alliance of groups working on food access and local food, until 2011. During this time, he played a key role in building the food movement, while gaining passage of various pieces of federal legislation, including the Community Food Projects and the Farm to School grant program. He has taught at various universities in Oregon, served as an interim director at Portland Fruit Tree Project, and consulted for numerous food and farm groups. His book Big Hunger: The Unholy Alliance Between Corporate America and Anti-Hunger Groups (MIT Press, 2017) exposes the web of connections between the food industry and anti-hunger groups that impede the elimination of food insecurity. Andy lives in Portland, OR.
Copies of Big Hunger: The Unholy Alliance Between Corporate America and Anti-Hunger Groups will be for sale at the event. A book signing will follow Fisher’s talk.
Speaker: Andy Fisher
Date/Time: May 8, 2018 // Carrboro, NC // Carrboro ArtsCenter // @ 7:00 pm
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May 14, 2018 ¦ Winston Salem, NC
Rick Moyers: “Board Diversity: Moving from Talk to Action”
Rick Moyers is an independent consultant and a nationally recognized expert on the governance and leadership of nonprofit organizations and the role of philanthropy in building nonprofit capacity.
For 14 years, Moyers held senior leadership positions at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation in Washington, DC — a private foundation focused on building an equitable DC region in which people who are economically vulnerable thrive. He has also served as executive director of the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations. Moyers is a frequent writer and speaker on philanthropy and nonprofit governance and leadership. He is the author of The Nonprofit Chief Executive’s Ten Basic Responsibilities (published by BoardSource in 2012) and the co-author of the Daring to Lead 2006 and 2011 research reports, which highlighted the challenges facing nonprofit executives. Rick currently serves on the boards of BoardSource (as chair), the Community Foundation for the Central Blue Ridge, and the Community Connections Fund of the World Bank Group.
Speaker: Rick Moyers
Date/Time: May 14, 2018 // Winston Salem, NC // The Enterprise Center, 1922 Martin Luther King Jr Drive
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June 11, 2018 ¦ Charlotte, NC
Christie Balch: “Building a Healthier, More Inclusive Local Food System”
Christie grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, and holds an M.P.H from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has been the Executive Director of the Crossroads Community Food Network in Takoma Park, MD since 2013. Crossroads was the first farmers market in the country that launched a “double dollar” incentive program, matching the value of federal nutrition benefits spent at market, fulfilling a dual mission of increasing healthy food access for low-income residents while supporting local farmers. Before joining Crossroads, she worked as a Program Coordinator for the University of Maryland Extension, developing new community food projects in Maryland and Afghanistan. Christie also serves on the board of the Farmers Market Coalition, and was appointed to the USDA’s Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee in 2016. In her talk, Christie will talk about how Crossroads Community Food Network has developed strong partnerships leading to the creation of a community kitchen and will also include interactive discussion and work around effective (and not-so-effective) partnership development.
Speaker: Christie Balch
Date/Time: June 11, 2018 // Charlotte, NC // Mosaic Village Multipurpose Room at Johnson C. Smith University, Mosaic Village Multipurpose Room // 6:30-8:00pm
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July 16, 2018 ¦ Charlotte, NC
Minerva Delgado: “Hunger is a Racial Equity Issue”
Minerva Delgado is Director of Coalitions & Advocacy at the Alliance to End Hunger in Washington, DC. Ms. Delgado has over twenty-eight years of experience working to end hunger and poverty. As an experienced policy analyst, organizer and program manager, she has held senior positions in government, civil rights and anti-poverty organizations. Ms. Delgado holds degrees from The New School and Cornell University. She is from The Bronx, NY.
In her talk Minerva will explain how racial inequity plays a role in the likelihood of whether someone will experience hunger. Participants will also take part in a wealth gap simulation that illustrates this reality.
Speaker: Minerva Delgado
Date/Time: July 16, 2018 // Johnson C. Smith University, Grimes Lounge // 7:00-8:30pm
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Supported by:
The Duke Endowment has generously provided sustaining support to the Come to the Table Project and Conferences since 2007. We are deeply grateful for a relationship with funders who share a commitment to our mission and whom we consider partners in the work.
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