This is an ongoing series.

Episodes from Fall 2021 thru Spring 2023 were produced by Nika Colley and Joy Davis, with support from Gretchen Burmeister and Hawa Barry.

Episodes starting in Fall 2023 were produced and hosted by Queen Guobadia, with support from Jordan Kuzmich, Eric Dong, and Rachel Horne.

Episodes starting in Fall 2024 were produced and hosted by Jeffrey Xue, with support from a variety of guest hosts.

Michelle Ajamian

Dec 8, 2021

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Michelleis principal owner of Shagbark Seed & Mill, an organic grain processing facility in Athens, Ohio, that she and her partner, Brandon Jaeger, started in 2010. She is a 2015 recipient of the Outstanding Woman in Innovation award. Michelle and Brandon founded the Appalachian Staple Foods Collaborative (ASFC) in 2009, an informal network that led to the launch of Shagbark Seed & Mill. Michelle brought ASFC to Rural Action in 2019, to support new enterprises and advance high-nutrition staple crops on a regional scale. The webinar will provide ample opportunity for interactive learning from Michelle as an accomplished business owner and activist.

Rebecca Thistlethwaite

Sept 29, 2021

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Rebecca is the director of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network (NMPAN), an Extention community of practice for niche meat producers and processors housed at Oregon State University. She brings 23 years of experience in agriculture, including running her own successful pasture-based livestock and poultry farm for a number of years. The webinar focuses on the shift felt nationwide during COVID-19 outbreaks when smaller, more agile meat processors were able to operate and support farmers in ways that large processing companies could not. Rebecca also discusses barriers for start-ups, including the shortage of skilled labor, investment expenses, and policies.

Suzan Erem

May 27, 2021

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Suzan Erem is the executive director of Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) in West Branch, Iowa.

Suzan will speak on SILT's "Circle our Cities" campaign to ground local food systems in permanent local farms. The goal of the campaign is to surround 10 Iowa cities with 10 permanent table food farms in 10 years, and to encourage other cities to learn from and adopt the approach.

Learn how the SILT model takes land speculation and mortgage interest out of the equation for the benefit of future healthy food farmers. 

Megan Larmer

Mar 18, 2021

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Megan Larmer is the Senior Director of Regional Food Programs for the Glynwood Center for Regional Food & Farming in Cold Spring, NY. This webinar will focuses on Glynwood's Local Food for Every Table initiative, a holistic regional approach to increase food access during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees will learn about Glynwood's farm donations to local hunger relief organizations; Glywood's coordination of a revolving loan fund to expand accessibility to CSA for those using SNAP; and Glynwood's Food Sovereignty Fund to contract with small-to-mid scale Hudson Valley farms that follow regenerative agricultural practices, the majority of whom are led by people who identify as BIPOC, LBGTQ+ and/or women. 

Joshua Stoll

Feb 25, 2021

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Josha Stoll is a co-founder of the Local Catch Network. LCN supports small and community-based fishermen, harvesters, and seafood businesses. As a community of practice, the network includes fishermen, organizers, researchers, and consumers throughout North America who are providing local, healthful, low-impact seafood via community-supported fisheries and direct-marketing arrangements. 

Since 2011, Josh has worked closely with LCN members and partners to elevate small and community-based fisheries. LCN has 200+ members committed to a shared core of values and striving to elevate local and regional seafood systems. 

Carla Norwood

Dec 10, 2020

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Carla Norwood, PhD, shared details of the ways in which Working Landscapes advances economic development, environmental resilience, and improved nutrition in the rural communities of Warren County, North Carolina.

Most of her work focuses on building stronger linkages between rural communities and nearby urban areas.

Working Landscapes is a regional leader in aligning stakeholders and decision-makers across the food supply chain to achieve health, economic, and social equity goals. 

Good Food Talk: A Sharing of Healing Work

Facilitated by Gail Myers of the NAFSN Leadership Circle and featuring Karen Spiller and Curtis Ogden, both of Food Systems New England, sponsor of the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge.

produced by NAFSN and the Wallace Center

May 27, 2020

Best Practices in Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Equity Training in Food Systems

Uprooting Racism in the Food System: Seeding Sovereignty for Black and Brown Farmers

Hosted by Bakari McClendon of the NAFSN Leadership Circle, and featuring Kimberely Carr and Rich Pirog, both of the  Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University, and Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm and author of Farming While Black.

produced by NAFSN  

Oct 23, 2019