Center for Regional Food Systems Racial Equity in the Food System Workgroup

Dr. Brandy Phipps is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Central State University. She has been a member of the Racial Equity in the Food Systems (REFS) workgroup since 2022. Learn more about her background and perspective in this reflective Q&A!

What is a moment in life that shaped your perspective on and approach to food systems?

Seeing the disconnect that many of my students (primarily African American students from the Midwest or Bahamian, 1st generation college students) have with agriculture, historical cultural foodways, even though historically in their families there was a deep connection at some point. I wanted my students to know about their traditional foodways and food cultures, including the deep connection that Africans, African Americans and Caribbean Black communities have had with innovative agriculture and food systems both pre- and post-transatlantic-slave trade.

How do you practice race equity-centered food systems leadership?

First, I practice remaining in a state of constant openness and learning. If I am going to contribute to equity-centered food systems leadership, I have to constantly adjust my ideas and perspectives about what equity is and how to achieve it – by listening to the voices of those who experience the most inequities in the food system. Secondly, I look for ways to leverage whatever privilege(s) I have - money, time, credentials/weight of my “name”, spaces/audiences – in order to amplify and lift up the voices and expertise of those who do not benefit from those privileges.

What is your personal challenge in race equity-centered work?

Race equity-centered work can only be done well if relationships and community are prioritized. And, as an academic and scientist, those are not the skills that were developed in my graduate programs or post-graduate professional development in the Academy. So, this work – and doing it well – required and continues to require me to transform my perspectives, approaches, and leadership strategies to build and maintain community as we do this Work together.

What hard question do we need to ask ourselves about food systems leadership and transformation?

Who is leading? Why are they “qualified” to lead? What are the differences between community leadership and governmental or academic leadership, including the worldviews and goals that drive their objectives, the strategies that inform their actions, and the “rules” that determine their “ownership” over knowledge, products, and the systems themselves?

How do we bridge “gaps” between and among worldviews through language and action?

Help each group or individual to really “hear” the perspectives, driving worldviews, and strategies, and act as facilitators to help very diverse stakeholders find consensus in a society currently driven by “rage bait” and divisiveness. If “we the people” – all of us unique and diverse in all the best and (and sometimes worst) ways – cannot come together in spite of our differences, we will never move forward in sustainable ways.

What is the best advice you’ve been given?

If everyone likes you, you are doing something wrong. Because bad actors will always dislike you when you are doing the right thing.