Farming's Racist Roots - a podcast by School of International Service

Agriculture in America is older than the United States itself. But agriculture policy and the politics that drive it have always been, like so much of our world's history, unequal at best. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Garrett Graddy-Lovelace joins us to discuss agricultural policy, racial inequities, and the need for a new way of thinking about land both in the US and around the world.

Graddy-Lovelace explains what political ecology and decolonial studies are (1:55) and how these two concepts play directly into her research on agricultural policy and agrarian politics (3:12). She also discusses how lending and land ownership policies have historically disenfranchised Black farmers (5:41), the long history of Black agrarian resistance and excellence (7:36), and what the latest COVID-19 relief bill accomplishes for Black farmers (10:01).

What needs to be done to right the historical mistreatment of non-white farmers by the US government (11:55)? What are the global impacts of US agricultural policies that disenfranchise farmers of color (18:58)? Professor Graddy-Lovelace answers these questions and explains why discrimination in agriculture is a global phenomenon (21:59). She also examines the significance of the ongoing farmers’ protests in India (23:59). Finally, she discusses transnational agrarian justice movements (25:40) and shares how she is inspired by Black and Indigenous-led agrarian resistance movements within the US (27:57).

During our “Take Five” segment, Professor Graddy-Lovelace tells us the top five barriers to achieving food justice that she would eliminate if she could (17:01).

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