In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Seanicaa Edwards Herron, founder and executive director of the Freedmen Heirs Foundation, about challenges facing Black farmers in the United States. Herron discusses historical and systemic barriers that Black farmers have encountered, and continue to encounter, in the US agricultural industry. Their conversation covers access to land, capital, and markets; the importance of government programs that are tailored to support Black farmers; and the mission of the Freedmen Heirs Foundation to bridge gaps in the agricultural industry between Black farmers and the markets that Black farmers tap to sell their products.

References and recommendations:

“Minority Food Producers in the Climate Transition” webinar from Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/events/environmental-justice-series/minority-producers-in-the-climate-transition/

Exposure event series from Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/environmental-justice/exposure-2024/

Season 3 of “The Heist” podcast; https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/the-heist/theheist-season3/

“Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land” film; https://gaininggroundthefilm.com/