Episode 040 - Critical Conversations: Racism and Agriculture

Welcome to Episode 40. What better way to celebrate this milestone than talking about one of the hardest topics out there? Unless you've been living under a rock, you know about the civil unrest taking place in our country right now. Racism has risen to the forefront of the national consciousness and can no longer be ignored. We're white. We're privileged. And we're only just now starting to understand how deep these wounds run, and how our silence has only added to the problem. We are joined by Shannon Archebeque-Engle, who serves Colorado State University as Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Assessment in the Vice President's for Diversity Office. As a Chicana in agriculture, she's experienced racism in her own life, and has watched how it affects American agriculture. She answers many of our questions, but more importantly, lays out exactly how racism still affects our agricultural lives and how to start making a change for the best. Every second of this episode is critical. Please join us in our mission to educate ourselves, understand the personal, institutional, and systemic problems with racism in our most beloved industry, agriculture, and how we can start to heal and move forward together.