Shirley Sherrod is an activist and organizer who has worked to support and empower black-owned farms for decades. As one of the founders of New Communities, Inc., based in southwestern Georgia, she has partnered with Red Tomato on a variety of projects to market the produce that comes out of these farms. Her story is one of resilience and sacrifice, and illustrates the costs of the systemic racism woven into the US food system we know today. You can learn more about New Communities at www.newcommunitiesinc.com. You can subscribe to new episodes and sign up for our newsletter at www.whatisameri ..read more

For the next few episodes of “What Is American Food?” we’ll be turning our attention from the southwest to the northeast.  Red Tomato is an innovative non-profit food hub based in Providence, Rhode Island. For 25 years they’ve been partnering with small to mid-sized farms to help with marketing, logistics, and distribution. We’ll hear Red Tomato’s origin story from Michael Rozyne, Angel Mendez, and Sue Futrell. Plus, 8th-generation orchardist John Lyman gives us practical examples of how Red Tomato helps his farm partner with others to make sure everyone succeeds in the market. But Red To ..read more

Covilli Brands Organic operates both a farm in Sonora, Mexico, and a marketing and distribution business out of Nogales, Arizona. What makes Covilli unique is that they are the only operation in North America that's 100% organic certified, and 100% fair trade certified. We hear from second generation farmer, Alex Madrigal, and his life and business partner, Iris Montano, as to their commitment to these approaches to both farming and the business side of things. We are grateful to have opened up this space for such important topics, shedding light on all the different farming and food prod ..read more

Guests: Michael Rozyne, founder of Red Tomato and one of the three founding members of Equal Exchange; and Robert Ojeda, Chief Programs Director of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and a founding member of Closing the Hunger Gap. Co-Hosts: Hannah Semler and Ali Berlow use multi-dimensional storytelling to explore what food security means from both ends of our food supply chain. We take a look from both sides of the MX-US border, learning more about the role produce rescue can have in support of hunger-relief, food security, and food justice when communities come together into focus ..read more

Covilli Brands Organic operates both a farm in Sonora, Mexico, and a marketing and distribution business out of Nogales, Arizona. What makes Covilli unique is that they are the only operation in North America that's 100% organic certified, and 100% fair trade certified. We hear from second generation farmer, Alex Madrigal, and his life and business partner, Iris Montano, as to their commitment to these approaches to both farming and the business side of things. We are grateful to have opened up this space for such important topics, shedding light on all the different farming and food prod ..read more

Episode 2: Cross-Border Produce Rescue in Nogales, AZ Hosts: Ali Berlow & Hannah Semler Guests: Dana Yost of The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and Ida Posner of the Posner Foundation. The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona (CFB) has redistributed over 100 million pounds of produce over the last three years to 37 food banks in 33 States across the US. We speak with Community Food Bank COO, Dana Yost, about their produce rescue operation plans across the border in Mexico, and the long term plans for addressing the root causes of hunger with workforce development programs in No ..read more

Guests: Michael Rozyne, founder of Red Tomato and one of the three founding members of Equal Exchange; and Robert Ojeda, Chief Programs Director of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and a founding member of Closing the Hunger Gap. Co-Hosts: Hannah Semler and Ali Berlow use multi-dimensional storytelling to explore what food security means from both ends of our food supply chain. We take a look from both sides of the MX-US border, learning more about the role produce rescue can have in support of hunger-relief, food security, and food justice when communities come together into focus ..read more

Episode 1: The 100-Year-Old Nogales Produce Sector Hosts: Ali Berlow & Hannah Semler Guests: James Martin of Wilson Produce LLC and Jamie Chamberlain of Chamberlain Distributing Inc. Six billion pounds of fresh produce enters into the U.S. through Nogales, Arizona each year destined for the U.S. market; this has been steadily growing over the past 100 years. With some digging, we soon find out that this very efficient food system, able to provide such enormous quantities of nutritious food, essential for human health, representing 84% of fresh produce on our shelves in winter, does not alw ..read more

Episode 2: Cross-Border Produce Rescue in Nogales, AZ Hosts: Ali Berlow & Hannah Semler Guests: Dana Yost of The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and Ida Posner of the Posner Foundation. The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona (CFB) has redistributed over 100 million pounds of produce over the last three years to 37 food banks in 33 States across the US. We speak with Community Food Bank COO, Dana Yost, about their produce rescue operation plans across the border in Mexico, and the long term plans for addressing the root causes of hunger with workforce development programs in No ..read more

Covilli Brands Organic operates both a farm in Sonora, Mexico, and a marketing and distribution business out of Nogales, Arizona. What makes Covilli unique is that they are the only operation in North America that's 100% organic certified, and 100% fair trade certified. We hear from second generation farmer, Alex Madrigal, and his life and business partner, Iris Montano, as to their commitment to these approaches to both farming and the business side of things. We are grateful to have opened up this space for such important topics, shedding light on all the different farming and food prod ..read more