Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives

The NASDA Foundation believes that diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental principles of a sustainable agricultural community and necessary to advance the agricultural industry in the United States. We have a strong commitment to inclusion, outreach and engagement to embrace diversity within the agriculture sector.

In August 2020, the National Society for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the NASDA Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding embarking on a five-year partnership to grow diversity in agricultural government affairs and agriculture industry leaders. The MOU was designed to increase minority college students’ exposure to employment, educational and business opportunities through state departments of agriculture. Through this partnership, the Agriculture Policy Summit was developed, with 10 MANRRS students attending the 2020 NASDA Winter Policy Conference in Washington D.C. The engagement efforts include teaching undergraduate and graduate students about federal agriculture policy through hands-on experiences. Today, this effort continues as a part of the NASDA Next Generation student program at both the NASDA Annual Meeting and Winter Policy Conference events.

The Farm2Food Accelerator is a comprehensive 15-module training program designed to support small-scale women farmers and food entrepreneurs in strengthening business capacity and operational resilience through value-added food and beverage products. Adapted to meet the unique needs of each producer community, each Farm2Food Accelerator covers core topics like food safety, regulatory compliance, costing, marketing and more. The NASDA Foundation launched the Farm2Food Accelerator in Washington and Oregon through grants received from the 2019 Washington State Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and 2019 Oregon Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Since then, the Foundation adapted the curriculum and successfully launched pilots in California, Florida and Nevada. In Fall 2023, the Foundation translated the program to Spanish to reach even more communities around the country.

In 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Division awarded the NASDA Foundation $3 million in cooperative agreement funding to help underserved farmers improve water quality, habitat resilience and information exchange to benefit the ecosystems within the Gulf of Mexico Watershed. Through this program, the NASDA Foundation and sub-awardees work directly with historically underserved producers to leverage partnerships to increase knowledge sharing and implement soil and water conservation practices that can help reduce runoff and nonpoint source pollution.