REAL Talks

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as an explicit organizational practice is transformative. How do you bring others along in the process, create buy-in, and then ensure that the commitment is going to produce results? As we’ve heard in previous episodes, sometimes we just have to start somewhere and adapt. Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be entirely improvised. There are tools and guidance available that can help frame the DEI process while also letting it be emergent. 

In episode 6, our guests from The Food Trust share how they engage in the practice of DEI within their own organization, and with the external communities they partner with. They share tools and practical advice from their own experience as an evolving organization.

For episode 5 of REAL Talks, we talked with Farmers Market Coalition, a core partner of the Nutrition Incentive Hub providing farm direct technical assistance to nutrition incentive grantees and practitioners. 

What really stood out for us in this conversation is this interplay between the organization's core identity and intentionality as Farmers Market Coalition described their commitment to prioritizing sustainability and not rushing their organization's DEI process.

For the past two episodes, we've been talking with Double Up Heartland, a coalition of six partner organizations implementing Double Up Food Bucks, a nutrition incentive program at grocery stores, farmers markets, farm stands and mobile markets in Kansas and Missouri.

In our third and final conversation with Double Up Heartland, our guests answer the question, "What are some successes that you've experienced through the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) process?"

Our guests speak to the adaptability and flexibility that's needed for engaging in DEI practice and culture building.

During our last episode, we introduced Double Up Heartland, a coalition of six partner organizations implementing Double Up Food Bucks, a nutrition incentive program at grocery stores, farmers markets, farm stands and mobile markets in Kansas and Missouri. They've put together a diversity, equity and inclusion - or DEI - committee. And we've been talking with three individuals from that committee who represent one third of the coalition's member organizations.

As we'll hear more about in this episode, the process revealed differences between their organizations that had never come out before in five years of collaborating. On top of organizational differences, there are limitations of working within what is expected of them as they make Double Up Food Bucks run in their communities and different understandings of how engaging in DEI work directly relates to food security.

Welcome to REAL Talks! The purpose of this podcast series is to explore the question: what does diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, look like within the nutrition incentive community? 

We hope that this series captures the experience or journey of DEI work, underscoring that this is not a straightforward process.

Through informal conversations and storytelling, nutrition incentive practitioners and partners will chat with us about how they're incorporating DEI into their organizations and work.