Cassi Johnson, formerly development and outreach coordinator for WFAN, describes her journey from graduate school to her current position directing Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee, and answers questions about the value of WFAN, healthy food systems, and her vision for the future.

How did you become involved with WFAN originally, and why?

I moved to Ames, Iowa in 2002 to join the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State. Through my research assistantship I was working on the Southwest Iowa Entrepreneurship Initiative with Denise O’Brien. I immediately took to her. Denise has so much passion for food justice issues and it is contagious! Denise recruited me to lead a workshop on the globalization and trade policy at a WFAN fall gathering, and then she recruited me to do an internship with WFAN.

My graduate program emphasized the importance of identifying leverage points within the food system can lead to a big shift in social, economic, and environmental sustainability. At some point in my work with WFAN I realized that women are a leverage point for creating food systems change. We own about half of the farmland in the country, make the vast majority of the food purchasing decisions, and value land stewardship and choosing healthy, sustainably-grown foods for our families. I realized that women are a major force for change but we don’t have as strong a voice in the good food movement as I believe we should.

What work did you do while you were involved with WFAN?

I started out coordinating WFAN’s internship program. We had great interns and it was really exciting to work with them and also with our farmer mentors. I then moved into the role of Development and Outreach Coordinator, assisting with grant writing and communications.

Which of the projects you worked on gave you the most personal satisfaction?

My favorite project was our Women’s Voices in the Farm Bill project, which was funded by the Leopold Center and MSAWG/ SAC. The project began with an online survey aimed at learning women’s perspective on the Farm Bill and their interest in participating in the dialogue surrounding the 2007 Farm Bill. I thought it would be a small, informal survey that would be circulated among our members and a few other sustainable agriculture circles within Iowa. Within days of releasing the survey people from all over the country wrote and called asking if they could circulate the survey to their listservs and constituents. Soon were getting hundreds and hundreds of responses – it was overwhelming but exciting to realize that women wanted to have a voice in federal farm policy. 

We then began a series of ten Farm Bill listening sessions across Iowa. The sessions attracted women from organic farms, from conventional corn and soybean operations, and urban women who were consumers or food assistance program participants. All of the sessions were very different, but all participants were very interested in learning more about this piece of legislation that has a big impact on their lives and farming operations.

Most women had heard of the Farm Bill but knew very little about how it worked and how they could have an impact on federal farm policy. I had prepared a “Farm Bill 101” document that I used to get the discussion started, but it turned out that women had a lot of expertise to share with one another and with me. I learned a great deal from speaking with women who had utilized different farm bill programs and had unique information and perspectives to share. 

The sessions were recorded and the data was analyzed and compiled in a report that was shared with all participants. Shortly after the reports were sent out, one listening session participant, whom I believe was in her late 70s, called to thank me and WFAN for the report and the project as a whole. She said that in all of her decades living on a farm and doing the bookkeeping and working in the fields, no one had ever asked her opinion on farm policy. She appreciated the opportunity to provide her feedback and to see her voice echoed in the report by other women’s voices.

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of the project and to have learned from so many incredible women.

What makes WFAN valuable, in your opinion?

WFAN provides invaluable support to women farmers, food activists, educators, and other women passionate about food systems change. Although there are many women involved in the work of changing the food system, it isn’t always our voices that rise to the top in public policy, the media, and even in committee meetings at the local level!

Through my work with WFAN I also learned about the very real barriers women farmers and landowners face in getting loans, enrolling in conservation programs, negotiating with renters, and buying or repairing equipment. Through the e-newsletter, website, and gatherings, WFAN connects women and helps them find answers to questions, find friendship, and find energy to continue doing the tough work of changing the food system. I also think that WFAN plays an important role in helping women advocate for policy change.

How did working with WFAN help further your career, and what are you doing now?

WFAN truly helped me find my voice and my place in the good food movement. Denise was an amazing mentor. I learned from her a great deal about the food system, about organizing, and about the history of the sustainable agriculture movement. She sent me to meetings and introduced me to everyone she knew and constantly sought out opportunities that could help me grow as a professional. She advocated for me every chance she got and I know that I am a more skilled food advocate due to her mentorship. 

I hope that also learned from her how to be a good mentor to the young women with whom I work. All of the other amazing women of WFAN, with their diverse expertise and perspectives, also mentored me in some way and I appreciate all that I learned working with them! 

Today, I am the Director of the Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee, based in Nashville at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. We are a partnership of more than 70 organizations and hundreds of individuals working together to create a more healthy, just, and sustainable food system for our region. 

We currently are focusing on two main advocacy campaigns. The first is Re/Storing Nashville, which aims to secure economic development incentives for grocery stores locating in urban food deserts. Our second campaign is Growing Healthy Kids, which is a grassroots movement of teachers and parents working for healthy school food reform, including farm to school. We are also working with our mayor’s office on several food policy initiatives and we have a food justice outreach and awareness campaign.

What is your vision of a healthier food system for our country (i.e., what are we working toward?)

This is a tough question. In our Partnership we say that we are working for a healthy, sustainable, and just food system, but what does that really mean? Certainly I believe that all people should have access to healthy food that is grown in a way that is good for farmers, communities, and the environment. I also think that the healthy, sustainable, and just choice should be the easy choice. 

I love the concept of “slow” food, but currently we don’t live in a slow world. It is really difficult for me to choose foods that are healthy and locally and sustainably raised. I probably have to pay a bit more than I would at the supermarket, and I have to travel miles to reach a place that carries local foods, then I probably want to have invested time in developing a relationship with the farmer so I know how my food is being raised. When I get home I will spend time preparing food from scratch – and this is after my husband and I have both worked long days and have tended to other responsibilities to Zach (my stepson), Django (my dog), housework, volunteer work, etc.  

It is difficult for me to make the healthy, sustainable, and just choice and I have my own car and a decent salary! I think as a movement we need to focus less on “voting with our forks” and more on “voting with our voices.” Much of the injustice in our food system has been caused by public policy, whether it is the Farm Bill that subsidizes cheap corn and soy or urban renewal, which in Nashville played a significant role in causing the neighborhood near my office to go from having 15 grocery stores in the 1950s to having no grocery stores today.

Obviously I think that we should all do what we can to buy from local farmers and local businesses, but it is not enough and not everyone can voice their demands in the marketplace because they don’t have the financial means. Creating a more healthy, just, and sustainable food system means advocating for public policy that will shape a healthier food system.  

That is more my vision of change than my vision for the food system. I guess my vision is pretty simple – everyone has access to healthy, affordable food, grown in a way that is good for farmers, food system workers, the environment, and rural and urban communities. Our current food and agriculture system is a drain on public health, rural & urban communities, and the environment. 

Agriculture can and should be restorative, regenerative, a positive force. We see that now in small and mid-size rural and urban farmers who are growing good food for their communities. I guess my vision is that our predominant food system promotes good health for people, the planet, and communities, and that this food system is supported (rather than discouraged) by our food and farm policy.