from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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JAFSCD is the world’s only community-supported journal. JAFSCD content is open access (free) thanks to the generous support of our shareholders: the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, Library Shareholders, a growing number of Individual Shareholders, and our six JAFSCD Partners: |
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New JAFSCD Voices from the Grassroots commentary by NC FIELD, Inc.
In a powerful new commentary published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD), NC FIELD, Inc., challenges the exploitative dynamics embedded in academic and agency partnerships with community-based organizations (CBOs).
“Community-based organizations are valued for our access to trust, language, labor, and logistics, but often left out of funding, decision-making, and credit,” the authors write. The piece outlines how CBOs often serve as cultural brokers, trust builders, and logistics providers—yet remain absent from authorship, funding decisions, and long-term resource sharing. The authors argue that the system is not broken; it is designed to extract labor and knowledge from CBOs without consent or credit.
Drawing on lived experience and ethical frameworks, the commentary defines terms such as budget capture, epistemic exploitation, and post-award pretendership to expose how research institutions and agencies benefit from symbolic partnerships. From unfunded collaborations to grant narratives built on informal conversations and favors during disasters, NC FIELD documents the hidden labor sustaining multimillion-dollar outcomes.
The article concludes with clear recommendations for funders, IRBs, and fellow CBOs. It calls for authorship protocols, written agreements, and ethical funding practices that prioritize equity over symbolic inclusion. “When institutions extract from CBOs to further their internal agendas while offering scraps in return, they are not solving an issue—they are perpetuating it. This is not a flaw in the system. It is the system,” the authors assert.
This commentary invites researchers, funders, and policymakers to reimagine collaboration not as charity, but as shared power—with CBOs at the center of design, decision-making, and dissemination. |
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Nuevo comentario de NC FIELD, Inc., publicado en JAFSCD
En un nuevo y poderoso comentario publicado en el Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD), NC FIELD, Inc., denuncia las dinámicas de explotación presentes en las alianzas entre instituciones académicas, agencias gubernamentales y organizaciones comunitarias (CBOs).
“Las organizaciones comunitarias somos valoradas por nuestro acceso a la confianza, el idioma, la mano de obra y la logística, pero a menudo se nos deja fuera del financiamiento, las decisiones importantes y el reconocimiento,” escriben los autores. El texto explica cómo estas organizaciones suelen ser quienes construyen lazos de confianza, sirven de puente cultural y resuelven la logística, pero rara vez se les incluye en la autoría, la planeación financiera o el reparto de recursos a largo plazo. Según el análisis, el problema no es que el sistema esté roto—el sistema está diseñado para extraer el trabajo y el conocimiento de las CBOs sin consentimiento ni crédito.
Basado en experiencia vivida y marcos éticos, el artículo define conceptos como captura presupuestaria, explotación epistémica y pretensión post-subvención para evidenciar cómo las instituciones se benefician de alianzas simbólicas. Desde colaboraciones sin financiamiento hasta proyectos basados en favores e información compartida durante desastres, NC FIELD documenta el trabajo invisible que sostiene resultados millonarios.
El comentario concluye con recomendaciones claras para financiadores, comités de ética (IRBs) y otras organizaciones comunitarias. Llama a establecer protocolos de autoría, acuerdos escritos y prácticas de financiamiento ético que prioricen la equidad sobre la inclusión simbólica. “Cuando las instituciones extraen de las CBOs para avanzar sus propias agendas mientras ofrecen migajas a cambio, no están resolviendo el problema—lo están perpetuando. Esto no es una falla del sistema. Es el sistema,” afirman los autores. Este comentario invita a investigadores, financiadores y responsables de políticas públicas a reimaginar la colaboración no como un acto de caridad, sino como un ejercicio de poder compartido—con las CBOs en el centro del diseño, la toma de decisiones y la difusión. Images above: JAFSCD Voices from the Grassroots logo. |
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JAFSCD Voices from the Grassroots commentaries are an opportunity for professionals, activists, and program participants in the food movement to share your stories — to enrich knowledge, policy, and practice. It can be a means of "telling it like it is" — the challenges of food systems work, as well as opportunities, best practices, and innovative strategies. It can serve to prepare anyone who wishes to visit your community and collaborate with your community-based organization. See all the Voices from the Grassroots published to date.
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Films Available for Review
Interested in documentaries and like to review one and share your thoughts with JAFSCD’s readers? Fill out this quick review query form. You can also use the form to suggest other films (or books or reports) for review! The selected reviewer will receive free access to the film.
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Serán las Dueñas la Tierra (Steward of the Land): Stephanie, Ian, and Alfredo are landless ecological farmers striving to produce healthy food for local consumption in Puerto Rico. In this economically depressed U.S. territory—highly dependent on food imports and a frequent target for hurricanes—producing food locally is urgent. The documentary shows the protagonists’ grit as they attempt to carve a living without land ownership or capital.
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Farming While Black: As the co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, Leah Penniman finds strength in the deep historical knowledge of African agrarianism — agricultural practices that can heal people and the planet. Influenced and inspired by Karen Washington, a pioneer in urban community gardens in New York City, and fellow farmer and organizer Blain Snipstal, Leah galvanizes around farming as the basis of revolutionary justice. The film chronicles Penniman and two other Black farmers’ efforts to reclaim their agricultural heritage. Collectively, their work has a major impact as leaders in the sustainable agriculture and food justice movements.
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Be part of a sustainable solution!
Our food system is not sustainable and must be transformed. Climate change, corporate control, resource depletion, and food insecurity threaten communities worldwide. Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Sustainable Food Systems & Security (SFSS) graduate certificate equips you with the knowledge and perspectives to make an impact as a sustainable food system leader.
This six-course online program critically examines contemporary food systems through a sustainability lens, systems thinking, and real-world change. Explore food systems reform, grassroots movements, and community engagement, culminating in an applied community capstone course to help shape a more sustainable future where you live.
Explore KPU’s SFSS program | |
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