Silos - Incite at Columbia University

Incubated Project

Silos

In 2025, the USDA eliminated the "socially disadvantaged" classification for farmers and canceled millions of dollars in climate-smart and DEI grants and programs. Mississippi farmers have been hit particularly hard, with the loss of DEI agricultural grants forcing the shutdown of the Delta Regional Food Business Center. Farmers across the state—especially those who continue to face racial and ethnic discrimination and land displacement—now struggle with increased isolation and fewer resources.

Silos is assembling a coalition to bridge the resource, network, and capacity gaps amongst farmer-led organizations and farmers in Mississippi. The initiative connects nonprofits and farmers to share resources and build collective power through a centralized newsletter featuring agricultural jobs, grants, and programming opportunities, along with regular convenings. By breaking down silos, the project aims to create a healthier, more resilient network of Mississippi farmers.
 

Team Lead

  • 0
    Juan Quinonez Zepeda

    Juan Quinonez Zepeda began working on cattle ranches in northern Mississippi at the age of 14, and in 2024, he launched his family’s own operation in Mississippi. Beyond the ranch, Juan serves as a Program Associate at the Wallace Center; he is also a young researcher and speaker, a Root and Bloom Fellow with the National Young Farmers Coalition, a farmworker advocate, and holds leadership positions in his community. In 2020, he co-founded the FUERZA Farmworkers’ Fund, a mutual aid fund that supports immigrant farmworkers. His research- examining the South’s historical and ongoing reliance on immigrant labor and documentation of tacit knowledge in agriculture- has been featured in Southern Cultures and the Southeastern Geographer. Juan holds a degree in geography from Dartmouth College.

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
00
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

More Projects

  • go to Radical Arab Poetics
    Radical Arab Poetics
    Gathering queer and feminist Arab artists for a sonic rebellion that bridges underground music, poetry, and protest across the SWANA region. Part of the Left Field Fund
  • go to Documenting the Israeli Democracy Protest Movement
    Documenting the Israeli Democracy Protest Movement
    Capturing the untold stories of Israel's largest grassroots protest movement through intimate interviews with twenty leading organizers. Part of the Left Field Fund
  • go to The Bifurcation of Racial Justice Discourse
    The Bifurcation of Racial Justice Discourse
    Investigating the bifurcated conversation around Black Lives Matter using large web datasets. Part of the Breakdown/ (Re)generation Project
  • go to Field Notes from a Preservation Station
    Field Notes from a Preservation Station
    Field Notes from a Preservation Station is a Chicago-based initiative that treats food preservation as a public health imperative. This project addresses two interconnected challenges: the loss of traditional food knowledge and ongoing food insecurity. Part of Assembling Voices