Featuring M. Jahi Chappel
Executive Director, Food First
Food and water are basic necessities for survival. Yet a significant portion of the world suffers from hunger and food insecurity. Hunger and food insecurity are interrelated with justice and ecology. For M. Jahi Chappel that reality is at the core of his work and mission as Executive Director of Food First.
Jahi is a political agroecologist whose research combines grassroots work and solidarity, as well as social and natural sciences in order to understand the stakes and opportunities in contemporary food systems. The underlying goal of his work is to support the construction of participatory, socially just, and ecologically sustainable agri-food systems that support all members of society. His work has particularly aimed at exploring the ways society and politics can be re-imagined to support agroecology, food sovereignty, and food justice.
Jahi’s work is intertwined with his extensive education and knowledge on environmental related concerns. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of Michigan 2000 as well as a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has also served as Associate Professor/Senior Research Fellow, Agroecology and Agriculture Policy, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University in the United Kingdom, and previously as Adjunct Faculty, School of the Environment, Washington State University. He also was the Associate Director for Research, Center for Social and Environmental Justice (CSEJ), Washington State University Vancouver; Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Justice, School of the Environment, Washington State University Vancouver; Affiliate Faculty Member of: Program in Public Affairs; as a Postdoctoral Associate/Provost’s Academic Diversiy; and as Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University.
While his role at Food First began in 2019, his background in food policy has included several years of services in related fields including as Senior Staff Scientist, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Director of Agroecology and Agriculture Policy, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach (CEREO); Center for Social and Environmental Justice (CSEJ).
Jahi has consulted for La Vía Campesina, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the World Future Council. His award-winning book, Beginning to End Hunger: Food and the Environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Beyond, was published January 2018 by the University of California Press.
M. Jahi Chappel and Food First’s dedication to the environment and to food policies that end hunger and ensure sustainability allow the pursuit of justice for many, and particularly for those most in need and want in the world.