Strategic storytelling: Reflecting on the past, present, and future of INFAS

Abstract

The Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agricul­ture, and Sustainability (INFAS) connects food sys­tem scholars, educators, and action-researcher activists across the United States. As a collaborative network endowed by the W.K. Kellogg Founda­tion, INFAS envisions a U.S. food system that is environmentally sustainable and socially just. With several new members joining the INFAS Executive Committee in 2023, 12 past and current members embarked on a facilitated “strategic storytelling” effort in lieu of strategic planning. We did so to collectively understand the past and present of INFAS before planning for its future; craft an out­ward-facing story to better communicate with the broader INFAS membership, prospective mem­bers, and partners; and share our personal stories to build stronger relationships with each other. Two sessions produced these personal stories and a timeline of key events and characters that we coa­lesced into a shared story. Augmented by annual reports, internal records, and external sources, this reflective essay shares that story organized by broad chapters across over 15 years of INFAS activity, including Prologue: Influences & Origins; Chapter 1: Formalizing the Network; Chapter 2: Reorienting Toward Equity; and Chapter 3: Reor­ganizing to Do the Work. The essay concludes with the Epilogue, wherein we acknowledge long-term goals to integrate community leaders in the network and support underrepresented scholars and students despite tensions of time and capacity constraints; the need for larger infusions of fund­ing to catalyze and amplify collaborations; and limi­tations imposed by the incentive structures, bureaucracy, and exclusivity of academia. Finally, we look toward the next chapter in our story by deepening our investment in projects and pilot programs that engage our broader member­ship and advance our vision of a sustainable and just food system.