Sierra Nuckols is from a culturally diverse neighborhood on the eastside of Indianapolis. Born to a 15-year-old mom, Sierra grew up hearing stories about hunger and poverty throughout her family lineage. She graduated from Hanover College in 2018 with a Bachelors in Anthropology. Sierra has visited 5 countries in search of knowledge about food systems, sovereignty, and social justice. During a visit to South Africa in 2016, Sierra met Desmond Tutu who inspired her to take action in solving hunger in Indianapolis.
Shortly after her return from South Africa, Sierra developed Community Food Box Project in partnership with the Little Free Pantry movement. Since then, Sierra has obtained an Urban Agriculture certificate from Purdue University and managed 2 urban farms in Indianapolis. Through all of these experiences, Sierra learned about the term “Food Apartheid.” This is a term coined by Karen Washington of Rise and Root Farm in New York. Food Apartheid makes clear that we have a human-created system of segregation that relegates certain groups to food opulence and prevents others from accessing life-giving nourishment (borrowed from Farming While Black by Leah Penniman).
Sierra hopes to eventually combine her passions of providing emergency food access and fighting against food apartheid in the form of agricultural education.
Photo: Sierra Nuckols at the Indianapolis Community Food Access Coalition’s July community potluck.