Blog
It takes a village
9.3.2020
I was recently interviewed by Rosalie Guo for her podcast, SustainaBold, to talk about my journey as a woman of color as an academic studying sustainability. First, what an honor to be asked by a young person to share your story and work with them, and the world. Listening to the conversation after the fact, I was struck by how my story was filled with people who have walked with me at different parts of my journey, family, friends, teachers, and have left imprints on how I see the world and work within it. To me, sustainability is about caring, for self, other humans, other species and the world in which we live. It all starts in our villages, the tight network of family and quasi-family, the familes were are born into and those that we choose. We learn to love, ourselves, each other, people, places, things, and hopefully from that love grow to care for those in the circle, ever-widening our village until the whole planet is included. I am thankful for the village that continues to nurture and support me, and grateful for the young people who come into my circle, with whom I learn how to be more caring and share knowledge and tools for planetary and societal care.
Cultivating resilience through food
8.1.2020
One of the positive side effects of the pandemic has been the revelation of the importance of local food systems to food security and resilience. In Chicago, I have been inspired by many individuals and organizations that I have had the honor to work with over the past few years, who are leading the charge to ensure that food continues to be grown, that food gets distributed and prepared, that communities are nourished.
The Chicago Food Policy Action Council has created a Covid-19 clearinghouse of related information for producers and community members. The Illinois Stewardship Alliance conducts extensive outreach to farmers across the state, and manages Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois to connect farmers to consumers and restaurants. In addition to growing food in the city, Urban Growers Collective cultivates Black and Brown farmer entrepreneurs, and works with other local food businesses to get fresh food to communities. Plant Chicago is helping local farms connect to buyers through their online and in-person farmers markets.
How can we leverage this moment of increased interest and reliance on local food to build long term resilience of the food system?
