Land stewards and community organizers Li Schmidt (Cultural Roots Nursery), Kimberly Chou Tsun An (FIG NYC), and Scott Chang Fleeman (Shao Shan Farm) co-organized and led the November 2025 pilot delegation, in deep collaboration with many farmers and hosts on the ground in Taiwan including journalist and culture worker Pei-ru Ko and "friendly farming" leader Lai Qingsong (Island Time). 

Learn more about our incredible Asian American delegates from California and New York, our Taiwanese farm partners in Pinglin, Yilan and Hualien, and their work here, here and here.

Our pilot program organizers and delegates are all Taiwanese American and Asian American with different backgrounds and experiences in diaspora, with motherland, with food and farming. We come together in our shared commitment to regenerative agriculture, reconnection to land and foodways, curiosity in learning, and many years of relationship between us — some folks in this group taught other how to farm and some are longtime friends! Several of us knew of each other from afar and met for the first time journeying together in Taiwan. 

We're grateful to have been invited to share reflections and lessons learned through several post-trip events and report backs. Check out a few examples here!

• “Agroecology & Food Sovereignty Across the Pacific: An International Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange”  presentation at at the California Small Farms Conference

• Berkeley Food Institute blog post and photo essay

• Q&A with TaiwaneseAmerican.org on shared stories, fieldwork and transnational solidarity

• San Francisco Chronicle feature on Asian American seed saving as “act of resistance”

We're now planning a research trip for fall 2026, with aims of leading new cohorts of farmers, food workers and food justice organizers in March 2027. Watch this space for updates. 

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