What transformative pathways emerge when we unearth the wisdom revealed by apocalypse? The Latin root of Apocalypse means, “to reveal; to uncover.” Usually, this is interpreted to mean something dreadful is revealed. But what if what's revealed is our inherent wholeness, mutuality, generosity and connection? How might we unearth practices to compost empire and seed more liberatory, thriving futures?

These were some of the questions that Food Culture Collective’s Advisory Council Member, ancestrally-taught chef, writer, and death doula, Yana Gilbuena Babu, brought to the table on July 18th, with Boricuir food justice organizer, writer, farmer and co-founder of Cuir Kitchen Brigade, Lucecita Cruz, and Native Hawaiian Zen Priest and movement strategist, Norma Wong.

What would the world look like if we fed our collective capacity to embrace play? If play is a way to reimagine our world, to try on new ways of nourishing ourselves and our communities, by growing a food culture where everyone gets to be free—what happens when we step through the portal? How might we play our way to collective liberation?

These were some of the questions that Food Culture Collective’s Digital Culture Creative, Ada Cuadrado-Medina, brought to the table on March 30th, with creative improv facilitator and creator of Cattails Comix, Kai Tzeng, and community organizer and founder of Black Food Fridays, KJ Kearney. Together they shared a juicy conversation that embraced play as a tool for centering joy and creativity in our liberatory spaces.

How do we cultivate a deeper sense of belonging to land, food and the wild through the lens of Indigenous ecology and disability justice? What is possible when we reimagine a world where belonging means to care for the lands, waters and people that nourish us?

These were some of the questions that Food Culture Collective’s Network Weaver, Steph Lew, brought to the table on December 8, with disability justice advocate, Kristie Cabrera, and Indigenous ethnobotanist Dr. Enrique Salmón. They were joined by over 60 guests around the virtual table for a juicy conversation that unearthed ways we can grow a food culture that centers accessibility and leaps courageously into the vibrant potential of the “gray spaces” that lie beyond extractive relationships to food and land.