Seed Liberation & Reciprocity this Harvest Season with a Decolonized Playlist for Hungry Ears
Illustration by Anjali Kamat, from Food Culture Collective’s, “Transform the Now” comic series
This week, as we gather with our beloveds in our homes, in our kitchens, and around our tables, we’re reflecting on how our relationships to food, land, and each other can feed us in truly deep ways beyond just our stomachs. Our stories about these relationships are both reflections of our values and powerful tools for bringing them to life. So this harvest season, we’re grounding in liberatory stories rooted in joy, care, and mutual belonging with the land, waters, and peoples who nourish us.
Hungry Ears Playlist 2023
Think of this as hearty audio-visual meal of collective liberation, reciprocity, and good storytelling. Tune in with your beloveds as you chop those veggies at the table, follow along with your grandmother’s family recipe, or wait for your takeout (sometimes its like that—no judgement here).
“Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.” Tune into this talk from 2022 with acclaimed Potawatomi leader, scientist, and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, on centering Tribal Communities and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Conservation.
“When we are talking about stolen lands from people, we are not talking about a past—we are talking about currently stolen lands.” Dive into this November 2020 episode of the For the Wild podcast with spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone and co-founder of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, Corrina Gould, exploring responsibility and reciprocity on stolen homelands by asking what it means to be in right relationship.
“What can we do here to make sure that every and all get free?” Immerse yourself in People's Kitchen Collective EarthSeed visual poem, capturing a journey across Califorbia filled with radical hospitality, and inspired by Octavia Butler’s Parable series.
What transformative pathways emerge when we unearth the wisdom revealed by apocalypse? Join 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, in their Around the Table: Unearthing Apocalypse conversation from earlier this year, as they dig into their respective lineages of Queer ecology and Zen practice to highlight the wisdom of their communities and these distinct approaches to reweaving care for the lands, waters and peoples who nourish us in moments of crisis, for generations to come.
“You have no culture without food. And you can’t have food without culture.” Take a journey with Diné filmaker and founder of Tse’Nato’, Natalie Benally, in this episode of the Toasted Sister Podcast, as she talks about making her recent film, “Indigenize the Plate” , her journey to Peru, and how that inspired her to remember and revitalize traditional family ways of growing and eating.
“These seeds are now coming back home; from the vaults of public institutions, seed banks, universities, seedkeeper collections and some laying upon dusty pantry shelves of foresighted elders, seeds patiently sleeping and dreaming…waiting for loving hands to patiently place them into welcoming soil once more so that they can continue to fulfill their original agreement to help feed the people.” Bear witness to a grand rematriation of seeds and foods back into Indigenous communities in this 2021 short film from the Indigenous Seedkeepers Network— “Seed Mother: Coming Home”.
What if we embraced ancestral wisdom as part of the care and labor around birth and family life? Listen to this 2020 episode of the Center for Indigenous Midwifery’s Zoomcast with Wicanhpi Iyotan Win Autumn Cavender-Wilson (Wahpetunwan Dakota) Mother, Midwife, Language Speaker, and Artist and Margaret David (Athabascan) Mother of four and Certified Nurse-Midwife at the Alaska Native Medical Center, as they share how they bring traditional practices into their birthwork and communities, and the importance of carrying that wisdom forward.
Starving for some stories of food communities across the U.S. that are growing power as they reclaim sovereignty and self-determination? Tune into Season 1 of our new podcast, Radical Nourishment, featuring stories produced by the 2023 Food Culture Collective Ears in the Field fellows—a cohort of emerging audio creatives.
Food and music belong together, right? Crank up the volume as you vibe to Food Culture Collective’s library of community-curated Audio Potlucks. Each playlist was created around a creative prompt related to each of our Around the Table food culture conversations—so tune in and serve yourself an acoustic plate!
Illustration by Anjali Kamat, from Food Culture Collective’s, “Transform the Now” comic series
There is a rumbling.
In the earth.
In our bones, our bellies.
All around us.
It is the world cracking open.
This is where the seeds go.
This is where the liberatory stories to transform culture grow.
For 10 years, starting as Real Food Real Stories, now Food Culture Collective, has cultivated a rich seedbank of creative resources to meet the escalating crises of our times.
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