Would you like to get involved? Please let us know. mesc.osu.edu/contact
Local farmers and concerned citizens in Columbus are creating "A Cultural Heritage Learning Place" focused on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in Columbus, Ohio. The goal is to contribute to food sovereignty while learning about foodways from cultures around the world. The learning community will focus on cultural heritage, health outcomes, sustainable agriculture, and how it all connects. The vision is to have a kitchen, multipurpose area, and gardens where people of all ages can gather to learn from knowledgeable individuals, especially elders. The community will focus on knowing your roots and will offer hands-on activities in the garden. The following information also includes resources for learning about food sovereignty and research topics related to the impact of migration, agricultural heritage systems, and the Food Sovereignty Workshop that took place at Ohio State.
<aside> 💡 Our mission is create a learning community focused on the idea that sustainable agriculture is a part of African American heritage. We are creating “A Cultural Heritage Learning Place” focused on Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Our goal is to contribute to food sovereignty for BIPOC communities in our local Columbus area while learning about foodways from cultures around the world. We foster a value of cultural knowledge in relation to food and health outcomes and seek a deeper understanding of how these things are interconnected. We are very keen on history and culture rather than farming or technical topics because there are already great local resources for those.
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Why food systems?
Why culture and heritage?
We believe Cultural knowledge is crucial for food and health outcomes - it is all interconnected. Heritage of sustainable agriculture is a part of African American heritage, and connects with health histories. Culture has changed. We invite you to consider the medical establishment’s concept of individual “health histories” within a culture and community history. In the past people didn’t simply run to a doctor every time they had a health need. People knew home remedies from local plants.
We are starting a learning community with culture as a focus, specifically:
Focus on BIPOC Communities
Somalis and other new Americans
A local congregation we’re working with
Muslim Student Association at Ohio State
Learning about cultural heritage, health outcomes, sustainable agriculture, and how it all connects
Believe it is possible by seeing success in action and learning from storytelling
Trustbuilding by creating value as a team and having each other’s backs
Confidence based on self-knowledge and experience with successful projects
The educational team will meet on June 5th, 2024 to get to know each other better and explore how we might create a learning experience that will inspire young people to support their community's food sovereignty.
We envision “A Cultural Heritage Learning Place” with a kitchen, a multipurpose area, and gardens. People of all ages will gather together to learn from knowledgeable individuals, especially elders. There will be hands-on activities in the garden. Slogan is “knowing your roots”
The cultural heritage learning place educates about history and culture by exploring the way plant life and human life are interwoven. This relationship evolves throughout time and differs in geographic regions around the world, yet many aspects remain the same throughout time and space. What makes a plant into a crop? What is the difference between foraging, planting, and farming? Archaeobotany answers these questions by looking at the global history of plant domestication.
Vincent Walters Urban Farm at the Vincent Walters Music Academy, Historic Site in Bronzeville
Stories of Middle Eastern Food Systems
Herbs Garden Activity, and notes from June 22nd meeting
Cultural Exchange and Appreciation
Community Building and Networking
Hands-On Agricultural Experience
Cultural Heritage Conservation
Melinda’s annotated bibliography
Melinda’s annotated bibliography
https://guides.osu.edu/prf.php?account_id=52182
Porters Quarters Harvest Festival
Women for the Land - National Stories from the Field
2019 Harvest Festival | Fall Fun For The Entire Family
La Via Campesina is a global movement that advocates for the rights of small farmers, farm workers, and indigenous people. They promote food sovereignty as a way to ensure that people have access to healthy, culturally appropriate, and sustainably produced food. The movement has had an impact in many parts of the world, including the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (SWANA). In these regions, La Via Campesina has worked to support local food systems and resist the corporate control of agriculture. Here are some examples of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) self-sufficient communities in the U.S.
These are just a few examples of the many BIPOC self-sufficient communities that exist. Here are a few more examples of self-sufficient communities from outside the U.S.: