Voices from the Food Frontlines

Episode 22 | How Relationships Sustain Bean-to-Bar Chocolate, From Forest Gardens to Farmers’ Markets

In this episode, the Feeding City Lab talks with Michael Sacco, Founder of ChocoSol Traders, about bean-to-bar chocolate making, from forest gardens to farmers’ markets. Michael recounts how ChocoSol first got its start at an organic farmers’ market in Oaxaca in 2004, powered by solar roasters and bicycle grinders. He shares how ChocoSol has since grown into a learning community and social enterprise through an actionist approach that focuses on relationships, rootedness, and regenerative agroecology. Michael introduces listeners to some of the people and relationships that make ChocoSol what it is. ChocoSol’s key ingredients – from Jaguar cacao to popped amaranth – are made possible through forest garden regeneration, friendship, and solidarity. The episode concludes with discussion of how Chocosol engages with seasonality and a view into its production facilities in and around Toronto where, as Michael says, “Like a butcher who uses the whole cow, we use the whole cacao.” Michael earned a PhD in Indigenous Studies from Trent University in 2022. Prior to grinding chocolate and leading ChocoSol, Michael worked as a stone mason. 
This episode of Voices from the Food Frontlines: Sustainable Foodways is hosted by Dr. Jaclyn Rohel of the Feeding City Lab. The conversation was recorded on May 10, 2024 and lightly edited for clarity and length. To learn more about ChocoSol’s bean-to-bar chocolate making and to hear from cacao growers, stay tuned for our next episode of the series, which takes listeners to the forest gardens of Oaxaca. 
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/. 
 
[Sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.] 
 

Episode 21 | Cocina Poderosa: ¿Cómo lograr que alimentos agroecológicos alcancen a poblaciones urbanas marginalizadas?

En este episodio, el doctor Nino Bariola, Investigador Postdoctoral del Culinaria Research Centre de la Universidad de Toronto, conversa con Karissa Becerra y Beatriz Llerena de La Revolución, una organización sin fines de lucro basada en Lima, Perú que se enfoca en temas de educación y comida para niños y familias, y justicia alimentaria. Una de las iniciativas más importantes de La Revolución es Cocina Poderosa, que articula a Agroferias Campesinas (un mercado de campesinos productores de frutas, verduras y otros productos agroecológicos) con Ollas Comunes o cocinas solidarias para ofrecer comida de la mejor calidad en zonas marginalizadas de la ciudad. Cocina Poderosa ofrece una receta de aprendizaje crucial para lograr que comidas agroecológicas estén al alcance de poblaciones vulnerables y con recursos limitados. La entrevista se realizó en junio del 2023. 
This episode, available in Spanish, features Nino’s full interview with Karissa Becerra and Beatriz Llerena of La Revolución. Click here to access Episode 20, a bilingual podcast episode that spotlights the work of La Revolución in English and Spanish. 
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/. 
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.] 
 
 

Episode 20 | Agroecological Food and Solidarity Kitchens in Lima, Peru

How can we create food supply chains that expand distribution of agroecological foods while also facilitating access for those most in need? In this episode, Dr. Nino Bariola, Postdoctoral Fellow at UTSC’s Culinaria Research Centre, spotlights La Revolucion, a non-profit organization based in Lima. La Revolucion, led by Karissa Becerra and Beatriz Llerena, focuses on food education for children and families, food access, and equity. One of its most popular initiatives was developed out of the dire local circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic: Cocina Poderosa (“Empowering Kitchens”) seeks to put the best food in the hands of people with the least access to it by developing supply chains and communal networks in Peru that bring together farmers, markets, and soup kitchens. Cocina Poderosa developed a supply chain to connect Agroferias Campesinas (an agroecological food market) with solidarity kitchens known in Peru as Ollas Comunes, while also providing nutritional and financial support. The episode explores the relationship between social entrepreneurship, food access, and sustainability. It concludes with a brief discussion of the meanings of sustainability and the role of community-engaged research in Nino’s work as a sociologist.  
This bilingual episode spotlights the work of La Revolucion in English and Spanish: it features an in-depth conversation with Nino, recorded in English in February 2024, and incorporates short segments from Nino’s original interview, in Spanish, with Karissa and Beatriz. Nino’s interview with Karissa and Beatriz took place in Lima, Peru in June 2023.  
The next episode in this series, available in Spanish, features Nino’s full interview with Karissa and Beatriz of La Revolucion. 
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/. 
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.] 

Episode 19 | How Tamales y Bicicletas Grows Food and Community in Minnesota, Year-Round

Dr. Jo Sharma visits Minnesota and talks with Jose Luis of Tamales y Bicicletas about food sovereignty, climate action, and how urban agriculture can empower communities. Jose Luis explains how his family's own migration story and experience in the Bracero program inspired him to start Tamales y Bicicletas, an environmental justice organization that empowers Latinx and BIPOC families to grow food, reclaim relationships with the land, and rebuild cultural traditions. Working with the University of Minnesota, Tamales y Bicicletas recently completed a deep winter greenhouse build. The new infrastructure provides the space and growing conditions for culturally important foods and tropical plants - such as jalapeños, chile de árbol, hibiscus, and ginger, and papalo - that thrive because of the long growing season and warm conditions. Jose Luis shares some of the successes and challenges of operating a deep winter greenhouse, from managing temperature fluctuations over the course of a season, to long term planning for zoning and land access, to developing a sustainable, self-funded non-profit model by selling food and forging broader community partnerships. Jose Luis elaborates on what’s grown there, how community members decide what to plant, and how the harvested food is shared. “We always say, ‘The community eats first, and then the growers and folks connected to Tamales y Bicicletas eat last.’” This interview with the Feeding City Lab was recorded on April 5, 2024. Dr. Tracey Deutsch of the University of Minnesota collaborated with the Feeding City Lab and facilitated the connection to Tamales y Bicicletas for this episode. 
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/.
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.]

Episode 18 | Conserving and Promoting Culinary Knowledge with the Ghana Food Movement

The Ghana Food Movement (GFM) is a network of diverse food actors working across Ghana’s food system, bringing farmers, market vendors, bloggers, and chefs together to build a more sovereign food system in Ghana and West Africa. In this episode, Chef Abiro and Chef Fia-Foli discuss the GFM’s work in promoting local ingredients that are indigenous to the environment and connecting forgotten foods and climate resilient crops to the marketplace. Through initiatives that serve to express and craft indigenous foods on the plate - from events such as the Dine and Dance to culinary skills trainings at the GFM Kitchen – the Ghana Food Movement helps to bring dishes such as fonio and wasawasa to audiences beyond tourists and expats and engage local Ghanaians who are losing touch with their roots and customs. This interview took place in July 2023; it was facilitated by Feeding City Collaborator Dr. Siera Vercillo, who has been conducting participatory action research for food sovereignty with communities and partner organizations in Ghana for over a decade. 
 
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/.
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.]

Episode 17 | Grassroots Food Systems and Ghana’s Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development

Development approaches in Ghana need to incorporate indigenous knowledge and worldviews. This is what the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) does in its work with communities across Ghana, in sectors such as agriculture, health, education, and natural resources management. In this episode, Willie Laate, CIKOD’s Deputy Director, explains how the organization develops localized tools, frameworks, and programs for understanding and supporting diverse, local knowledge and governance systems. Willie describes the problem with the erosion of cultural systems in Ghana and its impacts on food, traditional culinary knowledge, and indigenous seeds. He offers some examples of cooperative systems and practices that empower communities with diverse food systems, from communal cooking, to community seed sharing and seed fairs, to the cultural festivals that help generate development agendas that are more inclusive and not based on predetermined questions and responses. This interview took place in July 2023; it was facilitated by Feeding City Collaborator Dr. Siera Vercillo, who has been conducting participatory action research for food sovereignty with communities and partner organizations in Ghana for over a decade. 
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/.
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.]

Episode 16 | Advocating for Seed Sovereignty and Agroecology in Ghana

In this episode, Edwin Baffour shares how the civil society organization Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) advocates for environmental, social, and food justice. Edwin describes the politics around food and seed in Ghana, the infrastructural challenges that farmers face in accessing indigenous seeds, growing food, and getting it to the market, and the pathways towards agroecological farming. Food Sovereignty Ghana has advocated against GMOs and resisted the Plant Breeders Bill and the Plant Variety Protection Bill through litigation cases across courts in Ghana, bringing attention to the genetic modification of staple foods, such as the cowpea. Through education and stakeholder engagement with traditional authorities, farmers, market vendors and the general public, Food Sovereignty Ghana aims to build “people power” towards food system change. Highlighting that agroecology can empower farmers, Edwin says, “If a farmer can use the neem trees on his farm to tackle pests, he doesn’t need to buy an agrochemical from a company. If a farmer can use garlic and pepper to tackle pests on his farm, then he keeps more money to use for his children’s education and their health.” This interview took place in July 2023; it was facilitated by Feeding City Collaborator Dr. Siera Vercillo, who has been conducting participatory action research for food sovereignty with communities and partner organizations in Ghana for over a decade.  
*Update (June 2024) -- Since the time of the interview, cases have moved through the courts. Edwin has shared with Feeding City Lab the following updates on the status of the proceedings: "Last year in 2023 the Supreme Court of Ghana unanimously dismissed a case presented by FSG which sought to challenge the constitutionality of the Plant Variety Protection Act which was passed into law in 2021. FSG will be appealing this decision. In May of 2024 the Human Rights High Court also dismissed a case that FSG commenced in 2017 to halt the commercialization of a genetically modified cowpea. Though this decision will also be appealed, the court ruled that all GMO food and feed must be labelled in Ghana." 
 
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/.
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.]

Episode 15 | Supporting Ghana’s Smallholder Farmers through Capacity-Building and Policy Advocacy

In this episode, Bismark Owusu Nortey, Head of Programs and Advocacy at the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), discusses the Association’s work and how it first got its start in 2005, following the liberalization of farming systems in Ghana. When state subsidies for agri-inputs were removed and the importation of cheap industrial foods flooded local markets making it difficult for Ghana’s smallholder farmers to survive and thrive, PFAG responded. The Association provides a voice in policy advocacy for peasant farmers, builds their farming capacities, connects them with new opportunities and services, and facilitates market access to improve their livelihoods. The episode concludes with a discussion of agroecology and some of the challenges that farmers encounter when transitioning from industrial farming to sustainable farming. This interview took place in July 2023; it was facilitated by Feeding City collaborator Dr. Siera Vercillo, who has been conducting participatory action research for food sovereignty with communities and partner organizations in Ghana for over a decade.
To learn more about the Voices from the Food Frontlines, Sustainable Foodways podcast series, visit the Feeding City Lab at https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/feedingcity/sustainable-foodways/.
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.]

Episode 14 | Resilient Farming through Collective Action: Reviving Heirloom Grains in Tamil Nadu

With climate change and increased rural-urban migration, how can communities become self-reliant to ensure nutritious food security? In this episode, Feeding City Lab graduate intern Geetha Sukumaran brings listeners along on the Lab team’s recent research trip to South India. They met with local cooks, food retailers, farmers, and farmer collectives to learn about the challenges they face, the solutions they are implementing, and the changes that they advocate in order to create more resilient foodways. The episode spotlights Sheelu, President of the Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective, a grassroots organization that brings together more than 100 000 women from across the local food system, including farmers and agricultural labourers, fishers, salt pan workers, cooks, and food processors. Sheelu describes how the Women’s Collective has evolved over the past three decades to focus on the effects of climate change and on finding ways to support farmers.* Heirloom crops – such as the traditional millets that reliably grow even when the rains fail – play a key role. Listeners will learn how women farmers are working together through “seed democracy” to revive heirloom foods - by conserving and exchanging seeds, by promoting access to land, grain processing facilities, and farming tools, by supporting the preparation and distribution of value-added products, and by sharing knowledge from field to kitchen. This episode features an interview with Geetha Sukumaran (recorded in January 2024) and field quotations from Sheelu of the Women’s Collective (recorded in October 2023). 
[* In March 2024, The Women's Collective was recognized at the The Hindu World of Women Awards, receiving The Hindu Excellence in Agriculture & Rural Development Award.] 

Episode 13 | Connecting Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Food Production in Kerala

How can grassroots efforts in environmental conservation go beyond their local context to help bring about lasting global impact? In this episode on climate-smart food and farming futures, Dr. Jayeeta Sharma of the Feeding City Lab spotlights the Lab’s collaboration with Thanal in South India. Listeners will learn how the Thanal Trust got its start in 1986 as a collective dedicated to the conservation of rivers and biodiversity to then become a leader in community-based “demand-led research,” opening up pathways of agroecological production for small farmers throughout Kerala. The episode highlights Thanal’s current efforts to recover climate resilient ways of cultivating traditional rice and heirloom millet, linking biodiversity to economy to support sustainable foodways and rural livelihoods. This episode features an interview with Dr. Jayeeta Sharma (recorded in January 2024) and field quotations from Jayakumar of Thanal (recorded in October 2023). 
[Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com.]