Community Ag Project

by Emily Davis

The Community Agriculture Project is a resource forum and directory to connect people with their local agriculture-related resources like educational opportunities, workshops, farmer’s markets, CSAs and more. This podcast features interviews with people who form what agriculture looks like in the current day and future. You can follow our work on instagram @communityagproject or at our website communityagproject.com

Podcast episodes

  • Season 1

  • Climate Policy and Education with Elissa Teles Muñoz

    Climate Policy and Education with Elissa Teles Muñoz

    Hello and welcome back to the Community Agriculture Project. We have made it to episode 7! In this episode, the 2023 CAP interns Ethan Liu and Iradatu Sulayman join us to interview Elissa Teles Muñoz, a Coordinator at the Climate Resilience & Education Task Force (CRETF). CRETF is dedicated to increasing access to interdisciplinary climate education and professional learning opportunities in New York's K-12 schools. In this episode, we cover the importance of a strong climate education, current climate education policies in the United States, and what a comprehensive and accessible climate education entails for youth. We discuss the shared experience of being underwhelmed by our K-12 climate education and lay out frameworks for moving forward.You can find more information on the people featured in this podcast episode on their LinkedIn pages, or contact them by the emails provided:Elissa Teles Muñoz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissa-teles-munozEthan Liu:Ethanliu75@gmail.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-liu-2b569a236/Iradatu Sulayman:bstabb1@gmail.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/iradatu-sulayman-15a22419a/Other resources mentioned in the episode:CRETF website: https://www.cretf.org/A new green learning agenda: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/a-new-green-learning-agenda-approaches-to-quality-education-for-climate-action/PEJAS maps: https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?url=https://services6.arcgis.com/DZHaqZm9cxOD4CWM/ArcGIS/rest/services/Potential_Environmental_Justice_Area__PEJA__Communities/FeatureServer&source=sdNYC scoping plan: https://climate.ny.gov/resources/scoping-plan/NYC sustainability reports: https://www.nyc.gov/site/sustainability/about/reports-publications.page, https://climate.cityofnewyork.us/initiatives/planyc-getting-sustainability-done/Climate change education act: https://climate-literacy.org/federal-policy/the-climate-change-education-act/Books: Teach for Climate Justice by Tom Roderick, All About Love by bell hooks Don’t forget to check out our website at communityagproject.com and stay tuned for more episodes!

  • Triiibe in Ohio with Yahezequiel Walker

    Triiibe in Ohio with Yahezequiel Walker

    Hello and welcome back to the Community Agriculture Project podcast. In episode 6 we sit down with Yahezequiel Walker, aka Yazi, to talk about his work in soil and community.We discuss the work that Yazi does with the Triiibe Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and how his community has influenced the way that that work is done. This topic leads us to discussing ideas in leadership, and what it means for Yazi to heal and facilitate healing in his hometown. We talk about how change happens, from a culture perspective to a land regeneration perspective. Yazi ties in his knowledge of soil smithing and soil science, and how he is working to increase accessibility to in this sphere by removing language barriers.If you want to reach out to Yazi, you can do so with the following contact:zequew@gmail.com@yazi13 on instagramCheck out the work of the Triiibe foundation here:http://www.triiibefoundation.com/Stay tuned for more of Season 1! Don’t forget to check out our website at communityagproject.com.

  • (Decolonized) Permaculture and Community in the Bay with Let Our People Grow

    (Decolonized) Permaculture and Community in the Bay with Let Our People Grow

    Welcome back to the Community Agriculture Project Podcast. Welcome to Episode 5. This episode was shot in Vallejo, California in the Let Our People Grow garden and nursery. Let Our People Grow is a regenerative permacultural nursery focused on making food sovereignty and food security more accessible.The original goal for this episode was to showcase just the work being done in the garden, but it ended up being much more than that. The group of us, including Jesse, Rob, Charnaya, Jezrel and Emily, spent the day cooking and drawing deeper connections with eachother and the community through food. We harvested lions mane and oyster mushrooms directly from the mushroom grow tent, managed by Rob and Jesse, that is on site at Let Our People Grow. We sourced our food locally, cooked with fresh garden ingredients and made a nourishing plant-based meal inspired by the creativity of Charnaya and Rob. We sat around a table in the garden and had conversations appreciating the meal we had put so much love into. All of this was captured by Jezrel of REELxpozure.In the conversation that followed our meal, we get to touch on the stories of all of the people that were present that day. We found common ground through this conversation, and speak on all of the ways community relates to our missions. The Let Our People Grow space has been and will continue to be a beacon of community agriculture for the Bay Area, and we were lucky to connect in such a special place.We hope you enjoy this episode of the Community Agriculture Project. Please check out the work of all the individuals that contributed to this episode, and stay tuned for the rest of season 1 and the bonus episodes we have on deck for you. Be sure to check out our website at communityagproject.comJesse Preciado: @preciadofied, @letoutpeople_growRob Lopez: @decolonizehongos, @roblopez_iamCharnaya Kimbrough: @intuitiveeats_Jezrel White: @reelxpozureEmily Davis: @communityagproject

  • Intersectional Family Farming in Salem, MA with Maitland Mountain Farm

    Intersectional Family Farming in Salem, MA with Maitland Mountain Farm

    Welcome back to the Community Agriculture Project podcast. Episode 4 takes us to Salem, Massachusetts where we get to know the stories and people behind Maitland Mountain Farm. Maitland Mountain Farm is a family farm best known for their pickles, but owners Holly and Andy have an effect on their community past their value added products.We start by talking with Dr. Miyabe Shields, a research scientist with a background in endocannabinoid pharmaceutical sciences. Miyabe runs Project Chronic, and works at Maitland Mountain Farm as a farm hand and as the Natural Medicines Program officer. Miyabe talks about their experience of integrating into a new town, and how working on the farm has played a role in that.We then speak with Holly Maitland, who tells us the history of Maitland Mountain Farm, including its multi-generational homesteading roots. Holly shares about the development of the Maitland Mountain CSA, and how it’s rooted in the community’s needs.Lastly, we get to speak with Andy Varela who is, among many other things, the husband of Holly, a local city councilor, and quite the cook! Andy provides insight into what it looks like to navigate the local political landscape as it intersects with food, agriculture and medicine.It was absolutely a pleasure to speak with some of the people behind the Maitland Mountain Farm operation, and I’m looking forward to see the ways they continue to weave with their community and embrace sovereignty.

  • Community Air Quality Monitoring with Trevor Durning

    Community Air Quality Monitoring with Trevor Durning

    Welcome back to the Community Agriculture Project. Today I talked with Trevor, a student researcher studying Sustainable Development and Environmental Chemistry at Columbia University. In this episode, we discuss Trevor’s initial inspiration for setting up air quality testing equipment in his community, the theory of purple air sensors and how they are implemented for environmental testing, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) HYSPLIT models, and the relation of this data collection with community agency and community advocacy.Below are the resources from Trevor that we mentioned throughout the episode:https://www2.purpleair.com/products/purpleair-flex - PurpleAir sensorshttps://www.ready.noaa.gov/register/HYSPLIT_hyagenda.php - A workshop showing you how to set up HYSPLIT on your computer, good luck! Start with day 1 and installation and go from there. If you have a windows computer, I can help! If you have a MacBook and figure it out, let’s collab!https://www.ready.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT.php - Try out the web-based program to run your own models without installing.https://www.arl.noaa.gov/ - NOAA ARLhttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Eo_on11MqnCvfN5_0eiR_IbzQcAFQwF - Various papers and texts!Contact Information:@TrevDurning, TJD2148@Columbia.eduYou can stay in touch with the Community Agriculture Project @communityagproject on instagram or by email: communityagproject@gmail.com