Edible Activist Podcast

Big Ma, the daughter of a sharecropper and homemaker, hails from Mt. Olive, Mississippi. Soft spoken (like her mama Louvenia), but full of character, she relished her childhood in Mt. Olive on the farm where they lived. In this episode, Big Ma talks about her role as the water girl, runs down a list of crops her dad grew that included sugar cane, and reminds us of this: "I didn’t pick no cotton." Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Big Daddy grew up in Canton, MS and was a hunter: rabbit, squirrels, raccoons-- this was a way of life in the country. And at an early age he took to truck driving because he knew farming was no joke, and not optional if he stayed in Canton. In this episode you’ll hear Big Daddy’s trucker stories and enduring racism in the south, how folks used to locate wells tree limbs, and he shares how everyone in the community really looked out for one another. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Our history is filled land loss and discrimination amongst black families and farmers, but this story reflects rejuvenation. Ms. Felicia Bell, a Mississippi native, mother, traditional farmer and operator of RD & S Farm, LLC was born into agriculture. Her family’s land has sustained them for generations, being able to feed themselves, homestead, and launch businesses. In this episode you will hear Felicia’s family legacy, how selling pecans provided capital to start RD & S Farm, and her insight on ownership and freedom.

Born in a small Alabama town, Grandma Catherine remembers having all the food she and her family needed on the land. Surrounded by muscadines, peach trees, and pecans, nature’s seed bloomed right outside her home in Butler. And though Grandma has been living in Jackson, MS for more than five decades, the remnants of her country upbringing remain. In this Part I series, Grandma shares fond food memories with granddaughter Melissa L. Jones, her love for the garden and vegetables, and talks about eating-dirt (yes dirt)! Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

In this season finale, host, Melissa L. Jones and guest Jeremy Carry talk gratitude, vision and purpose! Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Black Food Justice is a fight for our health, wealth equity, access to greener environments, and our land. In this episode, Asha Carter, deputy director with the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, shares what black food justice means to her, details her relationship with nature, and provides a basic understanding of land trusts and how we can use land to build systems for survival. Tune in! Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Food isn't linear, and for artists like Krystal Mack, this means using food to tell our history, build community, and as a tool for social design. In this episode we explore Krystal's culinary entrepreneurial journey as a business owner and baker, breakdown Baltimore's food landscape and how this has impacted her work, the importance of language and controlling our narratives, and her most recent event: Black Women, Food & Power! Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Fresh-pressed juice is for everybody, literally. We all need nutrients and vitamins from leafy greens, citrus, and fruits, it's nature's medicine. In this episode we sit down with DC native, Najee Ellerbe, who is a certified juice therapist and owner of Everybody's Juice, a delivery company that offers juice subscriptions to customers. In 2016, Najee contracted the flu and came across juicing while he was bedridden. Little did he know, this lifestyle change would cure his illness, and eventually Everybody's Juice was born. Tune in! Powered and distributed by Simplecast

What does land mean to you? And if you inherited it, how would you steward it? This episodes continues conversations from last week's episode, Reflections of the Land, with host Melissa L. Jones and guest co-host, Jeremy Carry. The top of the episode starts with farming ninja, Jay, sharing how he would cultivate the land if he inherited five acres, then segwaying into stigmas that many black people and people of color have about farming. We also spotlight The Atlantic's piece: The Great Land Robbery. Tune in! Powered and distributed by Simplecast

In this episode, host Melissa L. Jones takes time to share reflections of the land, along with guest and farmer, Jeremy Carry. Land has been a significant topic for the Edible Activist podcast and at two recent events attended by the hosts. Tune in to hear Melissa's personal view of what land means to her and Jeremy's perspectives on how people should be stewarding nature's grid.  Powered and distributed by Simplecast

DMV Black Restaurant Week is building bridges in the black hospitality world, while paying homage to black mixologists, chefs, and restaurateurs that came before us. With a 60 billion dollar food industry, African-American/Black restaurant owners and managers only represent a small piece of the pie. In this episode we explore the statistics around ownership in the food and beverage industry, creating intergenerational wealth, and DMVBRW's upcoming conference that's sure to educate hospitality professionals. Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

FishScale restaurant owner, Chef Brandon Williams, wants future generations to enjoy the "fruits of the sea." Oceans plagued by environmental waste and overfishing cause harm to our eco-system that many consumers don't feel the affects of. In this episode, Chef Brandon breaks down wild caught vs. farm-raised fish, how his mom influenced his mouth-watering fish burger concept, and the stereotypes he faces as a black restaurant owner who is source-conscious. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Rob "Veggies" Horton wanted more gardens in the hoods of Nashville, TN and not trap houses where profits for drugs take place and other illegal activities. There were no grocery stores for neighbors to get real food, a scene that reminded him of his hometown in St. Louis, Missouri. Taking matters into his own hands, literally, with a shovel, dirt, and a few good volunteers, he established Trap Garden. Rob's organization is a non-profit social enterprise that provides a sustainable source of healthy, high quality foods and offers innovative solutions to the physical, financial, and educational shortcomings in food insecure communities. His incredible tribe of volunteers are the wheels that keep this mission in motion to provide fresh food to low-income neighbors. Tune in as we unpack the beginnings of Trap Garden!

Mothering and farming is not easy, yet Violet King manages to make it happen. As a mom to three kids, she is tearing down any misconceptions about being able to conquer both. Violet learned a while back that black folks need to be more self-sufficient and began growing her own food. There was even a period during her pregnancy that she feared not being able to feed her daughter and drew concern about her health. In this episode, we talk about Violet raising farm babies, why we need more people of color in food policy, and how agriculture helped her to understand her ancestry, especially as an adopted child into a white family. Screen reader support enabled.

Chef Anu Green is very familiar with the flavors of the land and living off of it. Though growing up in Brooklyn, she spent a lot of her youth travelling to different islands in the Caribbean, thanks to her stepfather in Jamaica where she lived for one year while imbibing on the agriculture landscape. As a food therapist, Chef Green heals people through medicinal herbs and sound therapy, releasing the trauma that has been done to their internal systems. Tune in as she debunks myths behind disease being hereditary and why real food matters for our health.

After a month of holding it down as the host of the Edible Activist podcast, Chris Riddick of Afro Beets leans in on some of the biggest take-a-ways from his time on the show. Tune in as he passionately shares some gems on how to channel your inner edible activism and his urge for every person of color in the food and agricultural space to keep letting their light shine. Chris is forever family here at the Edible Activist podcast. And no worries, he'll be back in the near future dropping more "beets" for us!