The Power of Youth Led Food Justice - Bevelyn Afor Ukah
Bevelyn Afor Ukah believes that youth power holds the key to our survival and collective freedom. Only through our ability to be in multigenerational relationships with one another in our organizing efforts, will we be able to achieve the just world we know we deserve. Bevelyn's work at the Food Youth Initiative (FYI) at the Center for Environmental Farming System, centers their work in the Food justice space. Food Justice for FYI is more than just about food access, their organizing efforts span across interconnected issue areas leading us towards liberation. Bevelyn speaks to us as a person ever learning from the wisdom and leadership that youth have to offer, sharing the stories of her student organizers and all the ways they are working to transform our communities for the future.
This episode of In Praxis is a part of Season 3: Food Justice.
The information, opinions, views, and conclusions proposed in this episode are those of our podcast guests.
You can also tune into this episode on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher. Below is a transcript of the episode, edited for readability. You can also watch this episode on YouTube with subtitles for accessibility.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah
Podcast Transcription
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 00:00
These youth that are telling this story have been through the juvenile system. So there's a process of telling the story while also naming that as they're telling their stories, they're flipping their own narratives. And they're flipping their own narratives as they're also flipping an abandoned prison into an agricultural aquaponics center that is also a recreation center. It's profound to literally shift physical space that has history, while telling him the story of that space, while also being a part of that story. It's just pure relevance.
Podcast Intro 00:31
You're now listening to In Praxis, a podcast when the Praxis project created to support, hear from, and uplift the stories coming out of the ecosystem of base building organizing. An ecosystem that includes frontline groups building community power, and the folks who help support their important work. In season three, our host Blair Franklin is exploring community driven strategies for food justice. Our guest are incredible community organizers working to advance their farming practices, community led urban farming, and equitable food procurement and retail. These are their stories about how we feed our communities with healthy, culturally appropriate, fair, and affordable food and build community power to advance health equity through food justice.
Blair Franklin 01:53
So, Bevelyn thanks so much for taking the time to be on the podcast today! Super excited to connect and to learn more about you and your work with the Food Youth Initiative at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. How it connects with Rooted in Community's incredible work, and just yeah, just we'll be hearing more about you and your food justice story. So would you mind just starting by telling us a little bit about who you are and the work that you do.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 02:18
So my name is Bevelyn Afor Ukah and I work with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems coordinating the Food Youth Initiative Program. Which is a youth network of at least seven different youth groups that are doing food justice and food systems work in their communities. Also with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems I'm a member or one of the coordinators of the core group, which is the committee on racial equity. So whenever I talk about working with the Food Youth Initiative, we cannot talk about how important the core work is in that, because race is always impacting the work that these youth are doing. And literally the use livelihoods, and also all of our relationships to one another. Period, you know. I'm also on the leadership team with the Rooted in Community network national network. The Food Youth Initiative has been involved with Rooted in Community for at least, I want to say, five or six years. So youth have been able to go to the national gatherings and when I was doing that work as an adult ally, I fell in love with that community. So I also am in deep community with other adult allies across the country.
Blair Franklin 03:38
Awesome. Oh, that's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. And I mean, you kind of talked a little bit even just now about your role of adult ally now, but I'd love to hear more about what your trajectory is in this work and kind of what led you to start doing food justice work? What brought you to this movement?
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 03:56
Yeah. So when I think about trajectory, I think about my own roots. So what led me into this work is the fact that food nourishes us and nourishes me and culture around food has always been something I'm interested in, not necessarily cognitively, but I like food. And I know many other people in this world that like to eat food. And so I think that as a non professional person, that's definitely the beginning. My entry point was actually because as a youth I had a lot of adults in my life that helped me to be successful in life. Helped me to navigate my interests and helped me to navigate what wasn't right in front of me in order, I guess for me to live in my own happiness to find my own joy. So I realized that I wanted to be there were my heroes. I wanted to be like them. Over time access was always a question that I had in my kind of purview, because as a youth of color in Atlanta without a lot of monetary access, I found that I was able to still gain access through programs that are very similar to the Food Youth Initiative. Programs that connected me to the arts and other opportunities and in those programs, it was clear that there are so many different cultures, and so many different perspectives. So that prompted me to just ask more and more questions about what's possible amongst human beings, which led me into studying that in school. So I never knew that food systems work existed. There are so many different careers out there that don't have a name that people don't talk about. It's like you've got the doctors, you got the nurses, you got the farmers. You got the dentists, the veterinarians, but I never knew that there was such a diversity of opportunities to work within our food system. Either professionally or as a livelihood.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 05:55
While I was in college, I was doing a lot of community service and realize a lot about myself by working within African immigrant communities in North Carolina. My dad's Nigerian, and my mother's African American, and I just had so many questions around access for African immigrants, and wanted to do a project in collaboration with community organizations in collaboration with African immigrant youth. To create more stream lines for them to be able to tell their stories and follow their dreams. So with African Youth Initiative that was founded there, one of the youth Her name was Alice hey, Alice! She was interested in agribusiness where the way we did things we always ask the youth what they're interested in, and then all the programming was created based off of those interests. We never knew what we're doing going in. And so after she said she was interested in agribusiness. I was like, hmmm something about that don't make sense. Because why is agriculture business I was like, "This is how super capitalistic and there's something about it, it ain't right". But I'm gonna do some research and found spaces around sustainable agriculture and sustainable food systems. It was able to follow a few breadcrumbs to meet Tessa Thrace in a few other professors that were doing food systems work around youth. So thank you, Alice. Because if it wasn't for Alice, I would have known that the Food Youth Initiative existed. It was their first ever full gathering that they were having and so I took Alice along with three other youth to this overnight event where they were exploring food systems. As someone who studies sociology, I was like, "Duh! Oh, my God. I've been studying race. I've been studying classes and studying all these different pieces. But the connector is food". It was like, "Duh! Oh, yes, this is perfect". So that's a very long way of sharing how it came into this work. I did it by following youth, because that's what we should be doing. In asking questions, and I applied for the job and got the job in the next year. And I've been learning from youth and food systems since then.
Blair Franklin 08:08
Yeah. Yes, that was incredible. Yeah, thank you so much for taking us on that journey. And I'm just struck by I think so many of the things that you shared. Really naming the importance of like listening to being open to what young people are saying and naming and how even your own trajectory both as a young person paying attention to the adults around you, and really wanting to live and what you were seeing. Like having folks model for you how to show up in movement and work with food systems work in particular. But, then also like having a young person, I kind of want you on your own professional career and then seeing that link is just like, incredible. So yeah, just like really wanting to uplift that. And then I think you talked a lot about access, right. And I really love the way that you talked about how you didn't have monetary access to funding access and other ways like arts and other opportunities. So I'm just curious about just coming back to this question of access. What did access look like in detail when you first started working in the community you're working in now? What is the food landscape look like? Can you talk to us more about the landscape access, just like what that looks like in your work?
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 09:21
Well, thank you for saying lands because access and the food context is completely connected to the land that we're on in the history of this land, and the history of the peoples of this land. So I'm in North Carolina and I'm living in Greensboro, which is in Central North Carolina. This land is Occaneechi land and to the west, it's mountains it goes up and up and up into the mountains into the Appalachia. To the east there's Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill and there's a huge agricultural system here in North Carolina and environmental system here in North Carolina. And it's so diverse from one another. I think that that's one thing that wanted to name that there is geographical diversity. And in that that impacts how people relate to food and relate to the food system.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 10:20
The Food Youth Initiative is a network of youth groups that are across the state, mostly on the eastern side of the state. One way of talking about the food system here is by not sharing the stories of these youth, but their relationship with the food system. Some of these youth are working in Lenore County and are farm workers and have been doing a lot of advocacy work on farm worker rights. Specifically around spreading awareness on the conditions of farm workers and farm labor. Then also being children that are farm workers and just spreading the story that people don't know that there are youth out here in these fields. The conditions are for nobody, and no matter what age, but there are youth in these fields and it's not okay. In the amount of money that farm workers are making in the complete state of vulnerability that comes with the invisibility of this work. So that's what our food system is. Our food system is also connected to the school to prison pipeline. That's another conversation around labor. There's another group that works with us Growing Change that has been doing a lot of flipping the narrative to talk about how the Prison Industrial Complex has used labor in our food systems and also to build roads in all these different ways. While completely funneling youth into these systems. These youth that are telling this story have been through the juvenile system. So there's a process of telling the story while also naming that as they're telling their stories, they're flipping their own narratives, and they're flipping their own narratives, as they're also flipping an abandoned prison, into an agriculture aquaponics center that is also a recreation center. It's profound to literally shift physical space that has history, while telling the story of that space, while also being a part of that story. It's just pure relevance, pure relevance to the way that they're doing their work it's genius.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 12:25
Our food system is also from the perspective of Korean immigrants that are living in the Chapel Hill area. That have acquired now I think, eight acres of land, and have completely cultivated a new home space that is safe for this community. And have been able to talk about openly what creating new home looks like, while embracing cultural foodways. Growing foods that are indigenous to the land and educating the community around food and recipes, and processes and culture that is invaluable to them. Inviting a conversation around multiculturalism and creating an equitable food system. Yeah, just let us do our thing, like, leave us alone. Do our thing. And in order to do that, a lot of things need to change systemically. And so that's also beautiful. So to me, from my perspective, our food system is heavily connected to these youth work. Also, it's connected to stories, our food system is varied depending on how much access a given person has. Anyways, I can go on and on about what I think that it was when I came in. But it's complicated, and it's beautiful. And it's also really scary and violent. And also, I think many of us are taught to take it for granted. But ultimately, it is the thing that connects us across many, many different barriers.
Blair Franklin 13:59
Yeah. Wow, the narrative work that you just did in this telling of both acknowledging like the history of the land that you come from, right. And the people that previously and currently right are working the land are stewarding the land, and bringing in young people's voices in this conversation really focusing on the work you're doing with youth, but also talking about the ways that the Prison Industrial Complex has impacted food systems work. Thinking about Korean immigrants that you mentioned, like really buying land and against stewarding land. It ,for me, felt like a complete narrative shift in the way we even see and think about farm and farm work in North Carolina. Again, thank you for that incredible picture that you painted for us. And just continuously coming back to the power of stories I think you mentioned, like stories and narratives through this whole conversation. How stories are like a part of an access point, right to be able to think the world that we live. And then like dream, I'm sorry, because now I'm like, kind of going off for a minute, but like dream... like, like this incredible reclaiming a prison and doing aquaponics. That just blows me. So I'm just like in awe.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 15:22
And I just want to be super clear, just like you're awe I hope that this goes unsaid, but we don't say it just in case.
Blair Franklin 15:28
Yes, yes.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 15:29
It throws me to! I get to hang out with these people, I get to talk to you about their work and, you know, ideally, folks should be able to tell their own stories. And I just want to name all the things that I just named, I'm not talking about my own personal relationship to this land and my own personal relationship to food. I'm happy to do that. But I just want to say that this has been awe-inspiring, for me in terms of what is possible for people. But also, this is not the work that I'm doing directly. I just wanna be real clear. So I'm not taking no credit, I'm just saying that the Food Youth Initiative, I think, is powerful because of relationships. And because the network is not a program, that it's all about making sure that youth across the state are building relationships with one another, so that they themselves can tell their stories of other youth and other adult allies, and community members, and have access to that through a railroad that are those relationships. That's where I think that I have historically come in, but also, honey, I work myself out a job often. Yesterday, I was on a youth call with Poder Juvenil Campesino they do the farm labor work. So I was on a call with those youth and there was a youth from Transplant Traditions that's now in college on that call to talk about what their college experience is like and just to share, you know, some of the challenges. They met FYI, FYI gathering. When I get on these, I'm like, I'm pleasantly surprised. Like, you're here. Oh, my gosh, I know you're coming to this meeting. Its so beautiful to see that these connections that were formed five years ago, are still going on and still impacting the future of programming. That is the power of these gathering spaces.
Blair Franklin 17:19
Wow. Yeah. Relationships being the key, right? And I feel like I hear that just over and over again. I mean, it's just true and movement work, right relationships are the thing that will get us to liberation. So as you are someone who was in deep relationship to so many incredible organizers, folks that are on the ground doing this, like incredible dreaming work, like labor organizing work, food justice work. How do you see the collective efforts that you are one piece of right that collective? How do you see all this work that's happening is interconnectedness, building relationships that are formed? How do you see it building community power?
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 18:01
Yes. So earlier, you mentioned that I was talking about access a lot. And when you said that I put next to it people power. Because our economic and cultural, like dominant economic and cultural systems are not for us. And are not for us to truly connect in ecosystems and like true natural ecosystems. And I feel that our economic and cultural systems are toxic. I truly believe that people coming together to organize themselves to create systems that are mutually beneficial, is how we are going to continue to transform into liberation spaces. This work is about holding dominant systems accountable, but it's also about finding those spaces of collaboration, but also joy is really and creating art creating in general. And I think that those are antioxidants, those are nutrients, or vitamin, you know, to help us to clear out the ailments in our system.
Blair Franklin 19:12
Yes, to joy to art to all those things to relationships to being an antioxidant. That resonates really deeply. And so with a clear focus on building community power, right on talking about what that looks like, you've kind of peppered a little bit throughout the conversation to like, what some of those barriers are in your work, and what are ways that you'd like innovated on overcoming some of those barriers. You know, you talked about the work, feeling violent and scary at times. You talked about the presence of toxic systems at play consistently. So yeah, what are some of the greatest barriers you think that you when folks you partner with are experiencing in your work and how do you overcome those barriers?
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 19:53
I think on a systemic level, or like on a larger scale level, I'll answer that question with that theory of change. Which is wherever there's a barrier, there's also an opportunity. So we focus on education and storytelling. So there are lies that are out here about our bodies about who we are to one another about stereotypes that are completely false. And we're constantly inundated with these perceptions of ourselves and each other. So that's a true barrier. And it's also true opportunity, how can we come together to flip narratives? How can we come together to re-educate ourselves or un-educate ourselves in certain ways? I have issue sometimes with the word education, but learning how can we continue to foster an environment of learning and curiosity? And then another part of the theory of change is policy change and so what are the rules or regulations, the agreements, the—things in writing and the assumptions that we have in our society that literally privilege certain people and oppress other people. Whether there's a privileging process or an oppressive process is nobody's benefiting from that process. How can we come together to form new agreements and understand like we're talking about earlier, that conflict is really necessary, in order to really understand, we got to put some in place, and this might be a recreation, but it's about that process of shifting our culture, and creating a structure to encourage that cultural shift.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 21:34
Then another one is networks and relationships, we have talked about that. But in terms of the barriers were separated, if I'm living in Greensboro in my individualistic house. I've tried to live collectively, it's very hard to keep trying, because it's supposed to be hard. But I would never have gone to certain areas of North Carolina without those relationships. And so now I can frequent to these spaces because they're, I wouldn't say their home, but my home is in those relationships. Bringing down these rock walls, bringing down these walls, because there are so many lines that have been drawn that are very inappropriate. And then the other one is replicable models, which I think, replicable models I have a hard time with. But I think it's also just because of my entry points to that because there's a diversity of experiences in a model somewhere won't work in another place. And that's the reason why I have issue with it. But if I see a group of people generally coming together to generally shift their environment in a way that benefits everyone, that is an inspiration, and there's learning and being able to understand how they're gone about that process. Having conversations and dreaming things up without action is why, why are we doing that? There has to be a relationship between action and imagination.
Blair Franklin 23:04
Yeah, so many one liners, there has to be a relationship between action and imagination. Oh, yeah, I'll say it one more time for you. So yeah, you said there has to be relationship between action and imagination.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 23:21
And also to be explicit, like, our country is racist as hell. People are racist hell, people be lying. Sometimes we have values and organizations say they have values and they're not living within them. There's very little accountability in certain places, and over policing in other places. And the indicators of where that's happening are clear. Race matters, in terms of these outcomes, outcomes of what's happening where. Class matters. Immigration status matters. Geography matters, if you're rural or urban it's off the chain. And even though there's knowledge of this, and the knowledge of this is growing, that doesn't seem to always inspire a true shift of behavior. And so another barrier to is moving from this knowledge base into an action space requires awareness. And honestly, awareness is not something that can be taught I don't think I think it's more of a spiritual practice and process and there's a lot to be done.
Blair Franklin 24:22
Yeah, and then that feels like it connects me then really deeply to another one liner that I wrote down that you said which was about conflict, right and conflict being a process by which we can shift culture and create culture. Right, and so that also just feel just so charged and so necessary for us to—we can imagine actually really deeply without getting to imagine something else and really dream something and then really kind of wrestle with like, what that looks like in practice. I'm just resonating with so much of what you're saying and just really appreciating all you're bringing to this conversation. So you talked a good bit about, of course, the work of the Food Youth Initiative and all of the incredible partners that you're in community and solidarity with and kind of what things like on the ground, sort of across North Carolina, that space that you're in. Some of the how you build community power, some of the barriers that you experience, how do you measure success? What does success ultimately look like for you and your work?
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 25:19
So this one for me personally, measure, it says even the words, it's like, okay, part of the reason why I'm having that reaction is because I believe in slow food, not fast food. Yes, now, I will go through the fast food restaurant here and there, you know, but at the same time, I know that it's not good for me. In this culture shifting, you know, system shifting work is a slow process, that in some ways, I have to have faith. Like, if I was thinking that I was gonna make impacts like that, which I know I make impacts. But if I was thinking that I needed to be constantly focused on that, then that would be me in an ego space and focus specifically on the Food Youth Initiative is the only one doing it, you know, something like that, I don't know. But that's why I'm having that reaction. I think that measuring success at the same time for me is getting on a call yesterday and seeing someone who hasn't been a part of the Food Youth Initiative or Transplanting Traditions completely, for now, three years, coming on a call, because they love this work, not because they're getting paid. Not because— if they're getting paid, that's fine, cool. I'm happy about that, too. But because they believe in youth. They feel the impact that they experience to talk to youth. That for me is all I need, you know, just that one experience. But I've experienced that over the course of my years with the Food Youth Initiative.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 26:46
Sometimes I see and sometimes I don't, and I think both are valid. And not all can be measured. Another piece of success because we have specific goals. One is, with the Food Youth Initiative, we're supporting training trainers. But for me, training trainers is really about telling your story, and encouraging other people to tell their stories. When I say for me, this is what I processes at the Food Youth Initiative and also offering opportunities for skills development around storytelling. So whenever we have gatherings, we connect the word advocacy, or the words like making change to visual art. So right now we're working on a mural that where they're gonna be going out and engaging community around some of the issues that the community has experienced around food systems, food justice, and or climate change and, or climate justice. Then they're conceptualizing these ideas together and then they're going to create a community based mural in their own community around that. So that is training trainers to me, like you're learning with a community, you're engaging with community, and you're sharing a story, a visual story. We've also done poetry workshops, where they have a poetry open community poetry session, we've done photography. So seeing these youth learn these skills, and then continue to use them in their lives that is success. Connecting youth already talks about building relationships, when they come back together, or when they call me and they're like, "Yo, Bevelyn, this is amazing that I'm doing this, and this is how Food Youth Initiative impacted me". That's great.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 28:23
Another thing too, is career development, I think a career development more so as a overarching word that encompasses all of these things that we've already been talking about. But specifically building relationships with folks in the food system that can help them if they want to continue to engage within the food system, or wherever direction they are going. That they are building those connections, and also that they feel more confident in what they're already bringing to the table. This is not only about "oh, youth we need to teach you some skills". It's like you got skills. Let's just point those out. This is not a charity situation, y'all are already leaders in your community to go ahead and teach somebody, you know. And that's exactly what they're doing. And so how can they understand their stories and their work is their power. And you don't have to convince yourself that you're worthy of extra job opportunity, because we're working on building that self worth over here, if that makes sense. Like, you don't have to have a degree to do this thing over here.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 29:23
And so Riri Way, I don't think she would mind me sharing her name, but she hired me. She was in a formation of the Food Youth Initiative meeting, where they were talking about what they wanted to do together. Then when they decided on a plan, she was on the hiring committee for the first coordinator. She was like, "I chose you Bevelyn" when she actually started talking to me, you know, this was what she was saying she was like, "I was on the comity". So, she's now the ED of her organization. She just graduated from college, went to my alma mater got a full scholarship and came out was working with immigrant communities with her volunteer work all four years. Then came out to take over the organization, which has historically been white led since its inception. She is Korean, she is of the community that is being quote unquote, served and speaks, I'm just saying this is how nonprofits be talking, but is blowing minds in terms of the value added because she's able to truly interpret the experience of the farmers to the organization. Then Yesenia is also the ED of her organization. She was a youth when I came through, and now she's the ED at 29. So it's just like the profoundness, of all of these organizations by be run by you. That's my goal. And that's very measurable. Let me just say that's how I measure success when it comes to career development or one way. I'm super duper excited about being able to see the trajectory of these folks.
Blair Franklin 31:00
Yeah, and then the folks who are leading the narrative work who are like, are the people from the community, the young people. Yeah, that's exactly what it was, like, deeply necessary for us to actually achieve work collectively dreaming. So yeah, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 31:15
My mentor, when I was in college, he used to always be supporting the incitement of rebellions on campus. And he used to do that by saying, Listen, I got a job, you're gonna fire me, but they can't fire you. They're working for you. And ultimately, the oppression and the disenfranchisement of youth is because youth are put into quote, unquote, this vulnerable state and stories about us like, "Oh, they're just a kid", or, you know, the stories are told about us have some you think now got no power. When the majority of movement work and change work that has been effective has been led by youth. And so to be able to talk to youth about these narratives, and then be like, "Yeah, that makes so much sense". Is truly powerful.
Blair Franklin 32:02
Yeah, that was, that was the whole word. Yeah.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 32:08
I gotta pay some bills is like, literally, there are barriers. I mean, I have choice, I can make a choice to sacrifice certain things. But at the same time, I just want to name that I'm stuck in the economic system in certain ways. So there's certain things in certain spaces that I can't say as profoundly or profusely or, or I don't, I may not, I won't say I can't, as I have seen youth do.
Blair Franklin 32:34
Yeah, and it's that exact pressure, that conflict that like, changes systems, right. Changes culture. It's so so necessary. So you name so many incredible organizations. And I wonder if you want to take a moment and just do a little shout out to the organization.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 32:55
Okay, so within the Food Youth Initiative, there is Poder Juvenil Campesino, also known as PJC. They're based in Lenore in Duplin, county. Transplanting Traditions, community farm that is based in Orange County. Men and Women United for Youth and Families they're based in Columbus County. Purposes for Education are based in Durham County. The Highland Cultivators are in Gaston County. And also, we have worked with Rooted in Community which is a national network. I love you Rooted in Community! And we're deeply partnered with the NC Climate Justice Collective, which I actually didn't mention, but a lot of our process and working around climate justice is foundational to that relationship. So definitely want to say, thank you all so much for supporting our youth work, and ABC to or A Better Chance, A Better Community is also a part of our group. I think that's all those are all the ones that I named.
Blair Franklin 34:02
Thank you so much. So we're coming to the close of our time. And I'm going to have one last question. I'm going to kind of like break out into like two parts, I think so. The first is, if you had unlimited resources, what would you do to increase the reach the depth, the impact of your work? And what advice would you give to anyone thinking about starting a similar or working with a similar initiative?
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 34:30
I believe that I do have unlimited resources. My access to resources is the faith that in connection and collaboration with others we have we have unlimited resources. So what I would share with others is that but also keep going. I have an art practice personally, and it's pretty new. I've been saying them artists actively for the past year and a half. And I realized the importance of being present and keeping going, that doesn't mean overwork yourself. And that doesn't mean burnout. Keeping going also means rest. Trust other people to do what they got to do hold other folks accountable or build awareness. But this work is multigenerational. And so within that context of time understanding that maybe all the things that need to change our food system won't happen in my purview in this current body, doesn't mean that there isn't so much opportunity for those things to shift. So you have the resources, collaborate, work together, keep going, and rest.
Blair Franklin 35:42
Yes. And with that Bevelyn, thank you so so, so much! Yeah, this was just such a pleasure to be in shared space with you and have this time with you to interview you about your work with the Center for Environmental Farm Systems, Rooted in Community and then all the incredible partners advocates and young people say thank you for uplifting and sharing so much and yeah, deeply appreciate you.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah 36:06
Thank you so much Blair!
Podcast Outro 36:20
Thank you for listening to this episode of In Praxis. We hope you all enjoyed it. Make sure to visit our website, www.thepraxisproject.org where you can check out additional episodes with other guests, as well as learn more about our work.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
youth, food, community, relationships, stories, systems, initiative, barriers, impacts, land, space, creating, access, narratives, North Carolina