Alumni Interviews | Lauren Kohler '19

Lauren Kohler ’19 did just about everything there is to do at the YSFP, from tending Yale Farm crops to writing our ever-popular newsletter. The former Farm Manager is no longer harvesting carrots on the Old Acre, but she’s not done thinking about the food we eat and where it comes from. Kohler is now the Director of Food Systems Philanthropy at Stray Dog Institute, a private operating foundation that provides funding to and conducts research with organizations in the food systems and farmed animal advocacy movements. YSFP communications team member Sadie Bograd ’25 spoke with Kohler about her work and how it was shaped by her time at the Yale Farm.

This conversation is part of a new Voices series about the exciting work YSFP alumni are doing in the world of food and agriculture. The transcript has been edited lightly for length and clarity.

How would you describe your work at Stray Dog Institute?

I help execute, develop, and manage our food systems programming, philanthropy, and strategy. In addition to managing our grants, I provide support beyond the check: for example, sharing a funder perspective on a presentation, or weighing in on a new strategy. I've also facilitated three different working groups since I came onto the team [in 2019], helping to provide a space for collaboration and a facilitating force for organizations in the movement. My work spans the philanthropic side and the connector, facilitator, and collaborative space-builder role.

On that note, could you describe the general landscape of food systems grant-making and the food systems movement?

Stray Dog Institute sits at the intersection of the farmed animal advocacy and food system transformation movements. Our benefactors, Chuck and Jennifer [Laue], have dedicated their time and their money to trying to end factory farming and make the world better for people, animals, and the planet. Because of their vision, we keep animals at the center of our work, and that's why we're focused on ending factory farming specifically. But we also recognize that factory farming exists within the broader landscape of the food system. And you can't look at industrial animal agriculture without looking at the intersecting oppressions and injustices that create the extractive, exploitative food system that we have today. We find a lot of overlap with [food systems] groups that are fighting to end factory farming in the US. It may not be for animals: it may be for rural communities, environmental justice reasons, public health reasons, soil health reasons.

Do all those different groups usually work together? And what are some of the challenges with doing so?

Different issues will bring different folks together. For example, one issue that I led a working group on was checkoff programs. Checkoff programs are a fund that producers of certain commodities, like dairy or beef or soybeans, will pay into per amount that they produce. That money is supposed to go to broadly promoting the consumption of that product and R&D for that product — we all know the “Got Milk?" campaign and “Beef. It’s What's for Dinner.” One of the issues is that the program has basically been co-opted by industrial animal agriculture, and that money is being used to support their interests at the expense of family farmers. That's a case where cattle ranchers and animal welfare advocates came together to fight a common enemy.

One challenge to collaboration between the farmed animal advocacy and food systems movements has been, rightly or wrongly, the idea that animal advocates prioritize animals at the expense of human interests. Today, the animal advocacy movement is a lot more inclusive and intersectional. There's also some understandable historical distrust there between rural communities and farmers and animal advocates. I think that that's been a difficult gap to bridge. On the other side, there continue to be challenges to collaboration between some food systems groups. Some folks see farmed animals as central to regenerative agriculture and aren't open to considering regenerative models that decenter animal farming. I think it can be off-putting to some animal advocates to see that side of the food systems movement promote beef consumption or cattle ranching as integral to a sustainable food system.

But I think that the animal advocacy movement overall has become much more aware of the importance of a big tent approach, and I think that has helped bridge the gap. There's a place for animals in conversations about the food system, and that doesn't take away the place of any other food systems actors. Animal issues have historically been seen as naive or pie in the sky. We’re really interested in having open conversations that challenge that, recognizing that conversations about the food system have to be about everything in the food system.

What have been some of the historic and current gaps in funding for food systems and farmed animal advocacy, and how do you try to fill that niche?

Historically, the animal advocacy movement has been predominantly very white, leadership has been male-dominated, and the funders have been white and male. That has led to an under-resourcing of groups that are not led by people of those demographics, particularly BIPOC-led groups and community-led groups. That's changing in some really good ways, and we have tried to be part of that change.

In addition, the animal advocacy movement has historically seen a lot of project-based funding. I can understand why a funder would be motivated to ensure that as much of their money goes specifically to their highest concerns, such as chickens in crates or the separation of cows from their babies at birth. However, focusing funding on specific issues may create challenges for nonprofits in covering their basic operating expenses. As a result, Stray Dog Institute has shifted to giving mostly unrestricted, general operating grants. Additionally, we used to give larger grants to fewer organizations. About a year after I came on the team, we decided that we wanted to take a movement-building approach and to spread that support across more organizations in the movement at necessarily smaller grant amounts.

Along with funding in smaller amounts, are you generally funding smaller organizations?

It varies. Sometimes our support may be a drop in the bucket for an organization with a multi-million-dollar budget. Those organizations are doing great work, and we do want to support them. But I find it really meaningful to provide support to smaller organizations who might not have a lot of funder support. A smaller grant can have a larger impact for an organization with a smaller budget. And I think that for those organizations, our support can mean more than the money itself, like having a funder who knows other funders say, “Hey, I'm supporting this organization, I think you might want to consider supporting them, too.”

I've asked you a bunch of questions about your job. I also want to talk a bit about your time at Yale. How do you think your work on the Farm influenced your career path?

My time at the Farm was so foundational to everything that I did in college and beyond. I have always been interested in the intersections between people and animals and the environment. I came into Yale knowing that I wanted to major in environmental studies, but not thinking that I would connect it to the food system so directly. I got pretty burnt out in college because so many of the issues in the food system are just so entrenched and sometimes feel hopeless. It felt hard to be like, ‘I want to focus my career on this.’

Working with the YSFP gave me a space where I could feel optimistic about the food system and working in the food system. The Farm was my happy place at Yale. The Farm was always the place where I went to feel at peace. And the people on the Farm are some of my favorite people in the world. It was very influential in making me feel like this work could be sustainable, and something that brought me joy, and something that's meaningful.

I'm a very hands-on, tactile person. Reading and writing and talking all day gets so exhausting. The appreciation of both hands-on and intellectual food systems work, and the way that those two things combined at the YSFP, felt very energizing.

That's great to hear. I feel like I'm constantly telling people this is the happiest place on campus. Every week I pick a tomato off the vine and I’m like, ‘Ah, life is going to be okay.’ Do you have any favorite memories from your time at the Farm?

Oh, all of them. I remember my sophomore year, when I was a Farm Manager, I worked with another awesome Farm Manager named Adam. We were Sunday workday managers, so there were fewer visitors on the Farm during our workday. There was one time where we raked all the leaves on the Farm into a huge pile and jumped in it. That's just a really happy memory, one of those where you take a photograph in your mind. I also think about the tomatoes in the hoop houses, and seeing the rows and rows of them strung up, and having been part of stringing them up when they were little tiny tomato plants and then seeing them go all the way to the top. Just all of the times walking around the Farm and it feeling like home. Even when there wasn't anyone there, it felt like home.

The Yale Farm Birds Sing a Song | GFF '22

This post is part of Diego Ellis Soto’s 2022 Global Food Fellowship.

Birds are chirping, be in the present, I tell myself as I make my way up the familiar hill on Edwards Street. Cars roar up the street containing a mixture of old and new scientific buildings to study physics and chemistry; supercomputing and environmental science are to my left.

Thousands of computers are humming, calculating anything from creating new chemical molecules, to exploring new planets in far galaxies, to identifying areas where hummingbirds will migrate under climate change.

Speaking of migration. Sweaty, but happy, arriving to a 1-acre urban farm that is about to create a song to the buzz of bees, birds, humans, and whoever decides to join and jam along !

Microphone check, says the chicken. The chalkboard next to the Farm’s pizza oven says ‘welcome to the Farm’ in purple colors. Purple like the soundwave of bird calls of what’s there to come; purple like tulips beginning to blossom in the most beautiful of shapes, purple like a red onion about to be chopped for a knead 2 know event. Smile; your shoulders get less tense and let go. Truly, it’s okay. Let go.

Not just the weight of a backpack full of research gear; also, from thinking about the myriad of different things related to other different things, in complicated ways to connect and measure these different things; each somehow related to understanding the natural world.

Be the present.

Working with the land, with bare hands, after hours of meeting someone, on a screen, developing algorithms, on a screen, applying for funding, on a screen. Let the screen go, listen to what birds are chirping, which insects are crawling, frogs are burping, or humans are laughing. We may get some warm cider at the end of the workday if we are lucky or a warm slice of pizza with veggies harvested today.

Today we’ll hear an animal opera. Yes, an opera! Really. Produced and directed locally, by the Farm. We have a chicken on the high hat, howling barred owls looking for small mice around the tomato plants under the protection of a windbreaker, and migratory white and black warbler as an ephemeral vocalist while they replenish themselves of whatever the Farm has in stock. Some bird actors – like the Blue Jay with his clear blue suit – proudly sing dozens of times a day year round; a shy small migratory warbler only sings for the lucky ear a few days a year.

The soil is still a tad cold, it was a cold winter and spring time is reminding us of the change of time, life is waking up in New England. Yet below it all, plants are talking with each other, through the real plant life social network of their roots.

Soon birds will start, one after the other, billion by billion, to fly south – on a voyage across hundreds of miles to Central and South America. We can peek into a snapshot of their life thanks to a small computer and a $9.99 microphone ! (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Setting up the bird spy microphones on a sunny day at the Yale Farm, in Edwards Street, New Haven. This allowed us to listen to and identify birds during the annual spring migration season.

A Black box fancy computer algorithm detects which bird species is singing at all times using ‘deep learning’, while outside, students are learning about organic farming, the logistics connecting farm to table, and baking a great pizza in the wood-fired brick oven.

Next to the compost, tied to a white Maple tree, is a game camera which takes pictures of gophers, squirrels, and other furry or winged musicians – critters of the animal orchestra at Edwards street. To the headache of the farm manager, the gophers have been active lately (Figure 3).

Figure 2: By installing a camera trap next to the Farm’s compost we were able to obtain various pictures of critters, such as this curious gopher (Figure 3), looking for new ways of causing headache to the farm manager.

Figure 3: A Farm-curious gopher.

Bird microphones, and gopher pictures aside; today’s volunteers weed several beds away. The recent rain makes handling the soil incredibly nourishing as I get to learn about the story of today’s volunteers, their relationship with the soil, the soil of their respective home countries, and their day to day lives at Yale. One of them has taught me new dishes from Sri Lanka, while another one became a dear friend.

When asking farm manager Jeremy Oldfield about the right time to seed carrots and radishes, he gives a great answer with a contagious and warm optimism and wisdom of a farmer. He also gives a bag full of carrot and radish seeds, to be planted at the home garden.

Time passes, seeds are planted, spinach, kale, and corn have germinated and grown. They see the days become longer.

It’s summer, it’s warm, nature is in full swing. Every single second our surroundings are exploding with life and reinventing configurations in which every living organism, including us fancy humans, are a collective pulse of.

Ok, enough philosophy and inner monologues! I leave Friday’s workday at the Farm with a smile on my face, a lower stress level, research gear up and running listening to the main actors of tonight sing. At home, I harvest my greens to make space for carrots and radishes while blue jays orchestrate tonight’s outdoors and a Downy woodpecker decides to add some drum and bass.

Fast forward four weeks and the Farm is looking great!

The garlic is several inches taller and there is a vibrant atmosphere of excitement among workday participants and farm managers. I hear laughter, friendly chatter and the sounds of rakes, shovels and chirping birds. Today we will learn and plant corn, beans, and squash together for symbiotic growing, admiring and learning from indigenous peoples’ planting practices.

We pick up cameras and microphones (Figure 2) and learn that several dozens of bird species have used the Yale Farm during spring migration. Some of these species are vulnerable and in decline due to human driven landscape modification and climate change, highlighting the importance of urban farms for birds across the world!

Figure 4: Hundreds of garlic cloves stretching in sun salutation with their leaves on a sunny day at the Farm.

In fact, in the last 50 years alone we have lost up to 30% of all birds in the United States! At the Farm, we see so many different layers and facets of biodiversity – from bees pollinating a plant whose pathogens are being eaten by bats, to birds foraging on some of the falling apples by the apple tree. It doesn’t hurt when a warm cup of cider, a lecture on sustainability, live music or poetry awaits at the end of the day.

The first building block to halting biodiversity loss requires us to know where species are and where they are not. It is also key to understand the relationship of biodiversity and our working landscapes from which us humans acquire our food. We all come from, end up in, depend on healthy soil, and must share this in a sustainable manner in an ever-crowded planet.

Identifying which species occupy small farms – such as the Yale Farm – helps understand how small-scale farm operations can be stewards of biodiversity while ensuring food production.

Let’s move from farming and science to music! At home, close all browser tabs used for research, put on headphones on. Open the music production software Ableton Live. After scrolling through some bird spy microphone recordings, we add recordings of ‘background noise’ to our opera as background; a good old trick for making Lo-fi beats sounding rawer.

We then add recordings from American Robins, the A.I. of the bird spy microphones has birds nicely labeled by name in each folder separately.

The chirping of birds, the clucking of chickens and the sound of a breeze evoke mellowness and tranquility. The same content felt after a day of working at the Farm. I try to transfer this feeling of tranquility into musical notes by jamming along with my synthesizer. The result is called ‘The Yale Farm Birds sing a song’ and can be found on Soundcloud.

Figure 5: The Yale farm birds sing a song, available on Soundcloud.

But why does farm music matter? Why does this matter for food systems, biodiversity, and us as people?

Perhaps to start by acknowledging that most of the food cultivated on earth is grown by small scale farm owners, which also increases resilience to extreme climatic events and increases food security. The field of agroecology studies how farming can align with ecological processes in a more sustainable way.

A better understanding of what birds live in farms, whether they provide important ecosystem services, or contribute negatively by eating crops, is critical for sustainable planning.

If we zoom out and think about the future, perhaps we can teach about biodiversity through the lens of music; we could motivate a whole new generation of youth to record and document the trends of birds in our neighborhoods, farms, backyards, schools or hospitals. This of bird bachata or cricket LoFi.

Such effort should be embedded into environmental and social justice principles. Lessons learned at the Yale Farm taught by the animal opera, could be applied as educational material for K12 STEM initiatives in New Haven and beyond. Our youth could collect environmental justice-rooted information on our city birds, improving our understanding on biodiversity, while making music and being able to connect with nature in urban environments. Nature is everywhere and offers music to those who listen; or who record it with a bird spy microphone (you can see this recording if you want to find out more)!

Can we apply lessons learned in New Haven somewhere else? Yes, definitely! At larger scales, initiatives such as TUBA (Training Undergraduate Biologists through urban Agriculture) are creating new hands-on curriculum for undergraduates by combining urban farming with biodiversity. This could attract a whole new range of computer science, art and musical students through music making of the natural world!

Figure 6: Panoramic photo of setting up cameras in the NW corner of the Yale Farm, facing the Lazarus Pavilion.

Months pass by again and it is Fall. Every single tree on my way up to Edwards Street has put on their best dress in a color palette with hundreds of shapes of green, yellow, red, and maroon. I am distracted from the beautiful old and new buildings by the red maple trees, which will provide delicious syrup later in the year. This time at the Farm there is no music recording, perhaps weeding, perhaps being, perhaps harvesting, perhaps cleaning.

The birds at the Farm are still chirping. Together they represent an ecosystem, ecosystems playing jazz from Monday to Sunday. This jazz will play long before and after we are gone and go back to the soil, to feed the earthworm that the early bird had for breakfast.

Thank you for listening.

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, November 4

The last pizza workday of the semester was a warm and sunny one. The atmosphere on the Farm was ebullient as students rounded out old harvests and prepared for new crops to come. Students were grateful for the sunshine as they harvested and sprayed 20 pounds of carrots for the Dwight Community Fridge, misting themselves in the process. After many weeks of garland-making, workday participants harvested all the marigolds they could to make a final round of summery decor. Preparing for garlic was a multi-stage process, with some students breaking up softneck garlic bulbs while the rest used scuffle hoes to prepare the fields. They all gathered to plant the hundreds of cloves, each of which will grow into a full-fledged bulb of its own. They also delighted in threshing and winnowing our Midnight Black Turtle beans. Some students tossed the pods in pillow cases, beating them against the ground in order to remove the beans from their husks. But many took the more meditative route, separating the beans by hand, and the hoop house was full of the sound of pods cracking and beans cascading into buckets. The beans will be used in this week’s Fall Feast—a partnership with the Native American Cultural Center—while the husks will end up as dry matter for the compost. Other students helped pick hot peppers, resulting in many tests of spice tolerance—tempered by spoonfuls of ricotta donated by the Culinary Events Team. 

Hot peppers weren’t the only things eaten, as participants gathered for pizza in the Lazarus Pavilion. This week’s knead 2 know was delivered by Camilla Ledezma ’23.5, a Culinary Events Manager and 2021 Global Food Fellow who spent her summer in Spain. Her presentation focused on the role of non-human animals and animality in the Spanish colonial project. She described how Spanish colonists believed in a humoral theory of health, in which the body contained a mixture of four humors, each tied to a respective temperament: blood (sanguine), phlegm (phlegmatic), black bile (melancholic), and yellow bile (choleric). Food played a role in balancing these humors—beef and pork, for example, were sanguine, while fish was phlegmatic. Upon arriving in what is now called the Americas, Spanish colonists were concerned that eating Indigenous foods would affect their humors, making them more like Indigenous people. In the colonial imagination, Indigenous people were seen as animal-like, in part because of their different foodways and agricultural practices. For example, the land was supposedly insufficiently developed, at least until the arrival of European cows wreaked havoc on the environment in an “ungulate eruption.” Ledezma also reflected on the ways in which Indigenous people resisted the imposition of colonial foodways. She noted that high rates of lactose intolerance among Native peoples can be read as the body resisting the forced introduction of beef and dairy.

After a round of questions about Ledezma’s thought-provoking presentation, students enjoyed the last Farm-fresh pizzas of the semester. Next week from 3:00 to 5:00 PM at the Native American Cultural Center, the Farm will co-host its annual Fall Feast, a celebration of Indigenous foodways. Thank you to everyone who has joined us on the fields and under the Lazarus Pavilion this semester. Photos from the event can be found here.

Moonlight Hauntings | Friday, October 28

On Friday, October 28th, after the pizza had been eaten, the workday had been completed, and the sun had set, students made their way back to the Old Acre for Moonlight Hauntings, a live poetry Halloween event in the Lazarus Pavillion. The event, a collaboration between the Asian American Cultural Center and YSFP, featured poets and performers from Jook Songs, Oye, and WORD, the predominant slam poetry groups on Yale’s campus. 

Snacking on berries and cookies warmed by the embers of the woodfire oven, still hot from the afternoon pizza, students were treated to myriad performances, guitar songs, and poems ranging from topics such as climate change, love, and insects. 

We could not have thought of a better way to keep of Halloweekend; everyone’s poems brought so much light and joy to a chilly evening. We love having student groups at the Farm. Come chat with us during workdays or knead 2 know if you have an idea for an event collaboration with YSFP. More photos of the event can be found here. 

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, October 28

On Friday, October 28th, students kicked off Halloweekend with a workday and knead 2 now. There was nothing spooky about the workday, though, as students braved the fall chill and got to work preparing the Farm for winter. The workday was heavily garlic themed— students clipped garlic heads and broke them into cloves. Students also sowed garlic beds, laying cloves on top of beds and tucking them into the soil. 

Students threshed midnight turtle beans, which will be used to make a Three Sisters chili at our upcoming Fall Feast on Friday, November 11. 

Students also spruced up the chicken coop with some plants and pulled basil plants for compost, which made the Old Acre smell like one giant margherita pizza. 

And there was pizza, and plenty of it, as the Culinary Events Team churned out its usual stellar selection of pies. 

With cider, tea, and pizza in hand, students gathered to hear Ismini Ethridge, a second-year Masters of Environmental Management student at Yale School of the Environment, Agroforester-in-Residence, and 2022 Global Food Fellow, give her knead 2 now. Ismini presented her summer research on Tree Gardens in the buffer zone of the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka. 

When Ethridge arrived in Sri Lanka, the country was in crisis. The previous year, the president passed a total ban on fertilizer and agrochemical imports, without consulting farmers about the decision. Ethridge visited Sri Lanka at a moment of national reckoning about the country’s economic and agricultural future. Ethridge visited the last remaining primary forest in Sri Lanka, and immersed herself in a village of 35 households, learning how tree gardens can be used for tea production, non-timber products, herbal medicine, and maintenance of biodiversity. Ethridge talked about a groundbreaking research paper published by Cindy Caron thirty years prior. Visiting Sri Lanka this summer, after the area had greatly improved its infrastructure and increased its emphasis on tea production, Ethridge could see how the landscape of agroforestry in the area had since changed. Ethridge was inspired by how increased tea production did not encroach upon the subsistence portion of the village’s agriculture; villagers were able to retain agency in the market. Ethridge was also impressed by the generational knowledge imparted to village children about the varieties and uses of plants. She also talked about her strategies for cultural immersion. She spoke about how she waited weeks to begin her research and spent the beginning of her time in Sri Lanka meeting the community. 

After the k2k, students stuck around the Lazarus Pavillion as Raffa Sindoni MEM ’23 and math lecturer Erik Hiltunen of Spirit of the Glacier played some Swedish folk tunes on flute. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and has been attending our workdays. It is the participants at these events who truly make them special. Photos from the event can be found here. 

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, October 14

With each sunny Friday workday on the Old Acre, we’ve thought the warm conditions may be the last of the season. This Friday was no exception. 

On this particular glorious afternoon, students threshed and winnowed Einkorn wheat, chopped corn stalks, and scuffled plots in preparation for planting. Reaping the fall bounty of a summer’s hard work, students harvested persimmons, heads of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and 25 lbs of beets. The beets were used on Saturday at Yale Pop-Up’s lunch event, hosted at the Old Acre. 

After an afternoon of hard work, students gathered in the Lazarus Pavilion, now fully decked out in dried flower bouquets, garlic bunches, chile ristras, and marigold garlands from previous workdays. Natalie Smink ’24, a Farm Manager and 2022 Yale Farm Summer Intern, presented her summer research as the knead 2 know. Smink, who hails from Boulder, CO, spoke about regenerative agriculture in her home state, and the ways that farmers are working to adjust to a changing climate. Smink talked about soil health in a drought state, the dangers of flash flooding, and the importance of cover crops to protect soil health. She spoke about ranching and grazing techniques, such as sending goats through agricultural fields, and the ways that these practices leave root systems intact and naturally introduce fertilizer into the area. Smink also noted how ‘regenerative agriculture’ has become somewhat of a buzzword, and that all the self-identifying regenerative farms in Colorado are white-owned. She spoke of the importance of bringing native communities back to the lands from which they have been disposed as a means of making agricultural practices more genuinely regenerative and justice-oriented.

Thank you to everyone who has been coming out to our events this fall. You can view photos from the event here. 

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, October 7

On Friday, October 7th, students celebrated the start of Family Weekend with a joyous workday on the Old Acre. On what may well have been the last hot and sunny day of the season, students and their family members harvested tomatoes, peppers, kale, and collard greens. Students washed and packed the greens, then pulled out the end-of-season kale and collard green plants from the field. Participants then chopped the plants into small pieces and composted them, before rolling up the tarps and tidying up the now-empty beds, ready for the upcoming planting of cover crop. Students also raked beds, sowed wheat, weeded the upper berm area, and continued the weekly task of stringing marigold garlands. 

As the workday portion of the afternoon concluded, participants gathered in the Lazarus Pavilion for cool, refreshing apple cider and a plethora of delicious and creative pizzas. Carmen Ortega ’24, a 2022 Yale Farm Summer Intern, shared her knead 2 know on indigenous farming practices in New Mexico. Ortega is from Albuquerque and identifies as mestiza, meaning she has both Spanish and Indigenous roots. Ortega talked about food and cooking as a form of both cultural and physical survival; she discussed the topography and climate of New Mexico, some of the highest and driest in the country, and how farmers utilize various techniques to get plants to thrive in this arid region. She described many practices used to combat water scarcity such as canal irrigation and rainwater collection. Ortega also discussed the traditional practice of co-planting the “Three Sisters,” corn, beans, and squash. Additionally, Ortega presented elements of spirituality and worship as they relate to water and agriculture in indigenous cultures. Ortega talked about how some Southwestern Native Americans have lost agricultural knowledge through forced acculturation, and about efforts to reconnect people to the land, which her research also aims to do. 

After the k2k, students and parents lingered in the Lazarus Pavilion, listening to music as the Culinary Events Team continued to churn out pies. 

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Farm this weekend. It was so wonderful to meet your families and share the YSFP love. Photos from the k2k and workday can be viewed here.

The Unlikely Gardener | Saturday, October 1

On October 1st, a rainy Saturday afternoon, students gathered in Battell Chapel in Dwight Hall on Yale’s Old Campus to listen to Demetrius James give a reading of his piece “The Unlikely Gardener.” The event was co-hosted by YSFP, the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, and the Yale Student Environmental Coalition. James is originally from the Bronx and is an alumnus of the Bard Prison Initiative. He recently founded the organization Project Oasis with the intention of planting an organic vegetable garden in every housing project in New York City. 

Introduced by YSFP farm manager Kavya Jain ’25, James started by reading his piece and then answered several questions from the audience. Born in a “built environment without green spaces,” James’s first involvement with gardening and organic food occurred during his 18 years in prison. James managed his institution’s garden and found it to be an empowering, healthy, community-building, and life-altering experience. 

James, the son of a sharecropper from South Carolina, spoke about the violent history of “black bodies and green spaces” and community skepticism toward gardening. James proposed an alternative to the commonly used term “food desert” to describe inner city spaces without proximate access to affordable produce or healthy food. Instead of “food desert”, James uses the term “food apartheid.”  A desert is a naturally occurring, sustainable environment, he reminded listeners. The term “apartheid” acknowledges that these disparities are constructed by policies of segregation and state violence. They have been created intentionally, and they can be dismantled intentionally, James taught us. (To learn more about the distinction between these two terms, check out this “Beyond the Buzzwords” article with research from Yale Professor Dr. Dorceta Taylor, curated by Yale Center for Business and Environment resident fellow Tagan Engel, with contributions from former Lazarus Fellow Austin Bryniarski.)

James recounted the experience of eating spicy leaves fresh from a garden bed and talked about the power that comes from being able to identify with food and where it comes from. James additionally spoke about the ways that built environments, especially project housing, can be anonymous and make people feel stripped of individuality. “Land is connected to liberty,” he said. “If you have land, you can basically do what you want.” His initiative is about getting people to their land. “Public spaces,” James said, are “ours. We’re the public.” James sees gardening and land reclamation as a means to unite communities. Neighbors nurture each other. 

James’s engaging talk—along with the YSFP’s cozy apple cider—provided a sense of warmth and inspiration on a dreary day. We are so grateful to James for bringing us his time, words, and wisdom, and to the partner organizations who helped make this event a reality. 

To view all the photos from this event, please follow this link.

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, September 30

Making the most of the last few weeks of light-sweater weather, students showed up to the Farm in a near-record turnout for this Friday’s workday and knead 2 know. Students got right to work—mulching perennials, cleaning and re-bedding the chicken coop, hand-weeding the carrot bed, removing dead blooms from flower plants (“deadheading”), harvesting peppers and marigolds, and stringing beautiful flower garlands and non-traditional chile ristras. The Lazarus Pavillion looks extra special this month, decorated with drying chiles, dried flower bouquets featuring Strawflowers and Statice, and marigold garlands which will be used to make natural dye. 

After an accomplished afternoon of work, students migrated to the Lazarus Pavilion to enjoy pizza and cider made by our culinary events team. My personal favorite pie of the week may have been the sweet apple compote pizza, but they were all delightful. The culinary team took a brief intermission from throwing their forty balls of dough and community members paused their meal to listen to a knead 2 know by Grace Cajski ’24, a YSFP communications manager who writes the weekly YSFP newsletter! Grace is a 2021 Global Food Fellow who majors in English and Environmental Studies with a concentration in Marine Conservation. Cajski, who has family in Oʻahu, presented her research on Hawai’ian fishpond aquaculture. Cajski impressed upon listeners that Hawai’i is not “just a paradise,” but a place with rich history and unique agricultural traditions. Cajski described how farmers grow fish in estuarine pond. Baby fish can swim in, but larger, grown fish are stuck in the pond. Fishponds are the first form of aquaculture on the Pacfic Rim. Cajski described the “art” and “balance” of this reliable, sustainable food source, and the ways that colonization and invasive species threatened—and continue to threaten—this equilibrium. Cajski talked about the implications of climate-induced sea-level rise and how modern systems of land (or sea) ownership can make it difficult for indigenous stakeholders to steward their ancestral land. Cajski also discussed some potential solutions proffered by the tourism and education industries, as well as the U.S. Navy. While it was chilly and brisk on the Farm, Cajski’s captivating presentation brought us to warm, tropical waters and provoked new insights. 

We are thrilled by the number of people who have been joining us at the Farm. Please keep coming, and bring your friends! We love having you here. 

To view all photos from the event, please follow this link.

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, September 23

 On September 23, 2022, around two dozen folks came up to the Farm to participate in our weekly workday. The fall harvest was fully upon us, and the afternoon was all about pulling, picking, and prepping.

One group pulled weeds from the lower culinary berm, a tangled texture of green. YSFP’s Manager of Field Academics Jeremy Oldfield taught attendees how to distinguish the weeds from the crops: lemon balm—a cousin of mint—was the target crop, and an eggplant cousin—with spikes!—needed to be pulled, along with unwanted veins of ivy growing in the underbrush. One group of participants dedicated itself to the berm, other students picked sweet peppers (and snuck a couple delicious bites), Still another strung up chrysanthemums.

After the berm was cleared of weeds, workday attendees took turns digging holes and planting black eyed susans. These seedlings had been growing in the Yale Science Building greenhouse for about a month, and they'll spend the next month pushing their roots into the berm. In the winter they’ll die back; come spring, they’ll bloom gold.

As the workday faded towards pizza-time, the sun started to dip towards the horizon and some workday participants wandered the flower field adjacent to Prospect Street. YSFP Communications Manager and photographer extraordinaire Reese Neal ’25 aptly noted that what makes our Farm so special is its dedication, not just to growing food and creating community, but also to celebrating the beauty that comes from working the earth.

 All the while, our undergraduate culinary events team was working hard to whip up some delicious pizza and press some fresh apple cider. Workday attendees—happy to sit down after two hours of farmwork—were spoiled with platters of pizza. As they ate, former Yale Farm Summer Intern and beloved YSFP community member Donasia Gray ’23 gave a moving knead 2 know about her summer working with the Sweet Water Foundation. She helped build and grow a neighborhood space in Chicago that uplifted the local community, recycled discarded materials, and redefined public space. Afterwards, participants asked questions, ate more pizza, mingled, and laughed. As always, many thanks to those who came; and, please join us next time.  

To view all photos from the event, please follow this link.

Workday & knead 2 know | Friday, September 16

On September 16, students gathered at the Old Acre for the second Friday workday and knead 2 know of the semester. Working together, the participants reaped the summer’s harvest and laid the groundwork for the fall. Attendees used pruners and knives to mow basil to the ground and assembled a leaf-plucking assembly line on the steps of the Lazarus Pavilion. These 30 lbs of basil were then given to Yale Dining for transformation into delicious pesto, pizzas, and pomodoro sauce. 

Students continued last week’s project of threading marigold garlands and hung the finished products in the Pavillion. Students also harvested collard greens, kale, lettuce, radishes, and pints of cherry tomatoes, which were brought to the Dwight Community Fridge. Moving their sights toward the later fall, students thoroughly weeded and watered berms, then planted sage, sorrel, and rudbeckia. Participants also cut pears in preparation for cider making.

After all their efforts, the workday crowd was hungry and ready for pizza! Everyone gathered in the Lazarus Pavilion under the marigolds to enjoy delicious pies by the culinary events team and listen to the k2k by Storm Lewis YSE ’23. Lewis, a 2022 Global Food Fellow originally from Brooklyn, NY, presented her summer research on food sovereignty for Black farmers in her hometown. After presenting data on the low rates of Black farmland ownership in the U.S., Storm discussed some of the community-based organizations in Brooklyn that are working in food sovereignty spaces. She explained how instead of pushing a specific definition of this term, she made space for the self-definition of ‘food sovereignty by the study participants. Lewis also presented on the various challenges faced by Black urban farmers and her experience volunteering on several urban farms throughout the summer. Her work highlights some of the incredible efforts already happening on the ground in Brooklyn and will eventually serve as a resource guide for her community. Overall, it was an afternoon of fantastic work and learning. We hope you will join us next week! 

To view all the photos from this event, please follow this link.

First Workday and k2k of the 2022-2023 Year

The Old Acre, which has been lovingly stewarded all summer by a small and dedicated team of Yale Farm Summer Interns, was once again alive with students on the first workday of the semester on Friday, September 9th. 

The perfect late summer weather, glowing afternoon sun, and revitalizing energy emblematic of a new semester made for a joyful reunion, as students returned to the Farm and to each other. 

Students spent the workday weeding the carrot beds and the gravel zones in the Lazarus Pavilion, pinching basil blossoms, and harvesting collard greens, lettuce, tomatoes, and radishes. The final task of the afternoon consisted of picking marigold flowers and stringing them into beautiful golden garlands, which will soon adorn the Lazarus Pavilion and be used to make dyes.  

Once the workday portion of the afternoon concluded, students gathered to eat delicious pizzas prepared by the YSFP’s undergraduate culinary events managers, featuring seasonal produce such as corn, basil, and peaches.  

Slices in hand, students listened to the week’s knead 2 know by Destiny Treloar YSE ‘23, a Masters of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment whose work focuses on food justice. Treloar shared findings from her summer thesis research into the experiences of Latina/x/e women experiencing poverty and food insecurity and how their relationship with emergency food access in cities was impacted by trauma associated with the pandemic. 

After the knead 2 know, students lingered to mingle in the Pavillion and were treated to a musical performance by Dani Zanuttini-Frank ’22 and Jason Altshuler '23 of Toil!. The magnificent turnout and strong enthusiasm amongst participants made for a truly magical evening. We cannot wait to see you at next Friday's workday and k2k and at our Sunday workdays as well. It’s going to be a great year! 

Socioeconomic Trends of Traditional HomeGardens in Pitekele, Sri Lanka | GFF '22

This post is part of Ismini Ethridge’s 2022 Global Food Fellowship.

Socioeconomic Trends of Traditional HomeGardens in Pitekele, Sri Lanka

Ismini, left, picking tea.

Throughout my childhood, I spent many summers on extended visits to family in Sri Lanka. Some of my first and most poignant lessons around environmental and social justice involved food; watching my grandmother carefully wrap every grain of leftover rice in banana leaves to avoid waste, noticing food availability tied closely to seasonal changes and environmental constraints, and witnessing hunger to an extent that I had never seen at home in the US.

The year I began graduate school, a national crisis in Sri Lanka provoked by a ban on agro-chemical inputs presented a unique opportunity to examine the complex entanglements of food systems with socio-political and economic imperatives. Sri Lanka’s President, who was eventually forced by civilian protest to resign, announced the abrupt ban on imports of agro-chemicals in April 2021, citing environmental and health concerns arising from the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, such as water pollution, soil depletion and erosion, and increased risk of colon, kidney, and stomach cancer due to excessive nitrate exposure in farming communities. The policy change, arguably motivated more by Sri Lanka’s diminishing foreign exchange reserves, brought global attention to the harms of modern agricultural systems devoid of environmental and social considerations.

A paddy field surrounded by forest/forest gardens.

The reaction was an outcry from farmers and the general public regarding the scant planning and lack of support to make the transition to organic farming, coupled with rampant inflation in food prices, and fears that the country could collapse into famine. The government ultimately rolled back many of the policies, but farmers’ harvests had already fallen by 40-70% percent due to lack of access to fertilizer when they needed it, and the concurrent economic crisis, the worst since independence, made it nearly impossible to import food items and other essential goods such as fuel.

Sri Lanka’s story, though perhaps the first to culminate in such dramatic effects, is not unique. Sri Lanka is one of many countries continually facing the deleterious consequences of colonial restructuring of food and economic systems, structural adjustment policies that pushed for the liberalization of agriculture, and a Green Revolution that fueled a dependence on imported chemical fertilizers and cash crop production.

In my nascent explorations aimed at trying to understand how Sri Lanka could move towards a more ecologically and socially integrative food system that bolstered local food sovereignty, I found immense inspiration and hope in learning about Sri Lanka’s deep history of traditional homegarden-agroforestry practices, often referred to as “tree gardens” or “forest gardens”. Homegardens are generally considered part of an agro-socio-ecological system that comprises domesticated plants and/or animals, as well as people, and produces a variety of fruits, vegetables, and non-timber forest products, that contribute to a family′s diet and may even provide additional income (Soemarwoto and Conway, 1992 cited in Mohri et. al 2013;124).

A new lookout hut being built after villagers began to re-adopt paddy cultivation amidst the national food crisis. Villagers take turns watching for animals from the lookout hut.

During the summer of 2022, I had the privilege, thanks to generous funding from the Yale Sustainable Food Program and the Tropical Resources Institute, to conduct research on homegardens in a small village in south west Sri Lanka adjacent to the Sinharaja Forest Reserve. Previous studies conducted in the area about 30 years ago revealed a rich practice of homegardening, as well as an encroaching influence of tea cultivation. The focus of my research was therefore to better understand the role of traditional homegardens in these smallholder livelihoods, how communities living in particularly precious ecosystems and landscapes were balancing subsistence food production with cash crop production, and more broadly, what could be learnt from these practices that are of national and even global relevance?

Planting tea crops.

I spent the better part of two months living in Pitekele, learning about homegardens and changing land use practices through household interviews and ethnographic research. The lives of the villagers are far too rich and complex to be encapsulated in one summer study, but a few trends and moments stood out as profound learnings. Nearly all households engaged in some form of cash crop production, usually tea, but homegardens remained an almost sacred staple for every household. One of the eldest villagers described caring for her homegarden as similar to loving and caring for a member of the family. Despite the increasing prevalence of tea cultivation, villagers rarely reported sacrificing homegarden land for cash crops, and the majority reported growing more food items in their homegardens since the last formal study was conducted 30 years ago, indicating that homegardening practices were still a stronghold in the community.

Villagers had an acute awareness of the role homegardens played in their food sovereignty as well. They took pride in being self-sufficient in growing many staple items, such as jackfruit, breadfruit, manioca, coconut, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Many noted that despite losing jobs amidst the economic crisis and decreased tea yields due to the fertilizer ban, families were generally able to furnish their basic needs from their gardens. The intimate level of social integration required by village homegardens also helped ensure the economic and social security of the villagers, and played an integral role in the social cohesion and culture of the village. The rich diversity of plants and crops grown in homegardens, for example, was largely due to seed sharing amongst the community. Children not only played in the homegardens, but knew nearly every plant—vegetable, herb, medicinal—growing in them.

Pristinely clean water in the main river that flowed through the village.

Still, villagers faced challenges with their land and cultivation. While homegardens generally didn’t require any inputs, chemical fertilizers and pesticides were used on nearly all tea land, and crops suffered when the sharp rise of fertilizer prices restricted access. Forest laws that restricted hunting of animals and the use of forest products such as wood for fuel, timber, and fences meant that villagers were facing increasing pressure from wildlife threatening their vegetable crops. Local government offices made subpar attempts to support homegarden cultivation by providing some vegetable seeds and occasional workshops on how to make organic compost. 

These villagers demonstrated traditional agroforestry as a practice that afforded remarkable resilience amidst compounding national crises, yet there remains a clear opportunity for both localized and national policy efforts to more effectively support smallholders to maintain their traditional homegarding practices and have viable livelihoods.

Food Sovereignty in Urban Environments: Brooklyn, New York | GFF '22

This post is part of Storm Lewis’s 2022 Global Food Fellowship.

Food Sovereignty in Urban Environments: A Case Study of Brooklyn, New York

Growing up in what used to be a predominantly Black neighborhood, I witnessed how gentrification and food insecurity transformed Brooklyn’s foodscape. My drive to address disparities in food access further developed as my family grappled with the impacts of breast cancer. The relationship between cancer and diets made it clear to me that the quality of food consumed is a critical component of community health. Yet, food apartheids pervade areas where I grew up.

As a student and activist, I turned to urban agriculture as a platform to gain autonomy and help others connect to nutritious foods. Whether I was growing collard greens in my elementary school yard or advocating for public school gardens, I found strength in the ability to grow food. My experience gardening made me understand that access to healthy, culturally appropriate food is only one facet of community health. Black communities must also have a stake in the production of our foods.

 Historically, Black farmers have been systematically discriminated against and denied the right to cultivate farmland for decades. Institutions such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have strategically reduced Black land ownership by limiting access to loans and access to quality land free from environmental hazards. The number of Black farmers in the United States continues to decline due to the loss of land and agricultural knowledge in Black communities.[1]

In 2017, less than 1% of New York State Farmers were Black.[2] [3] For the Black farmers that managed to produce an annual harvest, their profit margins were significantly lower than White farmers. Given this history, current efforts to improve food systems must support models in which Black farmers can achieve self-determination through communal or individual control of agricultural land.

 Food sovereignty is one of the few approaches encouraging communities to define and control their food systems. However, few studies examine the pathways to success for Black farmers. My study fills this gap by questioning what Black-led, food sovereignty organizations exist in Brooklyn across the food supply chain. Do they self-identify as food sovereign? Lastly, what are the barriers to implementing food sovereignty on a local and national scale?

Hattie Carthan Farmer's Market.

 In June of 2021, I used a multi-method approach to understand the challenges and achievements of Black foodways through interviews and participant observation. I spoke with over forty-five organizations ranging from Green Thumb, Universe City, East New York Farms, Seasons Plant Shop, New Visions Garden, Oko Farms, to Red Hook Community Farms, and other gardens in Brooklyn.

I also engaged in fifty-five hours of volunteer work at farms and gardens. Some of the tasks involved weeding, watering, and harvesting plants, building trellises, picking up trash, organizing tool sheds, and selling produce at farmer’s markets. The information collected will contribute to a resource guide that helps food producers access funding sources. The final paper will also provide recommendations for local governments to support Black food systems.

Overall, it was a privilege working alongside farmers to grow and distribute fresh produce. I am humbled to have learned from those who dedicate their lives to food production. As a result, I gained a form of knowledge that cannot be taught in the classroom nor read in literature. I will carry these lessons with me as I move through my studies at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE) and beyond.

To learn more about my research, you can read my article on food sovereignty published in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal. Later this year, I will partner with MidHeaven Network to moderate a podcast series featuring Black agrarianism in New York City. I will also present my project at the New Horizons in Conservation Conference, ​​the RITM 3-minute Research Presentations, and the YSE Summer Experience Showcase. 

———

This project was made possible with the support of the Global Food Fellowship, the Mobley Family Environmental Humanities Summer Student Research Grant, the RITM Research and Conference Travel Award, and my research advisor, Dr. Dorceta Taylor.

Full Links:
https://uraf.harvard.edu/files/uraf/files/mmuf_journal_2021.pdf
https://www.midheaven.network

Citations:
[1] Taylor, D. E. (2018). Black farmers in the USA and Michigan: Longevity, empowerment, and food sovereignty. Journal of African American Studies, 22(1), 49–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-018-9394-8

[2] Taylor, D. E. (2018). Black farmers in the USA and Michigan: Longevity, empowerment, and food sovereignty. Journal of African American Studies, 22(1), 49–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-018-9394-8

[3] United States Department of Agriculture. Census of Agriculture. 2017 Volume 1, Chapter 1: State Level | 2017 Census of Agriculture | USDA/NASS. (2017). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/.

COVID-19 and Urban Emergency Food Justice | GFF '22

This post is part of Destiny Treloar’s 2022 Global Food Fellowship.

COVID-19 and Emergency Food Justice:
Understanding chronically food insecure Latina/x/e women’s relationship with urban emergency food access in Hialeah, Florida

A picture of cacao, one of the fruits sorted at the food distribution in Hialeah.

A picture of some of the tropical fruits at a local farmers market in Hialeah where I volunteered.

A community fridge in Hialeah stocked with donated water that I stocked, organized, and cleaned during my volunteer work with Buddy System and Food Rescue. 

A photo/selfie of Destiny Treloar, right, and Te'Yah Wright (MEM student, class of 2023) volunteering at Holyoke's Farmers Market, aiding at the Healthy Incentive Program (HIP) informational booth. 

A close-up photograph of a bag of emergency food available at a food drive in Hialeah that I volunteered at. 

This summer, I’ve examined the complex elements of emergency food networks in two urban cities through the lenses of Latina/x/e women for my Master of Environmental science thesis at Yale School of Environment. I collected surveys, conducted interviews, engaged in participatory observations, and recorded the available emergency food outlets. As part of my data collection, I volunteered at several food outlets and community events, including farmers’ markets, food banks, soup kitchens, community fridges, and community gardens. My volunteering efforts were incredible opportunities to assist in food insecurity efforts in the community, as well as connect with folks about emergency food relief.

My mixed qualitative approaches revealed the interwoven crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and climate crisis playing a significant role in emergency food outlet operations and provisions. I uncovered there were a host of barriers present to Latina/x/e women, indicating unequal dimensions of access to emergency food outlet systems. I ripped open the red tape around ‘free food’ offerings to determine the barriers Latina/x/e women encounter when accessing emergency food assistance programs. I also used this analysis to develop multi-faceted solutions to foster a more inclusive environment.

As a Nicaraguan woman, this was an incredible opportunity to connect with disenfranchised communities and dive deeper into the intersecting food issues prevalent in the broader food access system, with a particular focus on emergency food offerings. Examination of chronically food insecure Latina/x/e women is absolutely critical to advance the understanding of the systems of power within the emergency food access system that mitigates rates of food insecurity. This research would not be possible without the generous support of the Global Food Fellowship Program. I am honored to be able to answer my questions in the food justice realm.

Stories from the Ground Up: Vermont Farmers' Land Ethics | GFF '22

This post is part of Katie Michels’ 2022 Global Food Fellowship.

Dairy cows grazing near Montpelier, Vermont. Photo by Katie Michels.

This summer, I interviewed 20 Vermont farmers about how and why they manage their land, and what influences their relationships with their land. I asked questions like: Why do you manage your land in the ways that you do? What enables or constrains your ability to farm in the ways that you want to? What does land stewardship mean to you? I spoke with livestock farmers who are managing their animals in different ways, seeking to understand a variety of land management practices and the reasons why farmers use them.

Through these conversations, I was able to hear directly from farmers about their relationships with their land, and the reasons why they make the land management decisions they do. I learned so much about not just the specifics of different land management practices (i.e. what does management-intensive rotational grazing look like on a farm that was abandoned for 50 years prior?), but also the depth of factors that inform farmers’ land management choices. Many farmers I spoke with described the importance of growing food for their communities; fostering habitat for animals both large (bears, deer) and small (bobolinks, butterflies); continuing family legacies; and farm viability. I heard farmers describe how they think of farming as an environmental act, because it places them in relationship with land and offers space and time to know it well. I also heard farmers speak about the value of having many farmers in a community, for how it creates volunteer capacity for municipal bodies like select boards, school boards, and fire departments, which form the lifeblood of rural communities. Many mourned the loss of community ties and capacity that has come as small farms have closed or consolidated and there are fewer full-time farmers.

My time in Vermont allowed me to deepen my own layers of connection to this landscape and place, and to better understand the ways that farmers have made Vermont’s working landscape what it is. The stories I heard were rich and deep. It was a gift to sit with farmers for spans of time ranging from one hour to three days to hear their stories of place, land, animals, and people and the ways they are in relationship with each. Through this work, I learned what farmers are doing, why they are doing it, and how they articulate what land stewardship means to them. I hope to continue to share stories of how the impacts of farmers’ actions ripple out into the human and more-than-human communities of which they are part.

Thank you to the YSFP Global Food Fellows Program, Jubitz Family Endowment for Research, and the Mobley Family Environmental Humanities Grant for supporting this work.

Fisher Ecological Knowledge in Fishery Studies | GFF '22

This post is part of Daviana Berkowitz-Sklar’s 2022 Global Food Fellowship.

The role of fisher ecological knowledge in fishery studies:
A case study from a Costa Rica recreational billfish fishery

Daviana, left, during an informal conversation with Chepe, a retired fisherman.

Early morning departure for a full day of sport fishing ahead.

A glimpse into the beautiful beaches of the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, where a large portion of this research took place.

On the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, sport fishing has become an important component of the national ecotourism industry, yet our fundamental understanding of these fisheries is limited. Scientific data about the distribution and behavior of near-shore populations of sailfish and blue marlin, two of the most targetted billfish species by sport fishers, is limited. On the other hand, local ecological knowledge (LEK) is increasingly being recognized as a valuable component of ecological studies.
Local people interact with the environment on a daily basis, yearlong, and over generations.

Fishers in Costa Rica have been observing billfish trends closely for many years and possess a wealth of knowledge about the billfish fishery. Combining Western fishery science with fishers' ecological knowledge may be a valuable way to fill data gaps, hear the perspectives of local stakeholders, and create management decisions that serve both the ocean and the local communities that depend on them.

This past summer, I set out to investigate ecological questions about the billfish fishery on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica through the ecological knowledge of local sport fishers. I asked myself, “how can fisher knowledge become a part of ecological modeling in order to provide scientific, ecological, and social value for fishery science and management?” I interviewed over 50 fishermen in the sport fishing industry and asked them questions about the availability and distribution of billfish species. I also asked them how these billfish populations and environmental factors have changed over time. I am incredibly grateful to the fishermen I met for sharing their knowledge and time.

I will analyze the information I learned from the fishermen in Costa Rica through a mixed-methods approach, combining both social and natural science techniques, as a means of giving voice to local perspectives, enhancing understanding of the environmental and anthropogenic variables influencing billfish populations and distribution, and advising equitable and effective future marine conservation planning in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. I look forward to sharing what is learned from this investigation with all interested parties including the participants of the study. I hope to continue to learn about Costa Rican fisheries from the diverse perspectives of all stakeholders.

This project is a part of Stanford University’s DynaMar Project. This project was also supported by the Alan S. Tetelman 1958 Fellowship for Research in the Sciences.

Snapshots from a recent research trip to the Canadian Arctic | GFF '21

This stunning mural (located just beside the Aquatic Centre) is one of several you will spot around Iqaluit.

Snapshots from a recent research trip to the Canadian Arctic
Sappho Gilbert, PhD Candidate, Yale School of Public Health, Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology

“What’s your dissertation topic?”

Doctoral students are often asked some version of this question. While my specific answer depends on the audience, I usually respond along the lines of: “I work with the local government and Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic to study how environmental and other variables impact food security and population nutrition.”

TL;DR?  Here’s my (short) running title I’ll use in a pinch: “Arctic health and food security.”

No matter my reply, the tête-à-tête virtually always continues with a kindled curiosity: “Wow, the Arctic!  What’s it like up there?”

It’s understandably tough to imagine life – let alone research – in the remote, northernmost parts of our globe.  In North America, the Arctic is geographically distant from the vast majority of our population; this is true for Americans vis-à-vis Alaska as well as for Canadians (90% of whom live within 100 miles of the United States border).  Even if one decides to visit an Arctic destination, it can be logistically complex and quite expensive to get, stay, eat, and sightsee up there.

Interestingly, Iceland and Norway have become tourist hotspots over roughly the past decade.  At various times of year, social media teems with the Arctic’s magical nature: frozen fjords; moving, majestic icebergs; the glow of the midnight sun peeking through a camping tent door; and the mesmerizing ribbon dance of the aurora borealis.  Such moments are, indeed, incredible and exist all around the Arctic Circle; yet, picturing day-to-day life in a circumpolar community remains elusive to most.

Thus, when the Yale Sustainable Food Program (YSFP) invited me to share a peek into life as a researcher working with circumpolar communities as part of my doctoral studies, I was thrilled.  Right after spring term ended, I headed up to the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut (the geographic focus of my dissertation) and took these photos during my stay.  I hope you enjoy this window into the magnificent North!

Before we dive into the pictures, I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to YSFP for supporting my dissertation research through the Global Food Fellowship Program.  I also wish to thank the following additional funders of this community-partnered work: the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute Environmental Health Sciences (F31 National Research Service Award), the Yale Center on Climate Change & Health (Pre-Doctoral Fellowship), P.E.O. International (Scholar Award), and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (Science Communication Fellowship).  Finally, I am grateful for the collaborations with and support of my Dissertation Advisory Committee, F31 Co-Sponsors, and colleagues in Nunavut, across Canada, and beyond – without whom this work would not be possible.

Welcome to Iqaluit (Nunavut’s capital), located on Frobisher Bay with a population of 7,429! (Screenshot taken of my Google Maps iOS app)

Flights from “the South” (as the provinces of Canada are called here) to the territory are extremely expensive – and even more so between communities. Someone once told me it cost the same for her to fly round-trip from Pond Inlet to Iqaluit as it did for her to fly between Ottawa and Southeast Asia!

Fresh powder falling steadily at 11 PM in mid-May. Two misconceptions I regularly hear are either that it’s “cold and dark year-round” or that “it must be cold and dark for 6 months straight” (followed by 6 months of light). Neither is true! Well, I guess “cold” is relative, and yes, it is usually much colder in Iqaluit than in Halifax or New Haven (the latter of which was enjoying a perfectly sunny 72°F/22°C when I left it). However, a typical summer day in Iqaluit is close to a chilly New Haven spring or autumn one – a simple jacket should work! Regarding light, only the Earth’s northernmost and southernmost points experience equal periods of darkness and daylight. Grise Fiord, the most northern community in Nunavut, goes dark “only” from November to mid-February and basks in 24 hours of sunlight in an analogous stretch in the summer.

Home base – and a local project partner – for many of us researchers: the Nunavut Research Institute!

The Unikkaarvik Visitor Centre features cool maps, dioramas, some amazing art, and historical, geographic, and cultural information about Nunavut and the Inuit. When you visit, be sure to also check out the curated art and gift shop at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum next door.

A delightful night in with friends noshing on Arctic char sushi rolls by 100% Inuit owned Sijjakkut. In a word: yum!

Speaking of food, this is one of the heaviest financial burdens of life here. The prices of store-bought food are notoriously high across the North American Arctic; should you prefer to harvest, the costs associated with hunting, sealing, whaling, or even fishing can also quickly escalate. Nunavut Country Food is a conveniently located option in town that sells a variety of harvested food (dubbed “country food”).

On a crisp and windy morning, I treated myself to a quick, pre-meeting bite and coffee at Black Heart Café, a popular spot for casual or business meet-ups.

The Iqaluit Aquatic Centre boasts a 25-meter lap pool, lazy river, waterslide, saunas, hot tub, and fitness facility. On my third day, I ran (ahem, swam) into an old acquaintance during a lunch hour dip. It's a small town, after all!

This stunning mural (located just beside the Aquatic Centre) is one of several you will spot around Iqaluit.

Armory Community Garden in Photos | YFSI '22

This post is part of Brianna Jefferson’s 2022 Yale Farm Summer Internship Independent Project.

The focus of my Independent Project was researching the significance of community gardens in cities experiencing food apartheid. I was interested in the role of these gardens, and how they helped connect individuals in their collective struggles. I also knew that I wanted to focus on New Haven, because it’s a space that I haven’t spent enough time examining in my regular coursework. My defining questions for my project were about the use of the word “community” to describe these gardens. Does the element of “community” help empower citizens and bring them together in their food struggles? How important is having a community? My research methods involved studying the different types of community gardens in New Haven and choosing one as the case study. I chose to focus on Armory Community Garden because not only does it do a wonderful job of connecting people with the land, and fresh produce, but it also emphasizes the importance of community. Armory is a place of gathering, and hosts community events that range from book club meetings, to Juneteenth celebrations, and cooking demonstrations. During my time volunteering at the garden, I saw children from as young as six years old running around and helping with the lettuce harvest, to an elderly woman in a wheelchair helping to water the crops. The space is open to everyone in the community and welcomes them in. My photo essay was a way for me to celebrate the work that Armory Garden does and share what I learned over the course of my summer.

Reclaiming Raíces: Tradition, Place, and Curanderismo in the Land of Enchantment | YFSI '22

This post is part of Carmen Ortega’s 2022 Yale Farm Summer Internship Independent Project.

This summer, I’ve thought a lot about the concept of place, which “encompasses not only a specific location and the physical world, but also the human relationships and meanings that unfold there” (Schnell 624). Physical space becomes place when we “get to know it better and endow it with value,” and “there is no place without self and no self without place.” (Casey 684, Tuan 6).

My independent project began with a question about place: how have Indigenous and Mestizo food and agricultural traditions in New Mexico contributed to the state’s unique sense of place, particularly as catalysts for spirituality, healing, and community? I came to this question after reflecting on why I was drawn to the Yale Farm internship in the first place: my raíces (roots). I am a proud Nuevo Mexicana, raised in Albuquerque and part of the Ortega, Maes, Chavez, and Padilla families from central and northern New Mexico. I identify as Mestiza; on both sides, my family can trace our ancestry back to the sixteenth-century Spanish colonists of the region, and, like most Hispanic New Mexicans, we also have Indigenous ancestry.

In preparation for a recent discussion, the farm interns read a piece about decolonization in settler colonial states. One sentence, about the way Native Americans have been racialized in the United States, stood out to me: "Native Americanness is subtractive: Native Americans are constructed to become fewer in number and less Native, but never exactly white, over time" (Tuck & Yang). First, I want to acknowledge that my racial identity of "Mestiza," of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry, gives me a certain degree of privilege. But this sentence also made me ponder how Mestizos in New Mexico were forcibly stripped of their "Native Americanness"-- my family speaks Spanish, and we were able to learn the names of our European ancestors through Catholic church records, yet we know extraordinarily little about our Indigenous ones. As a result, I have also been racialized by this country as less native, but never exactly white. This realm of precarity and uncertainty about my Indigeneity has always left me searching for my raíces that were lost to settler colonialism.

The path that I’ve chosen toward reclaiming these raíces and understanding “place” in New Mexico is through plants and food. In her article “Decolonize your Diet,” Catrióna Rueda Esquibel explains that growing and eating heritage food is a form of cultural and physical survival. When I think about both of my grandmothers and their commitment to nourishing their families with the recipes they learned from their mothers, grandmothers, and from preceding generations, I see this cultural survival at play. This project represents my love and admiration of food and plants as family, medicine, community, and place in “la tierra del encanto” (the land of enchantment).