I’m headed off tomorrow to present at the Agrarian Studies Colloquium at Yale. Wish me luck! I’ll be discussing my work as a farmer and my graduate work on West African foodways– you can view a couple of my short films about food issues in West Africa (where I was born and spend the first part of my life) here:
Campe Cuisine Vacance: http://vimeo.com/4828842
Bene Wende: http://vimeo.com/4889344
I’m a bit nervous, of course, as I haven’t been exercising my academic side very much lately. But I’m very grateful for a chance to share what I learned from African farmers during my grad school research- it’s surprising how in spite of such differences in climate, politics, and markets all small farmers share very similar struggles in facing a world that is building a global and industrial scale food system…
a member of a Malian Young Producers’ Association gives me an earful on the challenges he faces raising lettuce and other vegetables on his market farm near Bamako