Blog | Asian American Seed Stewards

Mao holding crushed plant to show how it is used herbally

Mao’s Garden: Amplifying an 82-year-old Herbal Healer’s Philosophy and Practices of Seeds in Community

by Christy Vong
November 26, 2024

As our collaborative and community-engaged work has continued, one of our current projects is that we are collaborating with a Hmong American elder in nearby Sacramento who has been practicing sharing ethnobotanical knowledge with others and health care for her community.

Cultivating a Sweeter Community (part 2)

by Lin Lim
June 23, 2023

This blog summarizes the results of the sweet potato trial, comparing different varieties of sweet potatoes, in terms of marketable yield, cooked visual appearance, and taste. It also contains pictures of the community outreach events during Picnic Day and the Japanese Taste Testing Event with the Japanese Language and Cultural Club (JLCC) at UC Davis.

Cultivating a Sweeter Community (part 1)

by Lin Lim
June 17, 2023

As a part of our efforts to incorporate culinary and cultural significance into the plant breeding process, we embarked on a sweet potato variety trialing and breeding project funded by the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Garden Zine Created by Interns from Asian American Studies

by Eryca Antonio and Kyra Liu
June 17, 2022

This Garden Zine highlights the students' time at the SRRC garden plot as they seek "to (re)connect with a part of themselves/the land or those who seek to nourish their souls through gardening."

Navigating Cultural Identity Through a Culinary Lense

by Kyra Liu
February 02, 2022

Chef Tu David Phu and Aileen Suzara share stories about the significance of cultural foods and ingredients in their identity development and connection to culture.

A(A)&PI Farmers' Perspectives on Access to Asian Crops

by Eryca Antonio
January 26, 2022

Jue Htoo recounts her experiences with seed saving and what it means to be lucky enough to live in an environment that allows for Asian crops to thrive. Scott Chang-Fleeman illustrates that the U.S. economic system and climate change are all contributing factors to the (un)sustainability of farming work

Hmong Resilience and Diversity in Agriculture and Food Systems

by An Do
January 19, 2022

Food & Agriculture

In this week’s seminar, Michael Yang and Lilian Thaoxaochay further explore the current context of AAPI community in the California food and agriculture systems, with a particular emphasis on Hmong immigrant perspectives.

Asian American Erasure and Endurance in Agriculture

by Christy Vong
January 12, 2022

As part of our Seed Saving and Cultural Memory Banking seminar in Winter 2022, Nina F. Ichikawa, who currently works with the Berkeley Food Institute, gave a presentation titled Asian Americans in food and farming: Erasure & Endurance.

Farmer wearing a hat and standing in front of a tree

The Short-Comings of Authenticity and Relating to Culture Through Seeds

by Kyra Liu
January 05, 2022

Food & Agriculture

In early January 2022, Kristyn Leach gave a Zoom talk to an interdisciplinary seminar that consisted of undergraduates, graduate students, and farmers. The seminar was on Asian American farmers in California and cultural memory banking, and it brought together people from different fields of study and varying levels of knowledge in farming and seed saving.