We are pleased to introduce an interdisciplinary seminar, “Seed Saving and Cultural Memory Banking Community-Engaged Participatory Plant Breeding with the API Farmers in CA” to the community.

Date/Time: Wednesday, Jan 5, 3:30-4:30 PM PST
Location: RSVP HERE
Registration: CRN 13050, 1 unit
Facilitators: Ga Young Chung, Asian American Studies | Charlie Brummer, Antonia Palkovic, and Laura C. Roser, Plant Science | Katharina S. Ullmann, Student Farm

Seminar Description

Many crops with cultural significance to the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community have not been improved for production in the US, resulting in a limited selection of varieties available to farmers, especially those that are adapted to sustainable agricultural systems. In this seminar, we will learn about Asian specialty crops, cultural memory banking, and the history and current context of the AAPI Community in California food and agriculture. We will hear from farmers, chefs, researchers, and farm advisors. We will co-create a culturally responsive participatory breeding process for celtuce and cultural memory banking at the end of the quarter. 

First Guest Speaker

Guest Speaker: Kristyn Leach, Namu Farm (Winters, CA) 

Jan 5, 3:30-4:30 pm PST. It’s open to the public!

Registration: RSVP HERE

Kristyn Leach farms in Winters, CA growing crops significant to the Korean diaspora and broader Asian-American communities. She founded Second Generation Seeds, to focus on Asian crop varieties suitable for agroecological farming systems. She has been recognized by the Berkeley Food Institute as a Food Systems Changemaker, and by the Community Alliance of Family Farms as Ecological Farmer of the Year. Community-centered Plant Breeding: How plants shape culture, and how culture informs plant genetics In this talk, Kristyn will introduce Second Generation Seeds, and their approach to participatory seed work. Through stories, we will illuminate our deep histories and relationships between humans and plants, and how these perspectives can guide our work. 

The seminar is open to the public. Please contact Antonia Palkovic (alpalkovic@ucdavis.edu) or Ga Young Chung (gachung@ucdavis.edu) if you have any questions.