Libsyn Directory

Season 5, Episode 1 - “Food as Fertile Ground for Change” Cultivating Community: Food Justice in the Bow Valley and Beyond

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Release Date: 12/02/2025

Season 5, Episode 1 - “Food as Fertile Ground for Change” Cultivating Community: Food Justice in the Bow Valley and Beyond

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Season 5, Episode 1 - “Food as Fertile Ground for Change” Cultivating Community: Food Justice in the Bow Valley and Beyond Featuring: Dr. Lauren Kepkiewicz, Avni Soma, Syma Habib, Jun Cacayuran, Melissa West Morrison, & Dr. Tatenda Mambo In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, our conversation comes from the Bow Valley in Alberta, where a group of organizers, researchers, and community leaders gathered in 2024 to talk about food justice and the everyday work of reshaping food systems. In this episode, Charlie Spring sits down with...

Season 4, Episode 6 - Handpicked Presents: Voicing Change - Team Reflections on Podcasting for Social Change

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Season 4: Episode 6 – Handpicked Presents Voicing Change - Team Reflections on Podcasting for Social Change Featuring: In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we present the last of this season featuring the Voicing Change podcast, in an episode called ‘Team Reflections on Podcasting for Social Change’ in which the whole Voicing Change team got together (virtually!) to reflect on some of the lessons learned in the process of co-developing a methodology for transnational and interdisciplinary podcasting. Responding to the question...

Season 4, Episode 5 – Handpicked Presents: Voicing Change – “Agroecology in Kenya”

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Season 4, Episode 5– Handpicked Presents: Voicing Change – “Agroecology in Kenya” Contributors Co-Producers & Hosts: Olga Awuor, & Featuring: Clark Siaji, Caleb Omolo, Andres Kathunzi In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we present an episode of the Voicing Change Podcast called, ‘Agroecology in Kenya'. Voicing Change team member and radio journalist Olga Millicent Awuor interviews two community leaders in agroecological and permacultural food production in the Migori County area. They consider alternative modes of...

Season 4, Episode 4 - Handpicked Presents: The Voicing Change Podcast - "Agroecology in Canada and Brazil "

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Season 4: Episode 3 – Handpicked Presents: Voicing Change – “Agroecology in Canada and Brazil” Featuring: Dr Andrew Spring, Dr Eve Nimmo, Dr Erin Nelson In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we present an episode of the Voicing Change Podcast called, ‘Agroecology in Canada and Brazil’ in which we hear from three researchers investigating what agroecology means and looks like on the ground. Dr Erin Nelson describes her own discovery of agroecology in Cuba and Ontario and how she realized that it’s about more than just a set of techniques but...

Season 4, Episode 3 - Handpicked Presents: The Voicing Change Podcast - "Forests, Food & People - Part 2"

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Season 4: Episode 3 – Handpicked Presents: Voicing Change - “Forests, Food, and People- Part 2” Featuring: Dr. Eve Nimmo, Dr. Jennifer Baltzer, Dr. Zach Ngalo, and Dr. Andre Lacerda In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we present an episode of the Voicing Change Podcast called, “Forests, Food, and People – Part 2”. This is the second of a two part episode where Voicing Change team member Eve Nimmo interviews three forest researchers in Southern Brazil, Migori County, Kenya, and Northern Canada about relationships between forests, food and...

Season 4, Episode 2 - Handpicked Presents: The Voicing Change Podcast - "Forests, Food, & People- Part 1"

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Season 4: Episode 2 – Handpicked Presents: Voicing Change - “Forests, Food, and People- Part 1” Featuring: Dr. Eve Nimmo, Dr. Jennifer Baltzer, Dr. Zach Ngalo, and Dr. Andre Lacerda In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we present an episode of the Voicing Change Podcast called, “Forests, Food, and People – Part 1”. This is the first of a two part episode where our guests will tell us about relationships between forests, food and people in different places. You’ll hear about the different types of forests that our guests...

Season 4, Episode 1 - Handpicked Presents: The Voicing Change Podcast - "Introducing Voicing Change"

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Season 4: Episode 1 – Handpicked Presents: Voicing Change - “Introducing Voicing Change” Featuring: Dr. Andrew Spring, Dr. Eve Nimmo, Enock Mac'Ouma In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we present an episode of the Voicing Change Podcast called, “Introducing Voicing Change.” This episode introduces the project, "Voicing Change: Co-Creating Knowledge and Capacity for Sustainable Food Systems." The project connects community partners, researchers, and students from three regions—Northwest Territories; Migori County, Kenya; and Southern...

Season 3 Episode 6 - “Will the Pursuit of Limitless Growth Make Us Better Off?: Redefining Progress in the Canadian Food System Policy

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Featuring: Naomi Robert In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we speak with Naomi Robert, a Research & Extension Associate at the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnique University and a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University on her new project called “Beyond GDP: Lessons for Redefining Progress in Canadian Food System Policy”. Naomi discusses the problematic history of GDP as a measure of well-being in our country and how we can move towards measures that more accurately depict the well-being of Canadians. ...

Season 3, Episode 5 - “Resilient Communities for the Future”: A GIAHS Designation for Agroforestry in Brazil"

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Featuring Dr. Evelyn Nimmo In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we sit down with Dr. Evelyn Nimmo, a Research Associate with the LCSFS and the President of the Center for the Development and Education of Traditional Erva-mate Systems (CEDErva) in Paraná, Brazil. Dr. Nimmo shares the ongoing process of applying for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designation for the traditional agroforestry practices of growing erva-mate in Brazil. She shares the community-focused process, and how this...

Season 3, Episode 4 - “Farmer-led Research Helps us Realize That We're Really Innovators”: Improving Ecological Farming Practices and Farm-to-farm Knowledge Sharing with the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario

Handpicked: Stories from the Field

Featuring Dr. Erin Nelson, Dr. Sarah Larsen, Heather Newman, Brent Preston In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, Dr. Erin Nelson from the University of Guelph interviews some of her community partners. She speaks with Dr. Sarah Larsen, Research Director at the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, and two participants in its farmer-led research program, Heather Newman and Brent Preston. The episode covers ecological farming and farmer-led research and shares important examples of what this looks like in the (quite literally) field. ...

More Episodes

Season 5, Episode 1 - “Food as Fertile Ground for Change” Cultivating Community: Food Justice in the Bow Valley and Beyond

Featuring: Dr. Lauren Kepkiewicz, Avni Soma, Syma Habib, Jun Cacayuran, Melissa West Morrison, & Dr. Tatenda Mambo

In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, our conversation comes from the Bow Valley in Alberta, where a group of organizers, researchers, and community leaders gathered in 2024 to talk about food justice and the everyday work of reshaping food systems. In this episode, Charlie Spring sits down with the event’s co-organizers, Dr. Lauren Kepkiewicz and Avni Soma, to look back on what unfolded at their “Cultivating Community” gathering.

The episode brings together stories about community-led food aid, Indigenous food relationships, regenerative agriculture, migrant community organizing, and the emotional power of food to connect and transform. Alongside Lauren and Avni’s reflections, listeners hear short excerpts from the event’s panellists, Syma Habib, Jun Cacayuran, Melissa West Morrison, and Dr. Tatenda Mambo, whose perspectives and insights bring important nuance to the conversation.

Rather than framing food systems as problems to “fix,” the episode leans into questions of relationship, responsibility, and the slow, often messy work of imagining something better together. It’s a thoughtful, grounded start to the season, and an invitation to consider what food justice looks like in our own communities.

Contributors

Co-Producers & Hosts: Dr. Laine Young & Dr. Charlie Spring

Sound Design & Editing: Laine Young

Guests

Dr. Lauren Kepkiewicz

Avni Soma

Syma Habib

Jun Cacayuran

Melissa West Morrison

Dr. Tatenda Mambo

Support & Funding

SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant (Lauren Kepkiewicz, Marit Rosol, Elizabeth Vibert, Eric Holt-Gimenez, and Charlie Spring)