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 3 - “Only as good as the organizing that accompanies it”: Filmmaking as Food System Solidarity, a Conversation with Raj Patel
Handpicked: Stories from the Field
Season 5 Episode 3 – “Only as good as the organizing that accompanies it”: Filmmaking as Food System Solidarity, a Conversation with Raj Patel Featuring: Raj Patel In this special episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we sit down with renowned author, activist, and filmmaker Raj Patel for an intimate, wide-ranging conversation about food justice, climate change, and solidarity across difference. The discussion takes listeners behind the scenes of his decade-long documentary project The...
info_outline
Season 5, Episode 2 - “Taking power into their own hands ”: Women Leading Food Systems Change in Canada’s North, Ecuador, and Uganda
Handpicked: Stories from the Field
Season 5 Episode 2 - “Taking power into their own hands ”: Women Leading Food Systems Change in Canada’s North, Ecuador, and Uganda Featuring: Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer, Dr. Andrea Brown, and Carla Johnston In this episode of Handpicked: Stories from the Field, we take listeners behind the scenes of a special International Women’s Day panel hosted by the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems. This event brought together women scholars and practitioners working across diverse food systems in Ecuador, Canada’s...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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. ...
info_outlineSeason 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
Support & Funding
SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant (Lauren Kepkiewicz, Marit Rosol, Elizabeth Vibert, Eric Holt-Gimenez, and Charlie Spring)
Music Credits
Keenan Reimer-Watts
Resources
Connect with Us:
Email: Handpickedpodcast@wlu.ca
Facebook: Handpicked Podcast