Elise's Video Story Project
Growing and Food Traditions
In Natasha Bowen's book, The Color of Food I learned about agricultural traditions in communities of color that have been passed down through generations. One story that particularly struck my attention was a portrait of agriculturalist Don Bustos. Don Bustos runs a farm in New Mexico where he practices Acequia agriculture and uses his farm as a tool to mentor other people that are interested in starting their own farms. In the portrait Bustos talks about how in the Acequia culture they plant with the moon cycles to use the moon's energy to help their plants grow. For me, growing up as a granddaughter of a farmer and working on a CSA farm as a young adult, I have gathered a little bit of experience in agriculture and farming, but the idea of farming that I knew was always working in the daylight. Bustos also talked about how he knows when it is time to plant, "My mom would always tell me 'always plant when the snow melts over there in the Chacoma, if you plant before that day it will freeze mi'jito.' So we always look at the mountains, the trees, the environment and how that will impact when you plant and what you grow that season." (97) I found it interesting to learn about different traditions farmers and gardeners have so I took this project to learn more about traditions in local communities. While I didn't find many videos about agricultural traditions right now I did find other traditions related to food and growing that brought interesting incites.
In this clip Tim Page talks about connections between communities in the foods they eat and grow.
Here Laverne Henderson talks about how she learned to cook an about home remedies that she learned from her mother.
In the next video Carolyn talks about how how she has grown up eating greens. Now, as an adult Carolyn has formed some of her own traditions of ways to prepare greens and is passing on the traditions to younger generations.
In this last video Vivian Mims talks about the tradition that she carries on with her family. She makes sure that nothing goes to waste and that friends and family stay in good health.
After hearing from a few Frogtown and Rondo community members I hope you reflect on some of your own traditions. What traditions have you learned from your elders? What traditions have you started yourself and what traditions will you carry on to younger generations?
