Episode 007: Gardening and the Black Diaspora

We are back with another exciting episode! This time Shana sat down with Christin Riddick. Christin is an urban garden to table educator and DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) native. On his online platform and podcast "Afro Beets" he teaches his audience how to grow food in small spaces, then turn what they grow into culturally inspired dishes. He has been featured on podcasts such as The Edible Activist Podcast on Full Service Radio, been a garden coordinator and District of Columbia of Public Schools (DCPS) educator for 2+ years, and is currently the On-Site Program Manager at the Washington Youth Garden located in the National Arboretum.

During their discussion, Shana talks with Christin about his journey from everything veganism to urban gardening in a big city like Washington D.C. Christin shared some of the challenges he faces growing produce in an urban setting as well as the rewards and sharing them with the community. They dived into how cultural influences have played a role in his gardening techniques. Christin and Shana also talked about how race plays a big role and what he is doing to help bring the BIPOC community back to the land through gardening.

If you would like to learn more about gardening and it’s many benefits check out the Weekly Ingest Newsletter publish on June 29th.

To learn more about Christin's journey, garden tips, and recipes, visit afrobeets.org. You can also follow Afro Beets on Facebook and Instagram.