Black Food: Liberation, Food Justice and Stewardship | Karen Washington & Bryant Terry

Black Food: Liberation, Food Justice and Stewardship | Karen Washington & Bryant Terry

Author: Bioneers February 18, 2026 Duration: 29:15
The influences of Africans and Black Americans on food and agriculture is rooted in ancestral African knowledge and traditions of shared labor, worker co-ops and botanical polycultures.  In this episode, we hear from Karen Washington and Bryant Terry on how Black Food culture is weaving the threads of a rich African agricultural heritage with the liberation of economics from an extractive corporate food oligarchy. The results can be health, conviviality, community wealth, and the power of self-determination. Featuring ⁠Karen Washington⁠, co-owner/farmer of ⁠Rise & Root Farm⁠, has been a legendary activist in the community gardening movement since 1985. Renowned for turning empty Bronx lots into verdant spaces, Karen is: a former President of the NYC Community Garden Coalition; a board member of: the NY Botanical Gardens, Why Hunger, and NYC Farm School; a co-founder of Black Urban Growers (BUGS); and a pioneering force in establishing urban farmers’ markets. ⁠Bryant Terry⁠ is the Chef-in-Residence of MOAD, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, and an award-winning author of a number of books that reimagine soul food and African cuisine within a vegan context. His latest book is ⁠Black Food: Stories, Art and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora⁠.  Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Kenny Ausubel and Arty Mangan Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Production Assistance: Monica Lopez Additional music: ⁠Ketsa⁠ Resources ⁠The Farmer and the Chef: A Conversation Between Two Black Food Justice Activists⁠ ⁠Karen Washington – 911 Our Food System Is Not Working⁠ ⁠Working Against Racism in the Food System⁠ ⁠Black Food: An Interview with Chef Bryant Terry⁠ ⁠The Food Web Newsletter⁠ This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the ⁠radio and podcast homepage⁠ to learn more.

There's a quiet revolution unfolding, one that draws its most profound ideas not from boardrooms or labs alone, but from the living world itself. Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature gives voice to that movement, presenting conversations that feel both urgent and deeply grounded. This award-winning podcast, curated by Bioneers, acts as a gathering place for some of the most compelling social and scientific thinkers of our era. Each episode explores how the genius of natural systems can inform our approach to modern crises. You’ll hear detailed discussions on topics ranging from practical biomimicry and ecological design to the interconnected realms of social justice, indigenous wisdom, and restorative psychology. The series refuses to silo these subjects, instead weaving them into a coherent vision for transformation. What emerges is a kaleidoscopic view of solutions that are as much about healing our communities as they are about restoring the planet. Tuning in, you encounter a rare depth of perspective, where the separation between ecological and social health dissolves. It’s a space where leading-edge ideas feel less like abstract concepts and more like a viable path forward, all explored through genuine dialogue and a celebration of human ingenuity working in concert with nature’s intelligence. This is a podcast for those looking to move beyond the headlines and into the heart of what it means to build a truly regenerative future.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature
Podcast Episodes
Shamans and Scientists: Changing the Landscape of Power [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:15
As we hurtle into the Sixth Age of Extinctions, we face the cataclysmic loss of half the world’s biological diversity. 80% of the remaining biodiversity is on Indigenous lands. Ethnobotanist and Indigenous rights advocat…
Whale Whisperers: Making Deep Contact [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:15
In the late 20th century, a handful of scientists proved that aquatic mammals have advanced communication capabilities and a consciousness strikingly similar to humans. Author and adventurer James Nestor leads us on a de…
Wild Pharmacies: How Animals Heal Themselves [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:19
Humans have harnessed many plants, fungi, and even animals, for our medicines. But we aren’t the only species that can do this. From chimpanzees to dolphins to geese, a striking range of animals use remedies that grow na…
Breaking the Male Code: The Tyranny of Masculinity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:05
To transform our culture from its focus on dominance and hierarchy to one of connection, empathy and collaboration, it’s vital that we re-envision the essential (or archetypal) masculine, which changes everything. This r…
Saving Democracy Means Ending Extreme Inequality [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:17
Labor organizer Saru Jayaraman makes a clarion call to action: support workers across the United States who are saying there’s always been an affordability crisis and are asking politicians what has democracy done for me…
Patriarchy: Thousands of Years Old But Only a Few Days Deep [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
What will it take to begin to heal the deep wounds between women and men? What is the role of men in this transformation? Cynthia Brix and Will Keepin from ⁠Gender Reconciliation International⁠ say that only by bringing…
Nature’s Phoenix: Fire As Medicine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
Contemporary Western fire science is integrating what Indigenous Peoples discovered over thousands of years of observation, and trial and error: fire is key to optimizing forest vitality and biodiversity. The merging of…
3-D Ocean Farming: Making a Living on a Living Planet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:15
What if there are ways to sustainably harvest protein and nutritious vegetables from the seas in ways that restore coastlines, local economies, produces abundant food, and sequesters vast amounts of carbon dioxide? Pathf…
Challenging American Patriarchy at Its Roots [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:15
Sociologist, storyteller, and best-selling author Anna Malaika Tubbs calls for dismantling the key system that has determined who actually gets to be considered human in the United States: The American patriarchy. She sa…