The Sacred Side of Food with Andrew Hudson of Community Harvest SRQ

NOTE: Since the time of this recording, Community Harvest SRQ has merged with Sunshine Community Compost to form Sunshine Community Harvest.Andrew Hudson is on a mission. An organic gardener and program director for the nonprofit organization Community Harvest SRQ, Andrew wants to connect the people of Sarasota with its local food.Dalia met Andrew through a mutual friend, Chef Steve Phelps of Indigenous Restaurant. Steve describes Andrew as “rebooting the community food system in Sarasota.” So of course I wanted us all to meet him.As Andrew explains in this conversation, he connects restaurants and neighbors to get surplus produce off the field and onto people’s plates. We also dig into Sarasota’s Eat Local Week, food sovereignty and what it means to give communities more control over what they eat. As I learned in this conversation, Andrew is also a Mennonite minister. So he brings a really thoughtful perspective to the sacredness of food and the idea of giving farmland time to rest. He reminds us all that caring for the soil and each other go hand in hand.