Under the Arch | S5 Ep. 3: "Growing Food, Building Community" ft. Nick Speed

ArchCity Defenders and Action St. Louis present the premiere collaborative podcast, "Under The Arch." Your hosts Blake Strode, Executive Director of ArchCity Defenders, and Kayla Reed, Director of Action St. Louis, explore the issues facing our community and the people working to transform them. In this episode, Nick Speed, Founder & Executive Director of Ujima, joins us to talk about food apartheid, community engagement with environmental and food justice issues, and how local Black residents are reclaiming food and land. Ujima combats the racialized history of food access in a couple of ways, one of them is urban farming. In recent years, their local community gardeners have grown an increasing amount of fruit and vegetable produce, herbs, and flowers at various sites. Through this, Ujima sparks a connection between people and the food we eat, a connection that racism and scarcity has jeopardized. “Our communities look like this for certain reasons,” Nick says. Hear more about what Nick, Ujima, and St. Louisans are doing to transform the places they call home and the food on our plates in this episode.  Join the conversation around this week's episode using #UnderTheArch and send us your feedback at [email protected]. This week's Music Minute features the song "Purple Cotton Haze" by Whitworth. Stream on your favorite streaming platform.