2nd Wednesday Lecture – Washieka Torres: Food Sovereignty and Disability

Register

Food sovereignty, access, and disability: what does the future of food sovereignty and food justice mean for people with disabilities?

In this talk, Washieka Torres will speak about the ways in which food sovereignty has implicitly or explicitly excluded people with disabilities and the ways in which we as a community can create a more accessible and equitable food system. Jazmin Martinez of Advocates for Urban Agriculture and Sara Cortés of Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance will host this talk and discussion.

This month’s lecture is brought to you in partnership with Advocates for Urban Agriculture.

Washieka Torres is a disability rights scholar, activist, and documentarian. She is from the South Bronx in New York City and is currently a third-year Ph.D. student in the Disability Studies Program at UIC. She is a documentarian, researcher, and public speaker. Her scholarly area looks at the intersection of food sovereignty and disability. She explores the ways in which society culturally and socioeconomically restricts the representation of disabled people have to be seen as active food shoppers and food makers rather than passive food consumers.

Accommodations: If you have a request for accommodations, please contact Mattie Wilson at mwilson@garfieldpark.org or 773-638-1766 at your earliest convenience. Automated live captioning will be available.

Registration is free. Donations are accepted and appreciated.
Registration ends March 10th 6:00pm CST

The mission of Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) is to empower urban growers to foster thriving communities through sustainable agriculture & equitable food systems. We do this by educating urban agriculture practitioners, endorsing best practices for growing operations, connecting growers/consumers/resources through an active network, & advocating for urban ag policy at all levels.

Jazmin Martinez, AUA Outreach Manager, is a farmer from La Villita/Little Village neighborhood in Chicago and uses They/them pronouns. They are an owner-worker of Catatumbo Cooperative Farm currently located in South Chicago. They have previous experience working in social services providing crisis and trauma-informed support and connecting individuals and families to resources. Additionally, their background involves organizing within the immigrant rights movement. Through their work, they saw a need to create economic opportunities for historically excluded communities and was drawn to urban farming, particularly within a worker-cooperative model. Their work is grounded in reverence for the land and hands that feed and nourish us. They are committed to connecting urban agriculture with broader social justice movements to envision and create other possible worlds.