Hi Everyone,

Spring is finally peaking out from the clouds and blessing us with a little warmth and sunshine. My garden is probably a good month behind where it usually is by this time of year, but I will forge ahead and trust that it will all come together as it is meant to be! The soil is beautiful, as I fed it with wheelbarrows full of compost, filled with worms! I’m still in need a a few good interns, looking for opportunities to learn about organic gardening and healthy cooking. If you know anyone, please send them my way!

As many of you know, our USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which advises the National Organic Program (NOP) has been infiltrated over the years with big corporations pushing for leniency in our organic standards, and lack of transparency. As a result, vegetables grown hydroponically, animals raised in CAFO’s (Confined Animal Feeding Operations), and ingredients like Carrageenan, have made there way into our organic food supply. Luckily, there are many dedicated organic farmers and soil science experts from around the country, who have come together to push back and create the Real Organic Project.  They believe, as I do, that crops need to be grown in soil to be considered organic. They also believe livestock needs to be raised on pasture-based systems, which is fundamental to organic farming. Currently, that is not the case. The goal of the Real Organic Project is to raise public awareness and participation in the “real organic movement” and to support the principle of “feed the soil, not the plant”. They will work to establish an add-on label to the USDA organic label. This wrap-around label will prohibit hydroponic and CAFO production, instead requiring practices that maintain and improve the health of the soil. When you by a product with this add on label, you can be confident of the practices that farm and farmer use. To learn more about The Real Organic Project and to support their work, please go to their website.

My guest this week on the Progressive Radio Network is Gabriela Álvarez, the chef and founder of Liberation Cuisine. Gabriela began cooking after studying public health in academia for several years. The kitchen became her way to tackle inequalities in the food system, while maintaining a focus on individual agency. Her own relationship with food has served as a declaration of self-worthiness in a world that diminishes brown bodies, as well as a point of connection to her Puerto Rican ancestry. Her menus are an exploration of her own identities and a reflection of the communities and collectives with whom she collaborates.

Chef Gabriela Álvarez cooks in spaces of self-determination, healing, community celebration, and cultural preservation. In 2014 she founded Liberation Cuisine with the intention of nourishing movements for social change with sustainable ingredients and practices. She has cooked for Soul Fire Farm’s Black and Latinx Farmer Immersion Programs, as well as Harriet’s Apothecary Healing Villages, Bedstuy Pride, and Race Forward’s Racial Justice Trainings. Gabriela is known to co-create food experiences with other artists, healers, activists and chefs. Gabriela teaches cooking classes dedicated to food as resiliency and honoring traditional food preparations. I’m very excited to have Gabriela join me on the Progressive Radio Network, to talk with us about her work, and the projects she has coming up. Please join me!

Remember, my show is recorded live, every Thursday, from 10-11 am, EST.  To tune in, navigate to PRN.fm and click the “Listen Live” button on the left.

PRN has a new app! Just download the app from your phone app store, and take the station with you wherever you go! You’ll be able to listen live or access the archives, all from the app! If you want to call in during the show with any questions for me or my guest, the call in number is 888-874-4888.

If you missed the show, you can listen to it in the PRN archives, or through the PRN app. Of course you can also access the shows through my website.

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With love and gratitude,

Bhavani