Eating Plant-Based and Advocating for a Better Food System

Week of March 9, 2024

Mackenzie Feldman and Kathy Feldman will host a discussion about their book Groundbakers, including aspects of a sustainable food system such as soil health, land access, and food justice. Mackenzie, founder and director of Re:wild Your Campus, will also teach a two part workshop on becoming a rewilding advocate in your community and offer a demo of favorite recipes.

Groundbakers: 60+ plant-based comfort food recipes + 16 leaders changing our food system.
Join Mackenzie and Kathy as they discuss their new book, Groundbakers. The two will discuss the inspiration behind the book, the 16 leaders featured who are changing the food system, and all of the aspects of a sustainable food system including soil health, land access, and food justice.

How to Rewild Your Campus, 2 part workshop: Workshop #1: Our Deep-Rooted Dependence on Toxic Pesticides:
Mackenzie Feldman, founder of Re:wild Your Campus will lead us through a brief history of modern pesticides, including the development of glyphosate, as well as the various intersections of pesticides with environmental and social justice, including pesticides as a workers’ rights issue, a women’s health issue, and a system of chemical use that supports existing systems of injustice.

Workshop #2: How to Become a Rewilding Advocate
Mackenzie will discuss how to start an organic, rewilding effort in your community, including how to make institutional policy change, build strong, working relationships with groundskeepers, educate and activate their communities, and recruit a base of passionate people. She will also offer information on the growing network and how to connect with community members and students working on rewilding initiatives across the U.S.

Demo of Favorite Recipes.
Mackenzie and Kathy will also offer a demo of some of their favorite recipes found in Groundbakers.

 

Mackenzie Feldman is an environmental activist from Honolulu, Hawai’i. She is the founder and director of Re:wild Your Campus, an organization that works with students and groundskeepers across the country to eliminate herbicides from school grounds and transition campuses into organic, climate resilient spaces. Her campaign resulted in the entire University of California system going glyphosate-free, and Mackenzie worked with a coalition to get herbicides banned from every public school in the state of Hawai’i. Mackenzie is also the co-author with her mother Kathy of Groundbakers: 60+ Plant-Based Comfort Food Recipes and 16 Leaders Changing the Food System. Their book features well-known food system activists including José Andrés, Alice Waters, and Sean Sherman.

 

Kathy Feldman’s quest for plant-based eating began early on in life. As an animal lover, she stopped eating meat in the 11th grade, and started cooking all of her own food. One book, Diet for a New America, made her even more aware of the problem with our food industry, and how eating a plant-based diet makes a positive impact on our environment. When genetically modified papayas reached the market in Hawaii, Kathy set out to research GMOs, and was shocked to learn that corn and soy seeds are engineered to withstand the spraying of herbicides. In 2016, Kathy and Mackenzie set out to learn more about the food system, visiting 10 farms in Cuba and 20 organic farms in California and Oregon, keeping a blog about their experiences along the way. Since then, the two decided to write this book to share plant-based recipes and highlight some of the inspiring farms and food system leaders they met.

IG: @rewildyourcampus
FB: https://www.facebook.com/rewildyourcampus/
tiktok: @rewildyourcampus
website: https://www.rewildyourcampus.org/

Groundbakers:
IG: @groundbakersbook
website: https://www.groundbakers.com/