May 2025 Food Literacy Podcast Notes

May is here in Chicago with the typical temperature swings. We had temperatures ranging between 80 and 90 degrees for a couple of days last week, and now, as I write and put the podcast together on May 20th, it is 53 degrees with a blustery wind. The keyword in this era of climate instability is unpredictable.

Rather than being redundant, I invite you to visit the Roots Watering Hole and Chicago Grows Food websites for more information. The Collard Project inspired our African Diaspora Crop project, which has distributed hundreds of seeds to local urban farmers, as well as home and community gardeners. The seeds are various collard, kale, okra, beans, peas, and peppers from the Diaspora. Seed companies we have sourced from include Sistah Seeds, Truelove Seeds, Ujamaa Seeds, Southern Exposure, and The Seedstead. Here is some recently discovered information about seeds and crops from the African Diaspora, Oro House, The Local Palate, and Yisrael Family Farms.

Also see: The Heirloom Collard Project, and the NPR report on collard seed saving.

More in the upcoming months on the dangers of ultraprocessed foods and nutrition and wellness information.

Contact: orrinw@uic.edu

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, the CPHP, the CUT, or the RWH podcast series. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is about food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.