Saturday, April 13, 2013

SeedBroadcast at Feast on the Street

SeedBroadcast was invited to participate in Feast on the Street, on April 13, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona. Initiated by ASU Art Museum, Roosevelt Row CDC, and the artists Clare Patey and Matthew Moore, the Feast in Phoenix is a transplanted work by Clare Patey, Feast on the Bridge in London.

SeedBroadcast Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station open for everyone to explore.

Feast was promoted to encourage a collaborative community engagement bringing people, public space, and local food together for a mass celebration. We attended the event with the false belief that the actual feast held on a mile long banquet table would be free: a shared community dinner for everyone who attended. We are not sure where this thinking came from, probably from our own stubborn dream that working together and sharing the wealth of sustenance is actually another form of persistent creative production and another form of exploratory economy. But, we were only partially wrong.


Feast'ers eat dinner and socialize along a mile long banquet table.

Feast'ers provided their own solutions, bringing picnics and meeting up with friends and strangers. Sure, there were also local food trucks with an amazing array of dishes to purchase, but this seems besides the point.

Opening ceremonies: giant salad toss and vegetable trampoline

Something else more powerful was lurking in the spectacle at large.....community organizing, knowledge sharing, problem solving, and creative action! We met an amazing and diverse group of individuals who shared seed stories with us, used the SeedBroadcast resources, swapped seeds, and talked about their desires for a prosperous, local, foodshed. Among the Feast'ers, were an inspiring number of kids, of all ages....taking seeds home and talking about planting gardens and sharing food. SPROUTS, RHIZOMES, and POLLINATORS!

We met folks with GMO Free Arizona, who were sharing information about GMO's and people's right to fight against the corporate stranglehold on food and agri-culture. Valley Permaculture Alliance ambassador, Sarah Grumbley, shared the Seed Lending Library which is free and open to the public. We were also blessed to meet Tonatierra founder and coordinator Tupac Enrique, who shared a very important seed story...coming soon! Tonatierra's mission is:
To create and sustain a Cultural Embassy of the Indigenous Peoples
That will support local-global and holistic indigenous community development initiatives in education, culture, and economic development in accord with the principles of Community Ecology and Self-Determination.

Art and Ecology - Creating Change students assist with SeedBroadcasting

A very special shout out to all the students from University of New Mexico, Art and Ecology,  who became collaborative SeedBroadcasters for the afternoon of the Feast. They shared seeds with people, helped folks use Broadcast Station resources, and also assisted with Seed Story recordings.
Thank you! We greatly enjoyed your partnership during the Feast!

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