A hunger that is only satiated when the world is more full, abundant and well.

Today I’m thinking about Nikolai Vavilov’s legacy, a Russian botanist and seed keeper who built one of the first modern seed banks in the early 20th century. During the Siege of Leningrad under Joseph Stalin’s regime, scientists at his institute were targeted and they barricaded themselves in to protect years of seed records. Nine of these scientists starved to death surrounded by the edible seed stores they refused to consume, believing them to be the treasure of the past and a promise of the future. 1 Those seeds survived.

Truth is, across the world beloved seed keepers, farmers, and scientists work to protect the bellies of the future, often in the face of forces that narrow, extract, and erase.

At the collage table today, we’re sharing a few brilliant names within the lineage of seed stewardship ~ beloveds whose work affirms biodiversity and protecting the plant-based knowledge systems that have evolved alongside generations of farmers, Indigenous peoples, and communities.

Linked below are places where you can learn more about their life work as well as a few images from my archive and years of land-race seed study. Please use for your creative pleasures.

Lastly, as you explore I leave you with this question:

What in your life feels like it is meant to be fiercely preserved, rather than consumed?

Debal Deb → ecological + political

Indian agroecologist, Debal Deb has conserved over a thousand indigenous rice varieties, many nearly lost to industrial farming. Rooted in the belief that biodiversity lives in farmers’ fields, not laboratories, he built a living seed archive from varieties shaped by place, culture, and climate.

“…a kind of commitment I must have as a concerned citizen and a knowledgeable person to commit to conserving this for the future of agriculture and the future of the farmers. It’s my duty. It’s my life’s call.”

Rowen White → relationship + kinship + responsibility

Mohawk (Kanien’kehá:ka) seed keeper and educator, Rowen White protects seeds as living relatives, carriers of story, language, and responsibility. Through her work, she restores seed sovereignty and the relationships that sustain it, insisting that seeds are not resources to be owned, but beings to companion and collaborate with.

“Whereas in my world view, and in many of our Indigenous world views, these seeds are our relatives. We are direct lineal descendants of these seeds and foods, so it’s our responsibility to care for them and protect them.”

Dr. Vandana Shiva → systemic + functionally philosophical

Indian environmental activist, Dr. Vandana Shiva has spent decades defending seed freedom against corporate control. Through Navdanya, she has protected biodiversity and farmers’ rights, arguing that saving seeds is both ecological practice and political resistance.

“A single, one-dimensional way of thinking has created a monoculture of the mind. And the monoculture of the mind has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is the root of why we have pitted equity against ecology and sustainability against justice.”

Short, quippy phrases - sometimes clever, often downright annoying. If you’re young and learning (which we always are), you’re sure to hear one or two following you like a haunting. And yet, over time, proverbs can become comforting in their mysterious wisdom. A bit like a puzzle or a riddle, they arrive in our lives and can slowly reveal their depth and meaning.

Some proverbs accompany us into our sacred kitchens, our tables, and our beloved community spaces. They become an intimate language between us and the people we feed and love. These proverbs become wisdom that sit beside us, as useful as any other kitchen tool.

Now that said, you do know — “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Meaning, you can’t listen to them all at once.

And - “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” You can’t always take proverbs at face value. Discernment is still essential. We are meant to play and practice with these half-baked lessons.

Because, in truth, I never felt that proverbs were enough guidance. They are not a step-by-step guide though the tone one usually recites them in would beg to differ. It wasn’t until I began experimenting with them — treating a proverb like one ingredient in a grand recipe — that I learned their value.

This week I have been exploring my own kitchen proverbs — ones that come to me as I cook and that teach me a little about how to live well in my everyday life, both in and outside of the kitchen.

One proverb that came to me was:
“Sometimes you have to chew through the bone to get to the marrow.”

So, what does that mean? Because chewing bones was not a practice I had learned at home, but one I used to watch happening out of the corner of my eye when sitting at public school lunch tables on fried chicken Fridays. At the end of these meals some kids’ plates would be completely clear, while mine still sat with bone and tendon.

I later learned the nutritional and comforting value of bone marrow. It is the marrow that that gives you that flavor and that warm, cozy feel good moment you get when you tip your chicken soup bowl to your lips and let the broth slide down. Those long-simmered bones - they release gelatin from collagen, amino acids, and trace minerals, quietly enriching the pot and in turn nourishing our own bones and blood.

From this reflection came a second proverb (sort-of):
“Making things tender, because I refuse to dull my gold teeth.”

Sometimes you have to work through what is tough to reach a nourishing reward. And other times - you have to soften your labor rather than break yourself against it.

When I was a kid, watching young boys chew bones, I used to think, wow, these kids… hungry. And in truth, given the environment, there was probably some validity to that assumption. But hunger isn’t the star of this story - that bodily wisdom they had is.

And from this place of non-judgement comes another proverb.

From the very jovial chef at one of my first corporate food jobs:
“You can’t bark at someone else’s bite.”

A simple phrase, said just once from the mouth of a smiling chef at the back table of his hidden gem spot in Chinatown, now lives as a tenet in the way I teach food justice.

Don’t judge people for what they eat.
Don’t assume that you know better than them about food.
Don’t police people’s way of eating.

Respect cultures. Respect preferences. Understand food choices are inspired by much more than what we may see on the surface (food.is.deeply.political). If we want to make any meaningful change in our food systems, we need to ask good questions. Listen. Collaborate. “A mouth can’t chew and chatter at the same time.”

The movements and languages of our kitchens are rich reflections of our everyday lives and the many ways we intentionally and unintentionally practice being together.

This week, in my play with proverbs, I chose not only to think about them but to cut and shape them in digital collages.

I’m sharing some of my inspiration images here. These are all from my personal photo archive. You’re invited to take a look and you’re also welcome to use them in collages or other artistic works. I’d love to see or hear what you come up with.

A short prompt to get your creative juices flowing:

• What proverb has your kitchen or culinary inspirations taught you?

• What wisdom have you gathered from cooking or feeding others?

Additional Resources for Creative Inspo:

“Black Foodways and Cuisine.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 6 Nov. 2023, https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/black-foodways-and-cuisine

Leslau, Charlotte . “African Proverbs. : Leslau, Charlotte. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” Internet Archive, Peter Pauper Press, 1962, archive.org/details/africanproverbs1962lesl/page/46/mode/2up?q=eat. Contributor University of Connecticut Libraries.

Smith, Willam George. “The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs : William George Smith : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” Internet Archive, 1849, archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.227228/page/n43/mode/2up.