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Seeds That We Keep: Grounding Seedkeeping Praxis for Growing Black Food Futures in the Mid-Atlantic

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dc.contributor.authorMadden, Justice Makynzeeen
dc.contributor.committeechairNiewolny, Kimberly Leeen
dc.contributor.committeememberArchibald, Thomas Greigen
dc.contributor.committeememberBaldwin, Andrea N.en
dc.contributor.departmentAgricultural, Leadership, and Community Educationen
dc.date.accessioned2024-12-04T09:00:36Zen
dc.date.available2024-12-04T09:00:36Zen
dc.date.issued2024-12-03en
dc.description.abstractReform within food justice initiatives calls for emergent strategies and practices that align with pursuits of justice, health equity, ecological sustainability, and collective social change. Examining historical and contemporary Black geographies of the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States offers valuable lessons on what grows and thrives in opposition to plantation logic. As both material and immaterial representations of the genesis of life, seeds serve as catalysts for understanding stories of praxis, where seedkeeping traditions and contemporary experiences radically reimagine and contest the imposition of colonial legacies. Theoretically grounded in Black feminist futurities, this research illuminated the relationship between radical tradition and radical imagination to understand the complex landscapes of Black liberation through stories of past, present, and future relationships to seeds. The everyday stories from Black seedkeepers articulate visions for equitable food systems and provide specific insights into how a seedkeeping praxis manifests and forms of community cultural wealth and self-determination that challenge the ongoing commodification of seeds. Focusing on the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. where these geographies are deeply shaped by colonial sites with legacies of slavery, land theft, and a genesis of American agriculture that created the foundation for global capitalism, this project delved into the narratives of 17 Black seedkeepers from. By engaging with seedkeepers' memories and motivations this inquiry also lays the foundation for understanding how narratives articulate collective hopes for food sovereignty through seeds.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralSeeds hold the memories, stories, and imaginations of individuals that provide insight on the limitless potential to change. The idea of seedkeepers, as one word, combines the practice of saving seeds with the intention of growing them for the next harvest as well as the process of sharing the stories with these exchanges. This study explored he stories of Black seedkeepers in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., focusing on the Mid-Atlantic region, a geography deeply shaped by colonial legacies of slavery, land theft, and agricultural practices foundational contemporary systems of extraction. Through in-depth narrative inquiry interviews with 17 Black seedkeepers, this research uncovers intergenerational knowledge exchange and seed-sharing practices that envision more just, equitable, and cooperative food futures. Grounded in Black feminist futurities and radical imagination, this study provides a whole-systems perspective on the complex landscapes of Black liberation through past, present, and future connections to seeds. Using narrative inquiry as a methodology, the researcher delved into the lived experiences and perceptions of these seedkeepers. Their stories revealed how seedkeeping practices can serve as learning spaces that cultivates new understandings and stories about invigorating new forms of social action, and nurture imaginaries that challenge how we grow and exchange seed, food and more.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Science in Life Sciencesen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:41478en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10919/123733en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/en
dc.subjectBlack futuresen
dc.subjectBlack radical imaginationen
dc.subjectBlack seedkeepingen
dc.subjectBlack geographiesen
dc.subjectBlack ecologiesen
dc.subjectseed sovereigntyen
dc.subjectself-relianceen
dc.subjectnarrative inquiryen
dc.subjectpraxisen
dc.titleSeeds That We Keep: Grounding Seedkeeping Praxis for Growing Black Food Futures in the Mid-Atlanticen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineAgricultural and Extension Educationen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science in Life Sciencesen

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