Episode 236: Farmland, Freedom, and Community with Providence Farm Collective
About the Podcast
In this episode, Clancy speaks with Kristin Heltman-Weiss, Executive Director, and Hamadi Ali, Deputy Director of Providence Farm Collective in Western New York. Together, they share the story behind a grassroots farming collective that emerged from the lived experiences of refugee and immigrant communities seeking land, food sovereignty, and dignity.
About Kristin Heltman-Weiss & Hamadi Ali
Kristin Heltman-Weiss is the Executive Director and a founding leader of Providence Farm Collective, where she collaborates with farmers and community members to establish long-term nutritional security through access to farmland and shared governance.
Hamadi Ali is the Deputy Director of Providence Farm Collective and a longtime leader within the Somali Bantu community. His work is deeply informed by personal experience as a refugee, farmer, and advocate for food sovereignty, cultural relevance, and community empowerment.
Discussion Takeaways
- Providence Farm Collective grew out of the Somali Bantu community’s long history of farming, self-sufficiency, and resistance to dependence on food aid.
- The desire to grow familiar, recognizable food was never about rejecting help; it was about dignity.
- Being able to grow your own food means knowing what you eat, how it was grown, and reclaiming control over your health and daily life.
- Access to land proved to be one of the greatest barriers.
- Food is power when people control how and where their food is grown. Having seed and land means having life because food sovereignty is inseparable from health, freedom, and self-worth.
- Food dignity also means cultural relevance, where we eat things that we are comfortable eating and things that we know.
- In addition, food dignity is a system that balances the community and farmers, and there shouldn't be one at the sacrifice of the other.
#1 tip to improve access to healthy food
Food dignity is a system that balances the community and farmers, and there shouldn't be one at the sacrifice of the other.
Each week on the Food Dignity® Podcast, the Food Dignity® Movement's Clancy Harrison hosts a wide variety of hunger experts and other people making changes on the frontlines. Join us as we dive deep into conversations that will change the way you think about food insecurity.
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