Staple Crop Cohort Community Conversations: Community Collaborations

As farmers, we can easily get pulled in many directions. Collaborations can provide fantastic opportunities to help overcome common challenges in crop production but they also require skill and intention to pull off successfully. In this conversation we welcome Alita Kelly of Jade Rabbit and Halee Curtis, community organizer and conflict resolution specialist, to share practical tools and strategies that will help you navigate current and future collaborations with hope and without headaches.

You'll leave with:
-A partner planning checklist
-Strategies to keep roles clear and aligned
-Ways to say “yes” or “no” confidently

Speakers:
Alita Kelly (she/her), Jade Rabbit was founded by the organization’s lead strategist, Alita Kelly. Alita is a serial entrepreneur and local leader in West Michigan having helped launch several food and farming based initiatives in the area. Those projects include South East Market, a sustainable + equitably focused grocery store launched in late 2020 and the West Michigan Chapter of Young Farmers, a non-profit rooted in land justice and support for new, young, and future farmers. Alita has worked on local and national policy campaigns around sustainable agriculture. When Alita isn’t working she enjoys spending her free time with her two daughters, daydreaming, traveling, restoring a 10 acre apple orchard, and spending time with her big family rich in elders.

Halee Curtis (they/them) is a community organizer, circle keeper, conflict resolution specialist, and educator rooted in restorative and transformative justice practices. Their work is guided by a framework of radical care, anti-racism, and transnational feminism. With a background from refugee resettlements in East Africa to healing circles in community centers around the Midwest, Halee has extensive experience creating resilient community support structures and holding healing circles across diverse global contexts. They now bring these skills home to strengthen local communities and foster collaborative, and healing-centered spaces.

This webinar is part of a five-part series focused on the food crops that sustain us, connect us to our heritage and help us adapt to changing climates and food systems. Watch them all at michaelfields.org/staplecrops

What are Staple Crops? We describe staple crops to include foods that people eat regularly and that provide most of their energy and nutrients, like shelf-stable beans, grains, pulses, and more.

About Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI)
MFAI is a non-profit organization that has been cultivating resiliency through research, education, and policy work since 1984. With a broad coalition of public and private partners, The Institute supports farmers, food systems and communities in the Upper Midwest and beyond through a range of programs and initiatives. We believe agriculture can sustain both human and ecosystem health, while advancing food security, independence, and justice. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook for news and events.

About Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS)
MIFFS is a statewide nonprofit with a mission to connect beginning and small-scale, diversified farmers, including farmers who underutilize support programs, to each other and resource opportunities to ensure resilient, healthy, vibrant, and viable local food systems.

About Fondy Food Center
The Fondy Food Center cultivates wellness in the Lindsay Heights and Amani neighborhoods and the Greater Milwaukee Area by focusing on issues of healthy food access and economic opportunity. We operate local farmers markets throughout the year, provide access to land, resources and support to local farmers, and work with partners to build a better food system for our community.

About Fresher Together
Fresher Together is a Black and LGBTQ+ owned and led food and farming collaboration dedicated to serving the people in our community with local nourishing foods and restorative spaces for healing, economic development, training and retreat.