Poetry, Food, and Archives | knead 2 know feat. Kavya Jain '25

“Peanut Butter” by Eileen Myles

Kavya Jain '25 presenting her knead 2 know

Song Writing Collective Member singing

Barley and Yale Hops brew heating up

Song Writing Collective Member singing

Here at the Yale Sustainable Food Program, we like to think we go against the grain — but sometimes, that means working with the grain. On Friday, October 6, students started on a batch of Yale Ale using malted barley and hops from the Old Acre. If all goes according to plan, the mixture will ferment into a delicious brew over the next few weeks (by the time you’re reading this, spoiler alert: it did). While some students stirred the pot inside the propagation house, others sowed heirloom wheat and rye seeds in the fields. The rye will be harvested next July as part of the Yale Summer Session course “Rye: Cultural History and Embodied Practice” (co-taught by farm manager Jeremy Oldfield and Maria Trumpler).

Students then washed their hands and turned their attention to a different carbohydrate: pizza. While they enjoyed the delicious pies topped with apples, eggplant, and everything in between, they listened to a fascinating presentation by Global Food Fellow Kavya Jain '25.

Jain’s fellowship was inspired by a project for the class “Poets and their Papers.” While exploring the archives of poet Mei-mei Berssenbrugge in the Beinecke Library, Jain found an exhibition guide from the painter Georgia O’Keeffe. Jain learned that Berssenbrugge was a friend of O’Keeffe’s and regularly shared meals with her. She set out to explore how meals function as a site of poetic imagination, traveling to rural New Mexico to interview Berssenbrugge directly.

The initial conversation with Berssenbrugge was disappointing for Jain. The poet expressed hostility toward Jain’s project, failing to see the connection between food and art. In many of her papers, too, Berssenbrugge implies that the two are in conflict, expressing anxiety over her body and suggesting that devoting effort to food takes energy away from writing. 

Although Jain found the interview difficult, her further work helped her make sense of the conversation. After reading the book Women, The New York School, and Other True Abstractions and talking with New Mexican poet and farmer Mallika Singh, Jain saw how gender and generation might have shaped her and Berssenbrugge’s relationship with food in different ways. 

As the summer progressed, Jain also started to reframe her research question. She held a Zoom call with a member of the Red Flower Collective, an art and research collective that explores queer and diasporic identities through home cooking. The conversation led her to ask not only how food exists in poetry archives, but also how poetics might serve to archive food practices. Upon returning to New Haven, she hosted her own archive-making meal, asking friends to respond to the poem “Peanut Butter” by Eileen Myles and to reinterpret the evening’s menu in a way that aspired to abstraction, not perfection. 

Jain ended the presentation with an exhortation to “eat, read poems, and keep your papers” — useful reminders for us all. Fittingly, we had the Yale Song Writing Collective have their members perform original songs while we continued to think about poetry and eat pizza. We thank Jain for her insightful presentation and everyone who gathered on the Farm to hear it. Photos of the workday and knead 2 know by Reese Neal '25 are available here. 

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, November 4

The last pizza workday of the semester was a warm and sunny one. The atmosphere on the Farm was ebullient as students rounded out old harvests and prepared for new crops to come. Students were grateful for the sunshine as they harvested and sprayed 20 pounds of carrots for the Dwight Community Fridge, misting themselves in the process. After many weeks of garland-making, workday participants harvested all the marigolds they could to make a final round of summery decor. Preparing for garlic was a multi-stage process, with some students breaking up softneck garlic bulbs while the rest used scuffle hoes to prepare the fields. They all gathered to plant the hundreds of cloves, each of which will grow into a full-fledged bulb of its own. They also delighted in threshing and winnowing our Midnight Black Turtle beans. Some students tossed the pods in pillow cases, beating them against the ground in order to remove the beans from their husks. But many took the more meditative route, separating the beans by hand, and the hoop house was full of the sound of pods cracking and beans cascading into buckets. The beans will be used in this week’s Fall Feast—a partnership with the Native American Cultural Center—while the husks will end up as dry matter for the compost. Other students helped pick hot peppers, resulting in many tests of spice tolerance—tempered by spoonfuls of ricotta donated by the Culinary Events Team. 

Hot peppers weren’t the only things eaten, as participants gathered for pizza in the Lazarus Pavilion. This week’s knead 2 know was delivered by Camilla Ledezma ’23.5, a Culinary Events Manager and 2021 Global Food Fellow who spent her summer in Spain. Her presentation focused on the role of non-human animals and animality in the Spanish colonial project. She described how Spanish colonists believed in a humoral theory of health, in which the body contained a mixture of four humors, each tied to a respective temperament: blood (sanguine), phlegm (phlegmatic), black bile (melancholic), and yellow bile (choleric). Food played a role in balancing these humors—beef and pork, for example, were sanguine, while fish was phlegmatic. Upon arriving in what is now called the Americas, Spanish colonists were concerned that eating Indigenous foods would affect their humors, making them more like Indigenous people. In the colonial imagination, Indigenous people were seen as animal-like, in part because of their different foodways and agricultural practices. For example, the land was supposedly insufficiently developed, at least until the arrival of European cows wreaked havoc on the environment in an “ungulate eruption.” Ledezma also reflected on the ways in which Indigenous people resisted the imposition of colonial foodways. She noted that high rates of lactose intolerance among Native peoples can be read as the body resisting the forced introduction of beef and dairy.

After a round of questions about Ledezma’s thought-provoking presentation, students enjoyed the last Farm-fresh pizzas of the semester. Next week from 3:00 to 5:00 PM at the Native American Cultural Center, the Farm will co-host its annual Fall Feast, a celebration of Indigenous foodways. Thank you to everyone who has joined us on the fields and under the Lazarus Pavilion this semester. Photos from the event can be found here.

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, October 28

On Friday, October 28th, students kicked off Halloweekend with a workday and knead 2 now. There was nothing spooky about the workday, though, as students braved the fall chill and got to work preparing the Farm for winter. The workday was heavily garlic themed— students clipped garlic heads and broke them into cloves. Students also sowed garlic beds, laying cloves on top of beds and tucking them into the soil. 

Students threshed midnight turtle beans, which will be used to make a Three Sisters chili at our upcoming Fall Feast on Friday, November 11. 

Students also spruced up the chicken coop with some plants and pulled basil plants for compost, which made the Old Acre smell like one giant margherita pizza. 

And there was pizza, and plenty of it, as the Culinary Events Team churned out its usual stellar selection of pies. 

With cider, tea, and pizza in hand, students gathered to hear Ismini Ethridge, a second-year Masters of Environmental Management student at Yale School of the Environment, Agroforester-in-Residence, and 2022 Global Food Fellow, give her knead 2 now. Ismini presented her summer research on Tree Gardens in the buffer zone of the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka. 

When Ethridge arrived in Sri Lanka, the country was in crisis. The previous year, the president passed a total ban on fertilizer and agrochemical imports, without consulting farmers about the decision. Ethridge visited Sri Lanka at a moment of national reckoning about the country’s economic and agricultural future. Ethridge visited the last remaining primary forest in Sri Lanka, and immersed herself in a village of 35 households, learning how tree gardens can be used for tea production, non-timber products, herbal medicine, and maintenance of biodiversity. Ethridge talked about a groundbreaking research paper published by Cindy Caron thirty years prior. Visiting Sri Lanka this summer, after the area had greatly improved its infrastructure and increased its emphasis on tea production, Ethridge could see how the landscape of agroforestry in the area had since changed. Ethridge was inspired by how increased tea production did not encroach upon the subsistence portion of the village’s agriculture; villagers were able to retain agency in the market. Ethridge was also impressed by the generational knowledge imparted to village children about the varieties and uses of plants. She also talked about her strategies for cultural immersion. She spoke about how she waited weeks to begin her research and spent the beginning of her time in Sri Lanka meeting the community. 

After the k2k, students stuck around the Lazarus Pavillion as Raffa Sindoni MEM ’23 and math lecturer Erik Hiltunen of Spirit of the Glacier played some Swedish folk tunes on flute. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and has been attending our workdays. It is the participants at these events who truly make them special. Photos from the event can be found here. 

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, October 14

With each sunny Friday workday on the Old Acre, we’ve thought the warm conditions may be the last of the season. This Friday was no exception. 

On this particular glorious afternoon, students threshed and winnowed Einkorn wheat, chopped corn stalks, and scuffled plots in preparation for planting. Reaping the fall bounty of a summer’s hard work, students harvested persimmons, heads of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and 25 lbs of beets. The beets were used on Saturday at Yale Pop-Up’s lunch event, hosted at the Old Acre. 

After an afternoon of hard work, students gathered in the Lazarus Pavilion, now fully decked out in dried flower bouquets, garlic bunches, chile ristras, and marigold garlands from previous workdays. Natalie Smink ’24, a Farm Manager and 2022 Yale Farm Summer Intern, presented her summer research as the knead 2 know. Smink, who hails from Boulder, CO, spoke about regenerative agriculture in her home state, and the ways that farmers are working to adjust to a changing climate. Smink talked about soil health in a drought state, the dangers of flash flooding, and the importance of cover crops to protect soil health. She spoke about ranching and grazing techniques, such as sending goats through agricultural fields, and the ways that these practices leave root systems intact and naturally introduce fertilizer into the area. Smink also noted how ‘regenerative agriculture’ has become somewhat of a buzzword, and that all the self-identifying regenerative farms in Colorado are white-owned. She spoke of the importance of bringing native communities back to the lands from which they have been disposed as a means of making agricultural practices more genuinely regenerative and justice-oriented.

Thank you to everyone who has been coming out to our events this fall. You can view photos from the event here. 

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, October 7

On Friday, October 7th, students celebrated the start of Family Weekend with a joyous workday on the Old Acre. On what may well have been the last hot and sunny day of the season, students and their family members harvested tomatoes, peppers, kale, and collard greens. Students washed and packed the greens, then pulled out the end-of-season kale and collard green plants from the field. Participants then chopped the plants into small pieces and composted them, before rolling up the tarps and tidying up the now-empty beds, ready for the upcoming planting of cover crop. Students also raked beds, sowed wheat, weeded the upper berm area, and continued the weekly task of stringing marigold garlands. 

As the workday portion of the afternoon concluded, participants gathered in the Lazarus Pavilion for cool, refreshing apple cider and a plethora of delicious and creative pizzas. Carmen Ortega ’24, a 2022 Yale Farm Summer Intern, shared her knead 2 know on indigenous farming practices in New Mexico. Ortega is from Albuquerque and identifies as mestiza, meaning she has both Spanish and Indigenous roots. Ortega talked about food and cooking as a form of both cultural and physical survival; she discussed the topography and climate of New Mexico, some of the highest and driest in the country, and how farmers utilize various techniques to get plants to thrive in this arid region. She described many practices used to combat water scarcity such as canal irrigation and rainwater collection. Ortega also discussed the traditional practice of co-planting the “Three Sisters,” corn, beans, and squash. Additionally, Ortega presented elements of spirituality and worship as they relate to water and agriculture in indigenous cultures. Ortega talked about how some Southwestern Native Americans have lost agricultural knowledge through forced acculturation, and about efforts to reconnect people to the land, which her research also aims to do. 

After the k2k, students and parents lingered in the Lazarus Pavilion, listening to music as the Culinary Events Team continued to churn out pies. 

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Farm this weekend. It was so wonderful to meet your families and share the YSFP love. Photos from the k2k and workday can be viewed here.

Workday and knead 2 know | Friday, September 30

Making the most of the last few weeks of light-sweater weather, students showed up to the Farm in a near-record turnout for this Friday’s workday and knead 2 know. Students got right to work—mulching perennials, cleaning and re-bedding the chicken coop, hand-weeding the carrot bed, removing dead blooms from flower plants (“deadheading”), harvesting peppers and marigolds, and stringing beautiful flower garlands and non-traditional chile ristras. The Lazarus Pavillion looks extra special this month, decorated with drying chiles, dried flower bouquets featuring Strawflowers and Statice, and marigold garlands which will be used to make natural dye. 

After an accomplished afternoon of work, students migrated to the Lazarus Pavilion to enjoy pizza and cider made by our culinary events team. My personal favorite pie of the week may have been the sweet apple compote pizza, but they were all delightful. The culinary team took a brief intermission from throwing their forty balls of dough and community members paused their meal to listen to a knead 2 know by Grace Cajski ’24, a YSFP communications manager who writes the weekly YSFP newsletter! Grace is a 2021 Global Food Fellow who majors in English and Environmental Studies with a concentration in Marine Conservation. Cajski, who has family in Oʻahu, presented her research on Hawai’ian fishpond aquaculture. Cajski impressed upon listeners that Hawai’i is not “just a paradise,” but a place with rich history and unique agricultural traditions. Cajski described how farmers grow fish in estuarine pond. Baby fish can swim in, but larger, grown fish are stuck in the pond. Fishponds are the first form of aquaculture on the Pacfic Rim. Cajski described the “art” and “balance” of this reliable, sustainable food source, and the ways that colonization and invasive species threatened—and continue to threaten—this equilibrium. Cajski talked about the implications of climate-induced sea-level rise and how modern systems of land (or sea) ownership can make it difficult for indigenous stakeholders to steward their ancestral land. Cajski also discussed some potential solutions proffered by the tourism and education industries, as well as the U.S. Navy. While it was chilly and brisk on the Farm, Cajski’s captivating presentation brought us to warm, tropical waters and provoked new insights. 

We are thrilled by the number of people who have been joining us at the Farm. Please keep coming, and bring your friends! We love having you here. 

To view all photos from the event, please follow this link.

First Workday and k2k of the 2022-2023 Year

The Old Acre, which has been lovingly stewarded all summer by a small and dedicated team of Yale Farm Summer Interns, was once again alive with students on the first workday of the semester on Friday, September 9th. 

The perfect late summer weather, glowing afternoon sun, and revitalizing energy emblematic of a new semester made for a joyful reunion, as students returned to the Farm and to each other. 

Students spent the workday weeding the carrot beds and the gravel zones in the Lazarus Pavilion, pinching basil blossoms, and harvesting collard greens, lettuce, tomatoes, and radishes. The final task of the afternoon consisted of picking marigold flowers and stringing them into beautiful golden garlands, which will soon adorn the Lazarus Pavilion and be used to make dyes.  

Once the workday portion of the afternoon concluded, students gathered to eat delicious pizzas prepared by the YSFP’s undergraduate culinary events managers, featuring seasonal produce such as corn, basil, and peaches.  

Slices in hand, students listened to the week’s knead 2 know by Destiny Treloar YSE ‘23, a Masters of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment whose work focuses on food justice. Treloar shared findings from her summer thesis research into the experiences of Latina/x/e women experiencing poverty and food insecurity and how their relationship with emergency food access in cities was impacted by trauma associated with the pandemic. 

After the knead 2 know, students lingered to mingle in the Pavillion and were treated to a musical performance by Dani Zanuttini-Frank ’22 and Jason Altshuler '23 of Toil!. The magnificent turnout and strong enthusiasm amongst participants made for a truly magical evening. We cannot wait to see you at next Friday's workday and k2k and at our Sunday workdays as well. It’s going to be a great year!