🍓👩🏿‍🌾 It's Farmer's Market Season🥤🍉

Heyyyy!

What’s up my squad people? Happy New Month!

It’s Farmer’s Market season on my side of the world and I cannot wait to explore all the brightly colored fresh fruit and freshly squeezed juices that will be everywhere over the coming weeks. Keep an eye on the Instagram Page and stories for outdoorsy explorations and updates.

Speaking of farmers, I wanted to highlight some of the episodes we have dedicated to conversations about food sovereignty and you can revisit them for insights. More about those interviews later in the newsletter. Here’s what else is coming up in this edition:

• On The Podcast Now

• Flashback - companion episode

• Black Girl Farmers and Gardeners Matter

As always, a reminder to hit the button and be sure not to miss a single edition. Otherwise share the love and forward this newsletter to your friends, and tell them to do da ting 👇🏾…

ON THE PODCAST

“BEAUTY OF THE NILE”

On the latest episode of the podcast, I have a sit down with Jasmine Mobley, podcast host and co-founder of Beauty of the Nile.

Beauty of The Nile is Skincare Brand That Celebrates People of Color
. This black-owned brand prioritizes science-based solutions to address the unique needs of people of color while promoting self-love and acceptance. Beauty of the Nile is a family business co-founded by Jasmine Mobley along with her parents. Jasmine, who hosts the brand's eponymous podcast, also manages the brand’s lively community of skincare enthusiasts. She shares her experience working with her forward-thinking parents, as well as the brand's reboot journey. We delve into Jasmine's path to entrepreneurship, have a candid talk about the tokenization of diversity in the beauty industry, and colorism. Discover how the brand's "Love Your Brown Skin" tagline became their guiding principle. 🤎🫶🏿

“REWIND: USO (by African Dermal Science)”

A companion episode takes us back to Season 1 of Shades and Layers, when we stated exploring ‘cosmeceuticals’ through an insightful interview with Dr. Theo Mothoa-Frendo, Founder and CEO of African Dermal Science, the home of USO skincare. This is a South African brand (whoop! 🇿🇦) aimed at addressing African customer needs.

When Dr. Mothoa-Frendo looked at her product haul, she realized that the sixty-plus brands sitting in her bathroom neglected the issues specific to an African clientele. Instead they were focused exclusively on anti-aging and wrinkle prevention, as well as unsuitable for warm, sunny climates. Furthermore, none of them were black-owned. And so she asked herself, “If I don’t create this skincare brand, then who will?” This episode is not only about Dr. Mothoa-Frendo’s journey to founding her groundbreaking skincare brand, but also lessons in being intentional when starting your dream business. Enjoyyyy! 🧴🇿🇦🥰

JUNE THOUGHTS

Since this is the start of the sunny Farmers’ Market season for me, I wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to black women farmers and gardeners out there. I am very excited about the ever increasing visibility of co-ops, urban farms and food-based businesses led by black women worldwide. This is important, because feeding any nation is still largely dependent on women, no matter the setting - urban, rural, Western, African, Asian and the list goes on.

Notably, it is also a complex issue because factors such as land ownership (and appropriation) and the global agricultural industrial complex are a huge part of the conversation when it comes to food supply and sovereignty, environmental access and concerns, as well as other issues of justice within global food systems. I will in fact be posting regularly on this topic when a new season of Shades and Layers launches during the fall/winter. The new season will also look at how independent and small scale farmers are leveraging technology for positive outcomes on both their farming practices and the communities they serve. So, stay tuned…

For now, these are some women farmers/gardeners that I’m fangirling and hoping to see some of them in person on these streets, starting in my backyard in Seattle:

*Nyema Clark from Nurturing Roots Farm - they were recently forced to move from their location on Beacon Hill in Seattle to a new temporary venue in Woodinville (I’ve not visited yet) due to an apparent misunderstanding with the landlord, but it seems they have settled into their new digs... Nyema and her team are deeply rooted in their community and regularly host education workshops for children and the young at heart, food-centred community events and they offer volunteer opportunities for those who want regular hands-on contact with the land. Once in a while you can pick up compost and garden starter kits at their farm.

*It goes without saying that I have admiration for people who ditch city life to make a life in the countryside. Just one ferry ride away from Seattle lives gardener/homesteader ,Hillarie Maddox (@blackgirl.countryliving), who is the Founder the Black Girl Country Living Podcast and Magazine. She shares her journey, and in turn this serves as a guide BIPOC individuals who want to connect with nature in a more meaningful way, beyond hiking and climbing or mountain biking and other leisurely pursuits. Her expansive view of nature and the natural calls us all to “Rewild”, go inward, slow down and reconnect with mother nature. She also hosts events to facilitate this Rewilding process.

*Let’s not forget the poster girl of all things wholesome and country Kelis, I mean need I say more about the singer and farmer who owns the bountyandfull brand of handmade beauty and food products?

*Nonkululeko Britton-Masekela is a fellow South African who started teaching herself about growing her own food and the formed Kula Organics in 2016 to included other urbanites on her journey to reconnecting with the land and discovering the meaning of food security. At first she was selling vegetables grown on her family’s land directly to clients via delivery and at farmers’s markets around Johannesburg. Today, she’s teaching others how to grow their own food. You can revisit our conversation in an episode called “Planting is An Act of Love” where she tells of her journey, thoughts on food security and sustainability.

*Also addressing the issue of food security, with a twist on childhood development, is Azania Mosaka , a South African broadcast veteran and now Founder of Peo Impact Gardens. Childhood hunger is a huge problem in South Africa, and school food gardens are a way to address this issue and they serve as teaching tools for our future creative problem solvers and environmental stewards. For her, this is also a pay-it-forward initiative; an attempt at sharing the joy of having a garden in your backyard, which was common when she (and myself) was growing up in Soweto. 💜

*And last but not least, celebrated chef Mokgadi Itsweng, is leading the return to indigenous food and plant-based eating charge in South Africa. Chef Mokgadi has been through quite a learning process, from owning a restaurant, branching into packaged foods and now partnering with restaurants and farmers to promote African cuisine and also educate people about a plant-based lifestyle. She is the author of the very popular cookbook, Veggielicious, which has saved me on a countless number of nights and I highly recommend it even for “meat-atarians” (not mine, but my children’s term). Chef Mokgadi and I had a conversation about her journey as well as the work she’s doing with farmers to restore indigenous (sustainable) farming methods. Please revisit the episode called '“Plant Forward” 💚

Not quite a woman, but a huge shout out to the patron saint of urban gardening Ron Finley (a.k.a. The Gangsta Gardener) for championing the cause for his fellow Angelinos and other inner city communities beyond.

There are so many others that I would like to include here but suffices to say that this return to nature is not a trend, it is a necessity for our survival as a species and as a society, and there’s no doubt we will see more and more people leave the cities for a better and more independent life in the country. And those of us who have the means (and/or privilege) to make this choice, may we keep in mind that: "The land is not yours. It is a legacy for the future generations." - Kenyan proverb

And that is all from me for now. I’ll be heading off into the sunshine shortly.

WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?

What’s on your mind these days? Have you just been promoted to do something extraordinary? Did you raise funding for your startup? Any news from your industry that you'd like to share?

Send us a note: [email protected]

That’s all from me this time around. Spread the love and bring your friends over to join the squad.

Until next time, please do take good care!

Kutloano

(your host with the most)