Cultivating Conversations on International Women’s Day

Many of us have found solace in gardening and food growing during lockdown. We want to celebrate this on International Women’s Day with a ‘Cultivating Conversations’ event.

The theme this year is “Choose to Challenge” and we want to challenge beliefs around food growing and land access. Join us for an inspirational panel and discussion facilitated by Helena Appleton from our Alchemic Kitchen.

This event is supported by the Food Citizens Project run by Foodrise in Buckinghamshire.

You can view a recording of this event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_dOysAwvys

Our wonderful panel is:

Judy Ling Wong – Honorary President of Black Environment Network

Judy is a painter, poet and environmentalist, best known as the Honorary President of Black Environment Network (BEN). For 27 years she was the UK Director of BEN, with an international reputation as the pioneer and creator of the field of multi-cultural participation in the built and natural environment. Judy is a major voice on policy and practice towards social inclusion. She is recognised as a visionary advocate for diversity and equality. She was awarded an OBE for pioneering multicultural environmental participation in 2000, and a CBE for services to heritage in2007. Recently, she was included in the BBC Power Women List, and the Forbes List of 100 Leading Environmentalists in the UK.

Joy O’Neil – Care Farming and Green Care

Joy is an inclusion expert, educator and green care researcher. In 2018, while supporting young people at risk of exclusion from education, she made a visit to a care farm and was ‘hooked’ on the approach. Since then Joy has been working with green care, community growing and care farming organisations across the UK, Australia and North America. In 2020 Joy was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research care farming in Europe.

Ruby Radwan has always been interested in the relationship between health and the environment. Ruby previously studied Psychology, trained as a holistic therapist and worked as a reflexologist at the Acland hospital, whilst also applying her academic and spiritual principles in seeking to raise her children in a healthy and natural environment. Eighteen years ago, Ruby and her husband Lutfi took their young family on an adventure. They gave up their jobs and established Willowbrook Farm where they sought to rear animals ethically, nurture the environment on the farm and live sustainably. They now live in a house made of mud which they built and deliver ethical and sustainable produce to customers in Oxfordshire and beyond.

Freya Robinson – Old Tree Market Garden

Freya stumbled upon organic vegetable growing by chance from a low point in her life and has never looked back. She is driven to help others find connection to their food and subsequently the planet through farming. Since finding passion in food Freya has studied horticulture, soil health, composting and naturopathic nutrition. Freya believes that personal health, plant health, soil health and planet health are intrinsically connected and is evolving her first business Old Tree Market Garden to explore and inspire others to see the links between these often isolated subjects, as well as to grow delicious food!

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