SANKOFA TALKS: Food Justice for All

Have you ever thought about how essential food is to accomplishing and sustaining freedom?

Sankofa Talks is our platform to bring intergenerational conversations to the public. For this month’s Sankofa Talk, we’ll be joined by Ysanet Batista, founder of Woke Foods, and Sheryll Durrant, urban farmer and food justice advocate. These community changemakers are coming together to explore the importance of how food sovereignty and farming is a tool to liberate the African Diaspora.

Sheryll is an urban farmer, educator, and food justice advocate. She has been the Resident Garden Manager at Kelly Street Garden since 2016, and is also the Food and Nutrition Coordinator for New Roots Community Farm, managed by International Rescue Committee (IRC). Her work has included developing community-based urban agriculture projects, providing expertise and technical assistance for gardens within supportive housing developments, and she currently serves as Board President for Just Food. Sheryll has led workshops and spoken on issues related to urban agriculture and food justice for many key organizations, and was part of the 2019-2020 HEAL School of Political Leadership cohort. As a former Design Trust fellow for the Farming Concrete project, she is now responsible for communications and outreach for the data collection platform that helps urban farmers and gardeners measure their impact. Prior to her work in urban agriculture, Sheryll spent over 20 years in corporate and institutional marketing.

Instagram:@sherylldurrant

Ysanet Batista is a queer Black-Dominican woman, born in Harlem, NY and currently living in Ayiti (on the Dominican Republic side). Ysanet is a Farm School NYC alum and holds a certificate in Urban Agriculture and Permaculture Design. She completed her undergraduate degree at Johnson & Wales University and worked in hospitality & tourism for 10 years before transitioning to community, place and identity centered organizing. Ysanet is the founder of Woke Foods, a Black women & worker-owned cooperative focused on offering Dominican and other Afro-Caribbean plant-based gastronomy and food sovereignty.

Instagram: @ysanetbatista