We put out an invitation: come play a game with us! And folks showed up. We had a great time as Cohort 4 Fellow Duaba led us through the game – we strategized and dreamt together, with wrenches thrown into …
Healing Together: How we navigate climate trauma
By Mahfam Malek, Program Director Last August, Castanea staff found ourselves landing in Puerto Rico (or Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name) just hours before the arrival of a hurricane. We were on a scouting trip to help us prepare for …
What the SNAP shutdown says about our appetite for change
By Kamal Bell We are living through a defining moment. The world feels unstable socially, economically, and environmentally yet most public conversations remain stuck on critique. We talk about what’s broken, but rarely about how to rebuild. That observation raises …
Meet the 2025-26 Castanea Fellows: the future of food rests here
Oppression feeds on exhaustion. Freedom takes root in rest. The 16 leaders awarded this year’s Castanea Fellowship are keeping alive a bold vision for how we should farm, fish and feed society. But they do so under unprecedented attack on …
Food, Land, and Liberation
Register Here!A virtual conversation series on re-building systems for our collective liberation As a fellowship rooted in supporting the power and movements of leaders in the food system, one of our main mandates is to cultivate and uplift the good …
A Recipe for Liberatory Leadership
by Krysten Aguilar An hour before sunrise on the island of Kauai, two dozen food and farming justice leaders gathered in the inky twilight of March’s new moon, wading silently, waist-deep into an ocean bay tucked alongside a sacred salt …
Cohort 4 Informational Webinar
Join us for an informational webinar about Castanea Fellowship’s open applications for our fourth cohort (2025-2026). We will share general information about Castanea, our application process and timeline, a sense of the fellowship experience, and have time for Q&A. We …
Applications for Cohort 4 Are Now Open!
Applications are now open for the next cohort of Castanea Fellows! If you’re looking for an opportunity to deepen your leadership and root your work for food justice in joy and community, this opportunity is for you. Applications are open …
North Carolina Immersion Report
In September, we came together for our first place-based immersion for Cohort 3 in Durham, North Carolina. Our trip started with a powerful grounding in place and context setting at Stagville Plantation, led by indigenous leaders and descendants from Stagville. …
2023 Castanea Update
Cohort Three Opening Retreat – May 2023 2023 is proving to be a year of meaningful connection, learning, and restoration. Our third cohort of Fellows came together for an opening retreat in May, at the Barn at Boyds Mills in …