Of Seed and Soil

Send us Fan Mail In the Season Finale of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, host Sommer Sibilly-Brown sits down with Eira Rodríguez, a farmer and advocate from Vieques, Puerto Rico, who works with the collective La Colmena Cimarrona. Eira and her community have been important partners with Virgin Islands Good Food, working together to learn more about each other...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 13 Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, host Sommer Sibilly-Brown sits down with Zavira Wilson, a student at the University of the Virgin Islands and an emerging voice advocating for youth engagement in agriculture and community leadership. Zavira represents a new generation of Virgin Islanders who understand that food security, communi...

Send us Fan Mail In this special installment of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, host Sommer Sibilly‑Brown sits down with Tarik and Tamara McMillan, co‑founders of Greater Changes LLC, a liberation‑focused behavioral health and wellness agency rooted in Caribbean culture and community empowerment.  Together, they explore the holistic power of building communit...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 11 of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, we speak with daughter of the soil, Emmanuella Perez-Cassius, a generational landowner, consumer advocate in St. Croix, who shares a deeply personal and practical conversation about what it means to inherit land and truly honor it. With land passed down from her grandfather and father, Emmanuel...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, we speak with Louis Emanuel Petersen, Jr., Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture, about the bold path forward for food and farming across the territory. A lifelong advocate for agriculture with ancestral roots in farming, Commissioner Petersen shares how his upbringing,...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 9 of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, we hear from Dara Monifa Cooper, a long-time food system advocate, connector, and visionary based in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. For decades, Dara has been a quiet force in the movement—uplifting farmers, sharing critical information, building bridges, and pushing for systems-level solution...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 8 of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, we are  joined by Tarik McMillan—a son of St. Croix, a licensed trauma clinician, and a powerful voice in the movement for land stewardship and justice in the Virgin Islands. Tarik brings a deeply rooted perspective as both a mental health professional and an advocate for land ownership, cultura...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 7 of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, we sit down with Chef Ralph Motta—a St. Croix native whose deep love for the Virgin Islands and fresh, local ingredients has shaped his culinary journey. From childhood curiosity to professional kitchen, Chef Motta shares how growing up in the Virgin Islands informed not only his palate but also...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 6 of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, we’re honored to spotlight one of the enduring pillars of food justice and cultural stewardship in the Virgin Islands: Mama Benita Martin of We Grow Food, Inc. Born in Detroit and rooted in Chicago before finding home in the hills of Bordeaux, St. Thomas, Mama Benita has spent decades cultivatin...

Send us Fan Mail In this heartwarming episode of “Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom”, we sit down with the owners of Mystical Farms VI in St. Croix, Randall and Lindsey Simmonds, who have spent over two decades growing food, nurturing land, and raising a family committed to self-sufficiency and community wellness. What started in 2003 with one crop has grown int...

Send us Fan Mail In this deeply insightful episode of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, host Sommer Sibilly‑Brown sits down with Dr. Hadiya Sewer, philosopher, environmental justice advocate, and Co‑Founder & President of St. JanCo: the St. John Heritage Collective. Together, they explore the vital intersections of land rights, food sovereignty, and environ...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of “Of Seed & Soil”,  host Sommer Sibilly‑Brown speaks with Shelli Brin, founder of Que Sera Farms, a woman-owned regenerative farm based in St. Thomas with extended projects across St. Croix and Tortola. Shelli brings a lifetime of farming experience: born into a family of agriculturists, fishermen, and community leaders, she has dedicated herself to nurturing...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful second episode of Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom, host Sommer Sibilly-Brown sits down with Luca Gasperi of ARTfarm—one of St. Croix’s most beloved and resilient farms. A second-generation farmer, Luca shares the story of his family’s legacy on the south shore of St. Croix, where they have been cultivating land since the 1960s...

Send us Fan Mail  Emancipation Day in the Virgin Islands Welcome to the very first episode Of Seed and Soil: Unincorporated Voices of Food, Farming, and Freedom—a podcast amplifying the lived experiences, wisdom, and resistance of farmers in the Virgin Islands. In this special Emancipation Day premiere, host Sommer Sibilly-Brown, Executive Director of Virgin Islands Good Food, sits in the guest se...