In this episode, we talk with Stephanie Wang; farmer, activist, and author. Stephanie specializes in growing Asian vegetables and creating transformed products such as kimchi on her farm Le Rizen in southern Quebec. Her passion for food sovereignty was sparked by her experiences with Via Campesina, a peasant rights organization, during her early 20s. 

We take a deep dive into the perils of our current food and agriculture system, the challenges that both growers and consumers face, and we explore actionable solutions for achieving true food sovereignty for communities worldwide.

Stephanie’s book Asian Vegetables: https://www.lerizen.ca/asianvegetablesbook 

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Timestamps:

[2:36] Intro

[3:20] Travels and work in India with Via Campesina 

[10:35] Starting her farm Le Rizen

[15:41] Alternative land access models/farm business models

[25:28] Land trusts

[31:00] Hospital system v. agriculture system

[36:38] Perennial Farms text and the struggles of farmers

[36:49] Documentary Je me soulève (Upwelling) by Hugo Latulippe

[41:20] Value-added products - Kimchi

[47:10] Food Sovereignty

[56:31] Quebec mass producing pork for China

[1:00:44] Agroecology

[1:12:11] State of the family farm

[1:15:22] Asian Vegetables book - Culinary heritage

[1:28:30] Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and the bond between sisters 

[1:31:00] Burnout as a farmer and The Joy of Burnout by Dina Glouberman

[1:40:42] The film Ru, based on the book by Kim Thúy

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Guest Social Media Links

Stephanie:

Book: https://www.lerizen.ca/asianvegetablesbook 

Website: https://www.lerizen.ca/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/le.rizen/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/le.rizen/ 

Contact: [email protected] 

JM:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jeanmartinfortier
FB: https://www.facebook.com/jeanmartinfortier