In this episode of Hands in the Soil, we sit down with Chuck Samuelson, recovering chef, tribal member of the Assiniboine Nation, founder of Kitchens for Good, and founder of his current nonprofit, Heal the Earth. Chuck's path into food systems work started with a question he couldn't stop asking: why does perfectly good food get thrown away while people go hungry? That question followed him out of professional kitchens and restaurants, through decades in food service, into a life where Chuck is now stewarding 43 acres of avocado groves in San Diego while building a regional food hub, an AgTech accelerator, and a co-packing manufacturing facility designed to fill the missing middle of the local food system. 

His work sits at the intersection of food access, farmer support, and community sovereignty, and his vision is as practical as it is bold. In this conversation, we go deep on what it actually means to work on a system rather than just within it. We talk about the difference between charity and sovereignty, the four A's of hunger relief, and why doubling down on the same hunger solutions isn't working. We talk about co-ops, farm stops, and we talk about dreams - the big, hairy, audacious kind - for what the food system here in San Diego could become.

Tune in to learn more about:

• Chuck's journey from dishwasher at 13 to chef, restaurateur, and nonprofit founder
• How watching a grocery store employee discard bruised apples became the seed for Kitchens for Good
• What food insecurity actually means, and why over 800,000 people in San Diego, including more than 200,000 children, are affected by it
• Why Chuck believes charity creates an "unfortunate power dynamic,” and what sovereignty in the food system looks like instead
• The four A's of hunger relief: accessible, affordable, appropriate, and awesome
• How cooperatives changed Chuck's understanding of what a local food economy can look like
• The Adopt an Avocado Tree program - how it started, how it works, and why it's expanding to other farmers and crops
• The role of storytelling and community in small farm success
• Chuck's Big Hairy Audacious Dream for San Diego's food future, and what he's asking each of us to do right now

Connect + Learn More:

Chuck Samuelson / Heal the Earth: healtheearth.info

Instagram: @healtheearthfarm 

Kitchens for Good: kitchensforgood.org

Connect with Hannah: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@hannahkeitel ⁠⁠⁠