This year’s Grounded in Freedom was our largest gathering yet. More than 150 people spent three days together on the land, sharing meals, stories, movement, knowledge, and moments of discovery.
But Grounded in Freedom has never been simply about gathering outdoors. At its heart is a deeper question: What becomes possible when our communities have space to reconnect with land, culture, and one another?
What becomes possible when our communities have space to reconnect with land, culture, and one another?
That question is deeply connected to the vision of Ayeko Farm and its founder, Deepa Iyer. Ayeko Farm creates space for Black, Indigenous, immigrant, refugee, and other communities of color to reconnect with land and culture through food and farming. Deepa’s work reminds us that access to land is about much more than having somewhere to grow food. Land can be a place where culture is remembered, knowledge is shared, relationships are strengthened, and new possibilities for community ownership and power can take root.
As Deepa has reflected, land connects people back to culture. Creating greater access to it also creates opportunities to rethink who has ownership, who has decision-making power, and who gets to shape the future of our food systems and communities.
We felt those connections throughout Grounded in Freedom.
One of the most memorable moments came while watching children harvest potatoes. For some, it was their first time pulling food directly from the earth. The amazement on their faces as potatoes emerged from beneath the soil was priceless. It was a small moment, but one that captured so much of what this gathering is about: curiosity, connection, learning, and the opportunity for another generation to build a relationship with the land.
We also saw that connection around the table. Meals reflected a diversity of food cultures and traditions, reminding us that food carries stories, of family, migration, memory, survival, creativity, and home. The intergenerational nature of the gathering made those exchanges even more meaningful, with children, parents, elders, artists, farmers, and community members sharing the same space.
This year, we introduced several new elements to Grounded in Freedom designed to deepen participation and strengthen our local community.
The Currency, UCC’s pop-up market, featured five local artists and vendors. The market is rooted in a simple idea: when we intentionally support local artists and makers, we help keep resources circulating within our community. Vendors shared how encouraged they were by the support they received, and we’re excited to expand The Currency and welcome even more artists next year.
We also introduced a community raffle featuring local products, helping us raise critical funds to support the gathering while highlighting the people and creativity within our region.
Our new Story Station gave participants a place to share reflections about their experience. Rather than thinking about evaluation only through numbers, we wanted to hear directly from our community: What stayed with you? What did you discover? What felt meaningful? These stories help us understand the gathering through the experiences of the people who make it what it is, and help guide how Grounded in Freedom continues to grow.
Deepa speaks about the challenges surrounding land access, particularly for communities that have historically been excluded from land ownership through displacement, institutional racism, genocide, and economic barriers. She also asks us to see those challenges as opportunities to imagine something different: collective ownership, shared resources, community leadership, and spaces where people can grow food, build knowledge, and develop deeper relationships with the land.
Grounded in Freedom gives us an opportunity to practice a piece of that vision.
For three days, we create space to slow down and experience what can happen when land becomes a place for gathering rather than simply property; when food becomes a way of sharing culture; when children can learn by putting their hands in the soil; and when community members can teach, create, eat, celebrate, and imagine together.
These moments may seem simple, but they carry something larger.
They remind us that our relationship with land is also a relationship with culture, health, history, and one another. And when we create spaces where those relationships can grow, we are also planting seeds for what our communities might become.
We are grateful to everyone who joined us, contributed, cooked, taught, created, shared a story, supported an artist, harvested something from the earth, or simply spent time together on the land.
We hope you’ll join us next year as we continue growing this unique experience of land, culture, and connection.
