Examining the theory of change behind the new docuseries ‘From Soil to Soul’ that’s reconnecting with food systems & learning from marginalized voices

In this episode of CivicSciTV’s The Perspective, host Diya Dwarakanath discusses improving food sovereignty and food systems with Ankur Shah.

Shah is a data scientist and co-founder of From Soil to Soul. The documentary series examines community-led examples with BIPOC leaders on how to “activate systemic transformation of food systems,” said Shah. “We don’t want it to be something that only people with power can do. It’s something that the everyday person can do to break down the food system barriers.”

They discuss the worldwide challenges. “There are really good examples of sustainable food systems in ancestral or Tribal food systems, or even community gardens, but it’s not happening wide scale at the population level,” noted Shah. He shares the importance of a customized approach to each neighborhood and describes their ultimate success metric. “Instead of just creating media to inspire people, it’s more of an action-based docuseries.”

The discussion ends with real systemic solutions, such as Native foodscaping or farm-to-school meals, surprising lessons learned and key actionable insight for similar groups.

Chapters

0:00 CivicSciTV Intro

0:20 Program Overview

1:30 Food Sovereignty

2:15 Pilot episode

3:18 Soil, not dirt

5:10 Food systems

7:12 Theory of change

9:38 Food deserts

10:40 Soil health

11:12 Local to global

13:20 Success metric

16:20 Unique aspect

17:48 UN SDGs

20:12 Systemic solutions

23:57 Surprising lesson

24:55 Actionable advice

Diya Dwarakanath

Diya is an independent science and engineering journalist. She writes opinion-editorials,blogs, explainers, and feature articles on various topics. Based in Portland, Oregon, Diya is an insightful writer with "a minimalist approach and an eye for detail," said a professional writing colleague. Her unique skillset is combining her subject matter expertise with her interest in furthering science and engineering communication with the public.