Photograph by Maureen Kobierowski, ASU Humanities Lab.

Actualizing ASU's Land Acknowledgement and Uplifting Settler Consciousness

Lab: Indigenizing Food Systems, Spring 2022
Instructors: Myla Vicenti Carpio, Melissa Nelson, Alexander Soto
Type: Garden, Website
Tags: Sustainability, Food, Culture
Team: Ashley Culbertson, Natalie Beyfuss, Andrea Castro, Cassidy Kyer, Bloom Sanchez, Juniper Neff


Learn more about this Lab


About the outcome

Our team will create a garden space at ASU Polytechnic Campus dedicated to cultivating Tohono O'odham seeds along with an interactive website with recipes and stories. A portion of the harvest will be returned to the Tohono O'odham, Akimel O’odham, and Gila River communities, while the website will center narratives around the sociocultural significance of the seeds and include indigenous recipes, planting guides, and indigenous art.


About the team

Ashley Culbertson is a sustainability student with a minor in Spanish and a certificate in sustainable food systems. She is passionate about the need to repair our broken food system so that everyone has access to healthy, fresh, and affordable food. She also believes that through education, gardening, and supporting small scale and regenerative farming efforts people can reconnect with their food.

Natalie Beyfuss is a pre-health student studying Global Health and Integrative Health at ASU with a certificate in Evolutionary Medicine. She intends to utilize her skills and experience working as a member of the garden and interactive cookbook humanities lab project, to gain a greater sense of empathy and compassion for the health and wellbeing of others. 

Andrea Castro is a sustainability student with a minor in anthropology and aims at increasing socio-economic resilience through encouraging food sovereignty of marginalized communities.

Cassidy Kyler is a Sustainability student with a minor in Applied Biological Sciences. She is an avid lover of the outdoors and especially the Sonoran desert. Her interests lie in a variety of different fields including zero waste and native plants. Her utmost priority is to make sustainability accessible to everyone regardless of socioeconomic status.

Bloom Sanchez is an interdisciplinary artist interested in accessible communication, food sovereignty, sustainable food ecosystems, and the rural/(sub)urban spectrum. They are Cofounder of the Urban Mycology Food Sovereignty Project and of Piece of Mind Art Club, VP of ASU Food for Change, and the Urban Food Forest and Trees for Schools intern with Valley nonprofit Trees Matter. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, they enjoy cooking, singing, collaging zines out of trash, anarchist conversations, and desert adventures

Juniper Neff is a food sovereignty activist, enjoys cooking using local ingredients and forages for food on campus during their free time!