Photo courtesy of Soul Fire Farm Social Media Team. Members of Growing Vines traveled to Soul Fire Farm, which is described as an "Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system."
By Naomy Poot Ibarra ’25
Staff Writer
Growing Vines, a student-led collective at Mount Holyoke College, has been gaining traction since its formation in 2020. The group was founded by students driven by a shared passion for environmental justice and food sovereignty. Initially, the group focused on creating a collective, but as the pandemic began, they took a pause to revitalize and strategize.
Charlotte Cai ’24, Sara Abubo ’25 and Cindie Huerta ’25 have taken the reins as organizers and board members. They host weekly dinners to brainstorm what they hope to accomplish while also being cognizant of each other’s capacity. “Capacity is always a question because there are just three of us, but because of this there is a lot of intention behind our organizing,” Huerta said.
“This year we brainstormed a lot about the spaces we wanted to have, and what was needed at Mount Holyoke,” Cai explained. “From there, … the logistics of what we wanted to do with Growing Vines [became clear].” This new vision focuses on providing safe spaces for BIPOC communities to discuss and center topics related to food justice and environmentalism.
“As an environmental studies major, I had a hard time finding places where this work was being done at Mount Holyoke that were not predominantly white spaces,” Abubo said. Huerta, a politics Major, also experienced this. “[Classes] don’t really touch on the other aspects to climate change that are more community-focused,” she explained. “That’s what drew me in, making sure Growing Vines was that space for other students.”
Cai emphasized the crucial role of community and support when striving to maintain a radical imagination in the face of pressing issues such as climate justice, environmental justice and racial justice. As Cai put it, “having a space for community and support is key” to navigating these complex challenges and fostering an environment where ideas can flourish.
The collective provides a platform for students to connect with each other and the broader community through a shared interest in environmentalism and social justice. The group’s events, which include workshops and community service projects, serve as an opportunity for students to engage in meaningful conversations and take action toward a more just and sustainable future.
Growing Vines’ first major meeting this semester, “Seeds of Knowledge Teach-In,” happened on Feb. 26 with Olivia Aguilar, the director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment and an associate professor of environmental studies. Here, Aguilar talked about her introduction to environmental studies as well as the work she has done within her community in Texas after completing her Ph.D. at Cornell University. “It was exciting to have this space where people felt safe enough to be vulnerable and share their stories,” Huerta said.
In addition to their work within the Mount Holyoke community, the group aims to break the campus bubble and connect with other colleges and surrounding communities, particularly in Holyoke.
With this goal in mind, Growing Vines members took a trip across state lines to Soul Fire Farm — located in Petersburg, New York — which is described on its website as an “Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system.” The group was inspired after attending a book talk at the Odyssey Bookshop on the book “Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists” by Leah Penniman, a “Black Kreyol farmer, mother, soil nerd, author and food justice activist,” as stated on her Soul Fire Farm Bio.
During one of their Community Farm Days, members of Growing Vines engaged in physical labor, which included laying down irrigation lines and using tarps as an alternative to tiling. “I think it’s really important that people are able to really get their hands dirty, and be connected to the land. When [you’re] at Mount Holyoke you can’t really garden as much and gardening was also a project that Growing Vines want[ed] to consider for the future,” Abubo said.
“I think it’s really important that people are able to really get their hands dirty, and be connected to the land. ”
This event prompted Cai, Abubo and Huerta to contact Nuestras Raices, a “grassroots urban agricultural organization” based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Growing Vines has plans to visit La Finca, a 30-acre farm, in the coming semester as a part of their efforts to strengthen connections with the Holyoke community and support existing initiatives aimed at promoting environmental justice.
As the semester comes to a close, Growing Vines is collaborating with the Panther Solidarity Organization of Western Mass to host a community lunch potluck on Saturday, April 29, at 2 p.m. to celebrate the end of the semester.