Common Ground Screening

(2023, Josh and Rebecca Tickell, USA) 
By fusing journalistic expose’ with deeply personal stories from those on the front lines of the food movement, Common Ground unveils a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system. The film reveals how unjust practices forged our current farm system in which farmers of all colors are literally dying to feed us. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using alternative “regenerative” models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy – before it’s too late. 
 

This event is FREE and open to the public.
Screening followed by a light meal and panel discussion with Krista Speroni of True Foods, Ulster County's Agricultural Services Administrator Deborah DeWan, and Aileah Kvashay of Clove Valley Farm. Moderated by KLT's  Shaniqua Bowden.

Presented in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Catskill as part of Climate Solutions Week

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Krista Speroni is a musician, independent educator, land steward & grateful visitor of Lenape lands (mid-Hudson Valley, NY). Her life work spans the food-music-youth triangle. Since 2020, her business project True Foods has built a local community of land stewards who grow, preserve & share food as a practice in self-determination and collective health. She believes in the power of natural foods and medicines to enliven us and to relieve and reverse dis-ease, both the physical aspects of health and also the psychological and spiritual needs to be connected to place, land, the Earth and each other in deeper ways than modern society supports. 

She is also a practicing musician, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, playing stages, farms, homes & venues across the region (Spero). Her love of West African rhythm has deeply influenced her musical tastes and style, blending traditional rhythms with soulful, ethereal melodies. DearKeeper, her latest duo project with her beloved partner, Josh Hines, is a folk/neo-soul duo inspired by nature & the magic of living on spaceship Earth. Weaving luscious harmonies with rhythmic finger-style guitar, they create a tranquil, contemplative atmosphere sure to move you to places of deeper feeling. 

Deborah DeWan brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of dedication to Ulster County's farms. She led the Rondout Valley Growers Association for six years as the organization’s Executive Director, where she successfully built community connections among farmers, neighbors, and schools. DeWan later served as Agriculture Policy Advisor and Agricultural Liaison for the State Senate Agriculture Committee, helping develop state policy when the committee was chaired by then-State Senator Jen Metzger.

Aileah Kvashay is a passionate vegetable-grower, entrepreneur, teacher, community-builder, and artist… and the farm has been an amazing canvas for all of these! She consistently hosts a variety of community events, including work-parties, equinox or solstice fires, art shows and performances, workshops, potlucks, and an annual plant sale. She loves to host apprentices who come to learn by working together, and to experience her unique land-based community lifestyle. School groups and any individual seeking a healing and educational experience are welcome to come join a work-session and share a meal. Every Wednesday afternoon from June-Oct, Aileah can be found at the Woodstock Farm Festival selling vegetables and herbal tea. She is currently exploring ways to expand her work in the community, and to bring even more community to the farm.