{"id":55401,"date":"2022-12-16T12:06:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T17:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=55401"},"modified":"2022-12-16T12:08:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T17:08:05","slug":"55401","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/55401\/","title":{"rendered":"Crop Stories:<\/em> A Celebration of Vegetables in Words, Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Levi Grissett harvests his legendarily large collard green plants on his family land in Supply, NC. Photo by Madeline Gray<\/p><\/div>\n

By Bellamy Crawford<\/p>\n

Vegetables may not inspire artistic expression in everyone, but for the many collaborators of the experimental publication Crop Stories<\/em>, a single vegetable can be an artistic muse while simultaneously playing a critical role in several fundamental areas of our culture. \u201cThe content in Crop Stories<\/em> takes a deep dive into specific plants, helping to build a broader connection to and more significant understanding of our local food systems,\u201d says director of local nonprofit The Utopian Seed Project (TUSP) and Crop Stories<\/em> project manager Chris Smith. Each publication highlights the historic origins of a particular crop, its ongoing journey through time and ever-changing geographic landscapes, its cultural significance and its contribution to collective identity. But Crop Stories is much more than an informational magazine; it includes creative works that celebrate the spirit and beauty of a specific vegetable.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Collard Queen. Natalie Daise, artist<\/p><\/div>\n

The Crop Stories<\/em> project is a recent acquisition of TUSP, which is dedicated to exploring regional biodiversity in food and farming by conducting crop and variety trials at local experimental farm sites. \u201cCrop Stories<\/em> is not a new idea, but a reincarnation of a publication first initiated by writer Andr\u00e9 Gallant and editor Keia Mastrianni,\u201d Smith says.<\/p>\n

The latest issue of Crop Stories<\/em>, co-edited by journalist and scholar Dr. Cynthia Greenlee and food advocate and artist Melissa DeSa, is dedicated to collard greens. \u201cWhen Chris asked me to co-edit this volume with him and Melissa, part of me wondered if we would have enough articles about collards to justify a whole issue,\u201d says Greenlee. \u201cThough I understood how beloved the collard is in my native North Carolina, I somehow couldn\u2019t imagine that too many people would come out of the proverbial woodwork to write about this sturdy plant.\u201d
\nGreenlee\u2019s doubt dissipated as Smith and DeSa invited writers, farmers, artists and scholars to contribute to the issue, almost all of whom universally and enthusiastically agreed to participate. \u201cI think so many said \u2018yes\u2019 because collard lovers tend to think of these greens as the James Brown of vegetables\u2014the hardest working plant around,\u201d says Greenlee.<\/p>\n

Crop Stories<\/em> celebrates the depth and complexity of food and farming, something most people don\u2019t get access to in our industrial-led food system. \u201cWe want richer conversation around our food and our food systems, and we believe food should also be fun,\u201d says Smith. The project aims to be self-sustaining by raising enough money through sales to launch into its next edition. \u201cAny profits will be used to further explore the Crop Stories<\/em> concept through podcast and film,\u201d Smith says.<\/p>\n

Learn more about <\/em>Crop Stories and purchase a copy of the Collards issue at UtopianSeed.org<\/a>. If you\u2019d like to contribute to the sustainability of the publication, find opportunities to support the project at Patreon.Com\/UtopianSeedProject.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vegetables may not inspire artistic expression in everyone, but for the many collaborators of the experimental publication Crop Stories, a single vegetable can be an artistic muse while simultaneously playing a critical role in several fundamental areas of our culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":55404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,102,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-food","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\nCrop Stories: A Celebration of Vegetables in Words, Art - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vegetables may not inspire artistic expression in everyone, but for the many collaborators of the experimental publication Crop Stories, a single vegetable can be an artistic muse while simultaneously playing a critical role in several fundamental areas of our culture.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/55401\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crop Stories: A Celebration of Vegetables in Words, Art - 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