Growing our Future: A Conversation with Carmelita Sully, Master Gardener & Greenhouse Manager
In this episode of Food Revolution, SFSI Media Coordinator Mairi Creedon chats with Carmelita Sully, a Master Gardener and Manager of the Sinte Gleska University Community Greenhouse. Originally from the Okreek community, Carm shares a bit about her background, how she came to be involved with the SGU Greenhouse and the changes she's made to the program over the years, and her hopes for the future of food sovereignty on the Rosebud. Transcription available here. Enjoy listening to Food Revolution? Consider donating to the Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative to help us in our mission to build food sovereignty and a local foods economy to empower our tribal community through food! Donations are 501(c)3 tax deductible. Website: www.sicangucdc.org Facebook: Sicangu Community Development Corporation Instagram: @sicangucdc Twitter: @sicangucdc YouTube: Sicangu Community Development Corporation __________________________________________________________________ Carmelita Sully: “It's going to be a major health improvement on our community. If we could get more people to be eating fresh vegetables and not from the grocery store. I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I go to the grocery store, I’ll buy stuff from the grocery store that I don't have in season or whatever, but the fewer trips that we can make to the grocery store and instead make them to our backyard garden, or to the farmer's market, or to whoever, your neighbor that has tomatoes or whatever is going to be healthier for our people in the long run.” Intro (00:00:36) Han Mitakuyapi, and welcome to Food Revolution, brought to you by the Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative. Every other week, we'll be bringing you stories of food sovereignty from community members and tribal food producers working to build a more just, equitable, and regenerative food system for our Sicangu Lakota Oyate - the Burnt Thigh Nation. We're building tribal sovereignty through food, and we've set a place at the table just for you. Join us and be a part of the food revolution. Mairi (00:01:05) Hey everyone. This is Mairi with the Food Sovereignty Initiative. Today on the show, you'll be listening to an interview with Carmelita Sally, a Master Gardener, Manager of the Sinte Gleska University Community Greenhouse and Okreek community member. Carm will talk a bit about her background in regards to food sovereignty, how she came to be involved with the SGU greenhouse and other food sovereignty projects on the reservation, and will share her hopes for the future of food. I was wondering if you could just introduce yourself and then tell me a bit about yourself and your background, and where you're from. Carm (00:01:34) I'm Carmelita Sully. I work here at Sinte Gleska University Greenhouse. I grew up in Okreek on a ranch, I was the youngest of 15 kids. I've been working here at SGU for 10 years now, I started in April of 2010. Mairi (00:01:53) I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about the history of the SGU greenhouse and how you became involved with it 10 years ago?