My name is Katya Wesely and my priority in this walk, in this world is to help as many beings feel at home. That goes for the animals, fungi, insects, plants and trees, but I take special interest in nurturing other human beans. The Midwest Food Connection brings invaluable experiences and community building that is much needed in our schools. I am eager to join this dedicated team and for all the reaching there will be! I have over five years of experience teaching students to explore their gifts and interests, acknowledge individual and collective responsibility, navigate challenges, spark curiosity and grow to become change makers who lead with integrity. During summers past, I’ve worked long days as a farmer carefully observing how our foods grow with important stories to tell and resilient seeds to sow. From harvest hands and hearts to home, I wish to help communities be connected, healthy and whole. I’ve taught in classrooms and the outdoors encouraging both adults and children to heal and explore. Appetite for Change, the Minnesota National Wildlife Refuge, the Urban Birding and Outdoor Collective, Herbalists for Racial Justice, Dream of Wild Health are just a few of the organizations where I speak, facilitate, organize, volunteer, live, love, dance and groove. I am grateful to be in community with such nurturing land stewards, passionate food justice advocates, empowering educators and conscious cooks who are shaping the soil, freeing souls, expanding minds, deepening relationships and here to cultivate the good. I enjoy being in conversation with the earth and all those who call it home, whether it be a walk in the woods, cooking meals together, or writing a poem. In my free time I make herbal medicines and deliver them on bicycle wherever they’re in need. I watch the birds in the sky to cleanse my mind and find a little peace. It warms my heart to gather with friends who intimately know about scarcity, but choose to live in abundance ~ skill building together, sharing resources, responsibilities, our stories, our time here on earth. Àṣẹ
