April 2-3, 2021
Virtual conference on Zoom (videos posted below)

“Biomigrations,” as Jesús Nazario defines it, is a way to reconsider notions of Life and Movement. It is a way to explore one’s community, self, and spirit(s) through violence, refusal, and Indigenous rooting. In other words, Biomigrations is premised on the idea that humans need to know how we are enacting structural pain(s) to humans and non-humans through our Being (violence), how we have arrived at such becoming (refusal), and where we have come from (Indigenous rooting).

The conference’s main goal was to collaboratively connect American scholars, community members, and artists through the lenses of Food Sovereignty, Food Security, and Food Justice. The Biomigrations conference also gave specific focus on Indigenous and Black knowledge, people, and lands.

Questions for discussion at the Biomigrations conference included:

• How has access to nutritious and fresh foods changed throughout migrations in North, Central, and South America?
• How has Black and Indigenous ownership of farmland shifted across generations in the Americas
• How are women and queer people shaping food justice movements across the American continents?

This conference was organized by the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI) Graduate Council. Cosponsored by: The Graduate Assembly, Multicultural Community Center, Native American Studies Program in the Department of Ethnic Studies, Othering and Belonging Institute, Latinx Research Center, Center for Latin American Studies, and the Native American Student Development (NASD) office.

Day 1, Friday, April 2

12:00pm – 12:15pm – Land acknowledgment and Introduction to Biomigrations
12:15pm – 1:15pm – [Panel] From Security to Expansion: Framing New Food Categories and Experiences
1:15pm – 2:00pm – Movie screening: Raspando Coco
2:00pm – 3:00pm – [Panel] Cultivating Solidarity: Garden Worlding Across Fields
3:00pm – 4:00pm – [Panel] (Un)bounded Food Histories: Towards Sovereignty and Resistance
4:00pm – 5:00pm – Keynote: Elizabeth Hoover, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and
Management, UC Berkeley

Day 2 Saturday, April 3rd

10:00am – 10:15am – Land acknowledgement, opening remarks by Julisa Lopez, member of Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
10:15am – 11:15am – [Panel] Archiving Plant Memories: Preserving BIPOC Sovereignty in Garden Spaces
11:15am – 12:00pm – Book presentation: Teotihuacan Cuisine
12:00pm – 1:00pm – [Panel] Planting Justice: Decolonization, Abolition and Food Systems Change
1:00pm – 2:00pm – Keynote: Elsadig Elsheikh, Othering & Belonging Institute, UC Berkeley
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Gratitude Ceremony and Conclusion