Chris Randall photos
Babz Rawls Ivy and Chrissy Tracey talk mushroom foraging.
Drummers greet visitors to new CitySeed HQ.
This citizen contribution was submitted by Naseema Gilson, CitySeed’s director of development.
The smells of Nepalese momos and jerk chicken wafted down the stairs, as guests poured into a former Fair Haven factory for “A Night of Food, Community, and Conversation.” The drumbeats and skirt swirls of Movimiento Cultural Afro Continental’s drummers and dancers greeted visitors at the top of the stairs, along with a message: Welcome to CitySeed’s new home.
That kicked off Friday’s celebration of CitySeed’s 20th anniversary and new digs, as the group opened its doors for an event that was part house-warming, local food showcase, book talk, and invitation to get involved.
A long rectangular room stretched beyond, decorated with string lights and winter squash, and with metal beams and exposed duct work as reminders of the building’s industrial past. As the night rolled on, it filled with nearly two hundred farmers, chefs, community leaders, neighbors, and champions of New Haven’s pioneering food justice organization.
Formerly the Gant shirt factory, and then Connecticut Laminating Company, 162 James St. was purchased by CitySeed this March.
Bare bones operations are set up inside. A full renovation is planned to transform the structure into a food business incubator and food resource center, building upon CitySeed’s two decades of work to advance local food access, develop food businesses, and support local farmers.
At the center of the plan are shared-use commercial kitchens to support the growth of food businesses — growth that is currently constrained by the small number of accessible kitchens in Greater New Haven.
The concept has been in development for more than a decade, explained CitySeed Board Chair Christine Kim to the crowd. It also draws lessons from local food distribution and food business incubation centers across the country.
Since acquiring the building, CitySeed has welcomed a string of visitors, including Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, FTC Chair Lina Khan, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and Connecticut Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt.
In line with a plan for the building to serve as a “community resource and public good,” according to Executive Director Sarah Miller, CitySeed also regularly opens its doors to neighbors, nonprofit partners, and students and staff from neighborhood schools. In one such collaboration, GATHER New Haven currently uses the space for its Farm-Based Wellness classes.
“When I first visited this building, before joining the team, I saw right away the transformational potential of this project,” Miller told the crowd. “We invited you here to see what I saw and invite you to be our partners in the work ahead.”
Current partners include food entrepreneurs who prepared small plates for guests to sample. All are graduates of CitySeed’s Food Business Accelerator or Sanctuary Kitchen training programs.
Each brought a uniquely delicious offering: Homa Assadi served Afghan aushak from Sanctuary Kitchen; Silvia Loney of Chef Sil’s Vegan Kitchen dished out hearts of palm ceviche with plantain chips; Shane Anthony provided roasted eggplant skewers with beet hummus from his Razzi’s Eats and Treats; Kismet Douglass offered jerk chicken from Momma Kiss Kitchen Cuisine; Rupa Shrestha drizzled sauce on Nepalese momos from Mitho Garden; and Ana Araujo portioned homemade chips and dips from Tortilleria Semilla.
Are you hungry yet?
At another table, Sanctuary Kitchen Culinary Manager Aminah Alsaleh checked on her daughter Amal Aldabaan, who offered visitors henna designs on their hands and arms.
The featured conversation was, of course, also about food. New Haven native Christian “Chrissy” Tracey chatted with Inner-City News’ Babz Rawls Ivy about her cookbook Forage and Feast: Recipes for Bringing Wild Mushrooms and Wild Plants to your Table.
She shared her favorite invasive species (wild mustard greens), advised on how to find edible wild mushrooms, and advocated for letting yards grow wild — in order to grow food.
“New Haven Foraging Club, anyone?” asked Rawls Ivy.
The room filled with nods and smiles, amidst the chatting and eating. A question for Tracey came from former CitySeed staffer and local food advocate Tagan Engel: “What would you like to see in this building?”
“A long row of tables with community meals full of lots of beautiful food,” Tracey answered.
Both ideas seemed not just possible, but probable, in a room full of New Haven food system thinkers and doers. They are just two of many initiatives for CitySeed to potentially cultivate and launch from James Street.
CitySeed Executive Director Sarah Miller and Board Chair Christine Kim.
