Brandon Ruiz is a community herbalist and urban farmer living in Charlotte, NC. He owns Atabey Choreto Medicinals, directs the CLT Herbal Accessibility Project and spends his time working in urban gardens, making medicine and working with his community. Brandon works mainly with plants of the tropics, specifically from the Caribbean and Borikén (Puerto Rico), his ancestral homeland.
In this interview, Brandon shares his plant path starting with a remedy from his grandmother that saved him from surgery. We discuss how he mingles herbal medicine with herbal history and herb cultivation, and also with community activism - looking at the elements we need to cultivate a community movement.
Brandon shares how he started a community garden project and how connection to plants can bring people together, why he began growing plants for food with ancestral connection, and the importance of growing your own food to connect with your ancestors. We talk about the challenges of tracking ancestral history and lineages for BIPOC, and bias in genetic testing. Finally Brandon shares words of advice for others wanting to start up an herbal history garden or cultural community herbalism project.
Show Notes
In this episode, we discuss:
How Brandon began his plant path early starting with a remedy from his grandmother that saved him from surgery
What inspired Brandon to mingle herbal medicine with herbal history and herb cultivation
The meaning of Atabey and Choreto, and the link to Taino indigenous roots
Why Brandon began growing plants for food with ancestral connection, and the importance of growing your own food to connect with your ancestors
How Brandon started a community garden project and how connection to plants can bring people together
What connection to “plantcestors” can bring forth for people, Brandon shares about his own cultural heritage and which plants are especially dear to him
How Brandon is focusing on growing plants that are culturally significant to communities in Charlotte, NC, including Molocia (Egyptian spinach or jute), culantro/recao (the main herb in sofrito), and more
The power of food for connecting, how foods have been shared & blended culturally
Changing the food system: Self-sufficiency as part of the reclamation process
Brandon’s vision for the future of the Charlotte Herbal Accessibility Project
The challenges of tracking ancestral history and lineages for BIPOC, and bias in genetic testing
Bits on the history of the Carribean and its diverse multicultural background
How botany is a “hands-on sport” and can be a spiritual experience
Words of advice for others wanting to start up an herbal history garden or cultural community herbalism project, and how it all starts with personal connection
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Connect With Brandon Ruiz
Website | Instagram | Facebook
Donations to the Charlotte Herbal Accessibility Project can be made via the website: The Charlotte Herbal Accessibility Project
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