Chef Kalisa Marie and Jamiah Hargins, the visionary behind Crop Swap LA, are serving up more than just delicious sundaes. Join them as they deep dive into discussions about growing fresh produce, building sustainable jobs, and harvesting nutrient-rich food in our own communities—all while creating @benandjerrys sundaes topped with passion fruit sauce, crushed pistachios, and cara cara orange slices.
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00:00Welcome to Churned in Culture, where we explore the intersection of food, culture, and social
00:08justice.
00:09And what better way than over a bowl of Ben and Jerry's?
00:12And I'm so excited because we have with us today Jamiah Hargens of CropSwap LA.
00:16Welcome Jamiah.
00:17Thank you so much, Kaleisha.
00:18It's great to be here.
00:19Yeah.
00:20And so what is CropSwap LA?
00:21CropSwap LA is an urban farming institute that grows food on front yards using a lot
00:25of recycling.
00:26Oh, wow.
00:27That's so cool.
00:28I can't wait to hear more about that.
00:29So what are we making today?
00:30Today, we have a passion fruit sundae, which comes from one of my favorite food around
00:33Los Angeles.
00:34These vines, they grow endlessly.
00:35I can't wait.
00:36Let's get into it.
00:37All right.
00:38Let's each grab one of these.
00:39All right.
00:40Let's just cut it in half, and we're going to scoop out the pulp and all the seeds and
00:43add it right to this juice that we've already gotten a head start on.
00:46So straight into our pan.
00:49And then in the meantime, I'm going to add some sugar.
00:51Give everything a good stir.
00:54Get me some lemon juice.
00:55Get it right in there.
00:56I'm really excited because the flavor we're using is the Cherry Garcia, and you know,
01:00there's the cherries and then the chocolate flakes, and I think the passion fruit's going
01:03to go really well.
01:04Oh, that's such a great combination.
01:05I'm really looking forward to that.
01:07Yeah.
01:08Let's crush some pistachios.
01:09Yes.
01:10Okay.
01:11My methodology in crushing nuts and pistachios is to try to use a napkin of some type to
01:14keep it a little bit less of a mess.
01:16True.
01:17Put it right here in the container, and we'll be able to come back to it.
01:20What gave you the idea to do CropSwap LA?
01:23It started with my daughter, my first child, and it's the idea that you want to care for
01:26someone who's new in your life.
01:28CropSwap LA is intended to grow food intentionally and distribute it within one mile of where
01:33it's grown.
01:34Oh, wow.
01:35So it's hyper-local and hyper-designated.
01:36That is actually really impressive.
01:39Yeah.
01:40Wow.
01:41All right.
01:42I think this is actually looking pretty good.
01:43What do you think?
01:44It's great.
01:45Yeah, it's very promising.
01:46Oh, can you hear that bubble?
01:47Oh, yeah.
01:48Oh, my gosh.
01:49I love Cherry Garcia, and this is the non-dairy version, but it also comes in the dairy ice
01:52cream flavor as well.
01:54How many scoops do you think we need?
01:55I need three.
01:56Okay.
01:57I think so, too.
01:58I'm going for that.
01:59All right.
02:00Here we go.
02:01Passion fruit sauce.
02:02Yeah.
02:03Let's do some pistachios.
02:04Yes.
02:05Okay.
02:06Including this whipped cream, last touch.
02:09Oh, yes.
02:10The Cara Cara oranges are so vibrant.
02:13This looks so good.
02:14I mean, I'm ready to eat.
02:15Are you?
02:16I am.
02:17Let's take a seat over there and enjoy our sundaes.
02:18Yeah.
02:19Let's do that.
02:21Mm.
02:22Mm-hmm.
02:23Oh, my gosh.
02:24Everything works so well together.
02:26I've heard you talk about CropSwap LA as a movement.
02:28Tell me more about that.
02:30CropSwap LA is really a response to the food system's failures, and it's also a response
02:36to a better world that we want, where there's abundant food, abundant community connectivity,
02:40and abundant jobs.
02:41Each of these operations require people to be present, local, and committed to make it
02:46happen.
02:47Yeah.
02:48Your work is incredible.
02:50I keep enjoying these sundaes.
02:51Yeah.
02:52Thanks again, Ben and Jerry's.
02:53You're welcome.