Ep. 44 Building Inclusive Seed Systems – Alexis Yamashita, Community Organizer

Alexis Yamashita is a community organizer, seed grower, and PhD student in Food Systems at the University of Vermont. Alexis has also been deeply involved with seed-based cooperatives. She helped found and served as co-director of Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance, she co-managed the seed racks division of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, and she lived in the egalitarian intentional community Twin Oaks.

In this episode, Alexis shares how her background - from cooperative seed work and community living to academic research - shapes her vision for seed systems rooted in culture, equity, and collaboration. We explore the motivations behind her current work and how she bridges grassroots organizing with institutional research.

In the deep dive, Alexis gets into growing mung beans and adzuki beans for seed. From growing to harvest to cleaning.

Enjoy the conversation!

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Episode links

Alexis at UVM

Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance

Come to the Free Organic Seed Community Virtual Open House

Date: Wednesday, December 17th, 2025

Time: 7 – 8:30 PM Eastern

Watch the Growing for Seed and Produce recording of the webinar I gave last summer.

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