Keitha Thuy Young is a mother, farmer, seedkeeper and food sovereignty organiser whose work explores the deep connections between seeds, culture and healing. Keitha sees plants and their seeds as living archives, and her practice includes telling their stories of survival, migration and adaptation, as well as the stories of the people who have tended them for generations.
Drawing on her mixed Vietnamese and Scottish heritage, Keitha's practice is rooted in the belief that healthy food systems depend on healthy relationships: between people and plants, culture and Country, memory and place. Through seed saving, agroecology and folk herbalism, she works to preserve biodiversity while sharing the cultural knowledge held within the plants that nourish us. She believes in more just, equitable access to land and food, supporting this vision by presently helping to build a national land trust that will bring agricultural land back into the commons.
As a Nature Festival Seed Steward, Keitha reminds us that seeds are storied vessels of cultural significance, carrying the flavours, medicines and traditions that connect us to the land and our ancestors which, when collectively tended, can offer hope for more diverse and resilient futures.
Keitha @thepeacefulseed gratefully stewards @seedmedicinegarden on unceded Kaurna Country.