Suzanne El-Haj (she/her) is a Palestinian-Argentinian organizer, storyteller and a local food systems advocate in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).
El-Haj studied sustainable agriculture and food systems at UTRGV, and first learned about the interactions between food and the environment through UTRGV’s agroecology program.
Both the work and the studies El-Haj has focused on in the RGV are on environmental justice, sustainable food systems, and building community power through organizing and storytelling.
“My mentor [at UTRGV] opened my eyes to the challenges we’re facing in the Valley and got me thinking about many possibilities we have to solve them,” El-Haj commented.
After completing part of her studies at UTRGV, El-Haj earned her master’s degree in sustainable food studies at the American University in Rome, Italy, and lived there for a year. El-Haj then returned to the Valley and did her thesis on agroecology in the RGV, exploring how small farmers are overcoming barriers to sustainable food systems.
Flora Farm: Food Rooted in Culture, Connection and Care
Nothing brings people together quite like food, as it is one of the main sources of nutrients for humans, second only to water. Yet, in a world that can spare money for wars, this same money is never put toward ending global food insecurity, which leaves many people vulnerable to sickness and disease.
Flora Farm (formerly known as Jawda Table) is a community-centered food storytelling project that El-Haj created, rooted in culture, connection and care. It started as a way for El-Haj to honor her heritage through food and create spaces where people could gather around meaningful meals.
“For me, it was a way to tell stories through food, celebrate my identity, and also build this belonging of a diaspora or people from different cultures down here in South Texas,” El-Haj stated.
So far, El-Haj has hosted catering events, including an eight-course farm-to-dinner meal at Weaving Food Webs Farm, as well as pop-ups where El-Haj brought a grill, cooked on the spot, and sold the meals.
“In the future, I hope to host more sit-down dinners where people can come together and enjoy meals from not just my culture, but other cultures that are prevalent here in the Valley,” El-Haj shared.
The Power of People in Social Movements in the RGV
El-Haj has been involved in grassroots organizing for almost ten years. Currently, El-Haj is a part of Sunrise Movement, “a youth-led movement in the Valley, building people power to win environmental and social justice” for the community.
“On this group, I serve as the team lead for storytelling, art, and the creative strategy, and the
narrative of the work we do,” El-Haj said.
El-Haj has also been involved with Food Not Bombs, “a non-profit, volunteer grass-led movement” that shares “free meals, free clothing and hygiene products as mutual aid.”
“The goal is to protest war, poverty, and environmental destruction because if we have food to
fund war, why are people hungry in our community? […] It’s not a charity. It’s a loose-knit collective, kind of like an anarchist group where people come together and share out, within [their] capacity. […] So, that group is rooted in solidarity over […] community care,” El-Haj said.
Besides her work with Sunrise Movement and Food Not Bombs, El-Haj has also organized with the No Border Wall Coalition to stop the border wall projects, “mainly to protect the public lands, but the social justice aspects of it as well,” and they “achieved some big wins” in which various “cities across the Valley passed No Border Wall resolutions” and the coalition was “able to protect” the “Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and Lagunita.”
“The coalition slowed down later, but now many of those same fights are happening again. We’re seeing renewed organizing around them with what’s happening with the buoys on the water again, with saving the public lands. So, it’s disappointing to see that we have to have these same fights over and over, but it’s reassuring to know that the community’s able to come together again to have these fights and continue to protect our lands and just take a stance against the horrible, horrible border wall,” El-Haj said.
Recently, El-Haj has been involved with Voces Unidas, “an organization that fosters community support through capacity building and healing justice-centered programming.” “Through this work, we created art projects using mediums like cardboard sculpting, photography, music and photo voice, and with that photo voice project, we raised awareness about our natural areas, our water bodies, and the environmental destruction impacting the Valley.”
Before all of this organizing, El-Haj was very active with the Environmental Awareness Club (EAC) at UTRGV, which spearheaded El-Haj’s involvement in organizing.
Through the EAC, El-Haj learned about leadership, campaigns and grassroots organizing, the environments in the region and how they’re being affected and how a young person can get involved.
Standing Together, For Yourself and For Others
You’ve probably heard the saying: “If you want a village, you have to be a villager.”
In an opinion piece posted on The Daily Nebraskan, Claire Linders writes in their article: “Modern life quietly trains us to be consumers of community rather than contributors to it. We move frequently. We’re busy. We’re burned out. We’re taught to be self-sufficient to the point of self-isolation, and then we’re hurt when no one knows how to help us.”
Which is true, some of us might be more active in the community than others, but it isn’t anyone’s fault. Society trained us to be “independent” and not have to rely on anyone, but it’s not fair, because human beings are social creatures, and social connections are vital to our survival.
But even if you aren’t interested in building community and just want to stand up and make a difference in your local community, anything you contribute will always help the RGV.
El-Haj says one of the reasons she is part of all the organizations she helps out with is that “real change comes from people organizing together.” “These spaces I mentioned above help us challenge harmful systems. We’re able to protect our communities by organizing together. We’re able to build our collective power and our local leadership.”
Above all else, El-Haj organizes for environmental justice and collective liberation, working toward a world where everyone has access to healthy food, land and care through grassroots campaigns. She has learned that systems don’t change on their own, and it’s up to us as people to come together to dismantle harmful systems or work to change them.
Additionally, El-Haj said, “The Rio Grande is full of culture and collective resistance. I think our communities are often misrepresented. […] We’re unique in the way that we’re so interconnected. When people are in need, people show up, whether that’s mutual aid distributions, protests, or community events. If we stand together, we can truly make a change and better our community if we center that care.”
If you want to continue looking for your community or helping out, we highly recommend connecting with Sunrise Movement RGV! They’ll be having a Solidarity Fest on May 1st.
So, check out the post below to learn more and take a stand against Trump’s billionaire agenda with your community!
