Build, Unlearn, Decolonize

WHAT IS BUILD, UNLEARN, DECOLONIZE?

BUD is an immersive in-person experience for emerging QTBIPOC food and land stewards that unpacks what it means to tend to self, land, and people from a place of liberation in order to radically reimagine our food systems.

BUD introduces key elements of building cooperative economics and community through a liberative framework that empowers land stewards with the practical tools and resources needed to deepen their impact and move their work forward.

BUILD – Building cooperative understanding, knowledge, and cooperative economics and community.

UNLEARN – Unpeeling layers of pain to reveal liberation, healing, and joy; unlearning what we might know about capitalism and business-as-usual.

DECOLONIZE – Bringing a decolonial framework into our cooperative transformative work.

This year’s theme, “Seeds of Liberation: What Will We Carry?” speaks to the practices, dreams, and ancestral knowledge we’re nurturing—individually and together—to grow a future rooted in justice, healing, and community power.

Seeds are small, but they carry immense potential. Like our projects, our stories, and our actions, they are tools for transformation.

At CoFED, we strongly believe that the work of liberation and empowerment must center those who have been historically marginalized to dismantle systemic inequities. This is why we are led by and serve QTBIPOC communities.

BUD IS DESIGNED WITH LOVE AND CARE BY AND FOR QUEER, TRANS, BLACK, INDIGENOUS AND/OR PEOPLE OF COLOR.

Our beloved BUD alumni belong to many different cooperatives and collectives, from immigrant-owned farms and herbal wellness centers to grocery stores, cafes, and community gardens. If you are eager to dive deeper into the complexities, intricacies, and beautiful nuances of building a cooperative food system, we would love to Build, Unlearn, and Decolonize with you!

We are looking forward to co-dreaming with those who are in alignment with the following:

18 or older
You can attend the full program from Sept. 22 – Sept. 26 2025 in Durham, NC
You are an emerging QTBIPOC food or land steward
Your work centers the collective liberation of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous People of Color
You are rooted in transformative food & land systems work

* This year we are deepening the work of food & land stewards in the Southeast region (AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, TN, SC, NC, KY, WV, VA). Priority will be given to applicants based in the Southeast, but we encourage folx from all regions to apply.

WHAT IS BUILD, UNLEARN, DECOLONIZE?

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