Potlikker: Mushrooms, Soil, and the Practice of Feeding Community
Potlikker is what’s left in the pot after everything else is gone, but it’s often where the most nourishment lives.
In this interactive talk and cooking demonstration, Chef Lachelle Cunningham brings together food, cultivation, and storytelling to explore what we can learn from mushrooms, soil, and the traditions of transforming what is often overlooked into something sustaining. Drawing from her work at Frogtown Farm and Healthy Roots Institute, she reflects on cultivation as a practice of patience, attention, and care.
From mycelial networks beneath our feet to the slow process of steeping, cooking, and composting, this session invites participants to consider how transformation happens over time and in relationship. As the dish comes together, participants will have the opportunity to sample the food and experience firsthand a simple preparation rooted in potlikker and the deeper story it carries.
Lachelle Cunningham
Chef Lachelle Cunningham is a culinary changemaker, food justice advocate, and community healerworking at the intersection of culture, wellness, and entrepreneurship. She is the founder of the Healthy Roots Institute, owner of City Food Studio in George Floyd Square, and Executive Director of Frogtown Farm. Through culturally grounded food education and holistic business development, Cunningham
empowers individuals to nourish themselves and build sustainable, community-rooted food enterprises. A 2024 Bush Fellow, JRJLA Fellow, and Board Chair of the Neighborhood Development Center, she is transforming the food system from the ground up—centered on people, rooted in culture, and driven by the belief that everyone deserves access to abundance.