12th March 2025

Tamara Taher

On a sunny cold morning of January, around a hundred people gathered in a land in the area of the Abdoun Corridor in West Amman to participate in an initiative organized by Al Barakeh Wheat. A call had appeared on the social media pages of the latter in early December 2024, inviting people to participate in the seeding and harvesting of baladi wheat in a land inside Amman for the season of 2025. The call received enthusiastic response and feedback on social media, as it opened a space for city dwellers to closely follow and actively engage with the entire process of producing baladi wheat and flour across the year. 

Families, friends and individuals gathered at the time and place comunicated by the organizers, who explained that the activity was not made possible earlier, in December, because of the scarcity of rain this winter. When rain finally came, it was time to seed the wheat and watch it grow. 

Once everyone was there and we gathered in a circle, one of the founders of Al Barakeh Wheat proceeded to recount and tell people the story of how he and his friend had come up with the idea and project of Al Barakeh. Linking the Covid-19 period and its challenges to present-day crises in the region, he outlined the relevance and importance of the question of food sovereignty in Jordan as a both a historical and urgent issue. At the same time, he eloquently explained the philosophy of "al barakah", in which interdependence between humans and non-humans in the process of growing food is central, and where food is reclaimed from its mere commodification.

Then, it was finally time to throw our seeds - the "Nab al Jamal" (commonly known as "Khorasan" or "Camut") - in the soil. We each scooped the seeds in our containers and got to work. Both children and adults were enthusiastic. Even after having finished, people stayed there, having meaningful conversations and asking Al Barakeh Wheat organizers questions about the land and seeds, and telling their own stories about their relationships with wheat, flour, bread, the city and the wider region and world. Between practices and words, it was a meaningful moment of community learning.