Editor's Note:  This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's Voices of Youth Battle Creek program, which is supported by the BINDA Foundation, City of Battle Creek, Battle Creek Community Foundation, and the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health. This series features stories created by Calhoun County youth in partnership with professional mentors.

In Battle Creek, a group of young people is growing more than just food — they’re growing roots. At the Masa Center’s Milpa project, corn, beans, and squash sprout from the soil alongside stories, traditions, and community ties. Inspired by ancient Indigenous farming techniques, this local effort is reconnecting Latino youth with their history, culture, and each other — one tortilla, one plant, one lesson at a time.

Culinary heritage – the taco

Tacos are the most famous Mexican food in the United States and the world. A taco is simply a tortilla filled with something — meat, vegetables, or anything that fits inside it. Tortillas have existed long before the Western colonization of the Americas. Archaeological research has found that tortillas most likely existed before 500 BCE. 

Corn became essential to the lives of Indigenous people in Mesoamerica: some estimates calculate that up to 90% of the calories consumed by certain early civilizations came from corn. Indigenous civilizations invented techniques to cultivate it. The most prominent is the “milpa.” In a traditional milpa, crops are grown together in a technique that is known in the United States as Three Sisters. An indigenous technique, the Three Sisters method of companion plants typically entails growing corn, beans, and squash crops together, resulting in mutual benefits for the growth of crops. In Battle Creek, a local organization has started a milpa of their own.

Pablo Camargo TangVictoria Fox, community movement specialist for the Mass Center.“The Masa Center’s Milpa is a space for both teaching and learning around traditional and innovative agricultural practices that are at the heart of Indigenous, Mexican, and Latine cultures,” explains Victoria Fox, interdisciplinary artist and community movement specialist for the Masa Center.

The Masa Center is a non-profit organization based in Battle Creek that provides members of the community with educational and creative programs relating to the history and culture of the immigrant Latino community in Michigan and the United States. Its name comes from the Spanish word “Masa” (corn dough), which is the base for making tortillas, gorditas, tamales, and many other Mexican meals.

Maize was domesticated by early Mesoamerican cultures; however, a process called nixtamalization, which involves cooking the corn kernels with lime (CaO), is what constituted the invention of tortillas. This process changes the chemical composition of corn, improving its nutritional value, and softens the kernel, allowing for its processing. When nixtamalized corn is ground, the result is masa. Masa is versatile and essential to Mexican and Latin American culture. The Masa Center took its name, hoping to abide by the characteristics of masa. 

An idea born on the Day of the Dead

Dr. Santos Ramos, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Grand Valley University and Program Director of the Masa CenterBefore the Masa Center became an official nonprofit based in Battle Creek, it started in 2015 as a student group at Michigan State University. A group of students came together to organize workshops for Day of the Dead in the face of what they perceived as a lack of space to celebrate this holiday. Years later, the Masa Center began work in Battle Creek through a partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to research the history of Mexicans in the area. Since then, the Masa Center has served to provide educational opportunities for Latino people through its programs and materials. 

“We feel like our schools do not often provide opportunities for students to learn deeply about our histories, so that’s what many of us study and try to create space for in different ways… through writing, but also through experiential learning,” explains Dr. Santos Ramos, one of the students that first came together at MSU, now Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Grand Valley University and Program Director of the Masa Center.

Pablo Camargo TangThe Masa Center's Milpa project is located at Lelia Arboretum's 365 Urban Farm.One of the Masa Center’s programs is its regional fellowship. In its second year, the fellowship studies “the diaspora of Mexican and Central American people northward, approaches to Indigenous autonomy, and Xicano organizing.” This year, there are twelve fellows participating in this program. As part of the fellowship, the participants develop their own projects based on their skills and interests. 

Another program the Masa Center has is its Emergent Leadership Program (MELP), which focuses on Michigan’s youth. This program seeks to develop the students’ leadership skills and community connections by exploring the intersection between “music, art, food, language, and community.” With 20 participants, this year’s program will run in the month of July. 

In addition to its educational programs, the Masa Center offers a video lecture series of scholars presenting their research.

Pablo Camargo TangSeeds at the milpa“These videos are public online because our goal is to make these kinds of materials free and accessible to anyone who would like to learn more about Latino and Latin American histories and cultures,” Ramos says. “We do a lot of storytelling work online through social media as well. It’s been an effective way of connecting with people so far, though social media has its dangers that we try to keep in mind.”

Milpa grows at 365 Urban Farm

The latest of Masa’s projects is the Milpa. In early June, the Masa Center reached an agreement with Leila Arboretum allowing them to use the space of 365 Urban Farm to expand its Milpa project. In previous years, the Milpa only encompassed a few beds in Leila’s Kaleidoscope Garden. However, thanks to the recent agreement, a much bigger land plot will be used for the Milpa this year. 

“We couldn’t be happier in this space. As I formerly volunteered and worked at Leila’s 365 farm, it was easy to jump right in, especially under the guidance and support of Brett, Kathy, and the others at Leila who have helped make this transition very smooth,” says Fox. 

Since the agreement was made, the Masa Center has been working to plant multiple crops and prepare the land for more. Currently, Masa is growing blue corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, tomatillos, chiles, cucumber, and some melons. Additionally, Masa has plans to start a medicinal herb garden with the support of its fellows and community partners. 

Pablo Camargo Tanghe Masa Center's Milpa project is located at Lelia Arboretum's 365 Urban Farm.Later in the season, the Milpa will start welcoming volunteers who may help with daily duties or work on other projects related to the Milpa. At the end of the harvest season, an event will be hosted to give away the produce to members of the Battle Creek community. Last year, this event focused on giving away corn leaves for families to prepare tamales. 

When asked about the importance of the Milpa, Fox responded, “The Milpa is something that literally grounds us as an organization, as we learn and unlearn the ways colonization has tried to disconnect us from our traditions, cultural foods, and ways of surviving; we can use this and apply it to many things like language, art, and history.”

Despite being a relatively new organization, the Masa Center has quickly expanded, offering a diverse group of programs and resources to the Battle Creek community. With the quick growth of this organization in mind, Ramos talks about what he hopes for the future of the Masa Center. 

“The work we are doing with milpas, teaching and learning about traditional agricultural practices and also adapting them to our context here in Michigan, is central to what we want to continue doing. We hope to get more space to expand this work and to find ways to include even more people. We are growing a regional network with others doing this work in places like Kalamazoo, Chicago, and Grand Rapids. This summer we are also visiting some of our community partners in Xochimilco, Mexico (southside of Mexico City) who do work to promote the well-being of the chinampas and their ecosystems there.” 

Pablo Camargo TangCompost at the milpaXoxhimilco is an Indigenous region of Mexico City famous for being the home of the axolotl and for its chinampas, another Indigenous agricultural technique that consists of growing crops on small plots of land surrounded by the water of the last remnants of the great lake of Mexico’s Central Valley. 

“Another area we would like to expand is with Indigenous languages. This is an important issue because many Mexican and Latine people in Michigan have never had a sustained opportunity to learn their Indigenous language, but it is one of the most important parts of our cultures,” says Ramos. 

In a sensible moment for immigrant communities in the United States, the Masa Center’s work helps Latino communities find strength in their history and Indigenous roots. When asked what brings her hope in this difficult moment, Fox shares, “I look at my kids, who have been on a farm, garden, or some sort of dirt playing and planting food since they were babies, and I see how much they remind me of my abuelo. 

"Separated by generations, yet still experiencing similar realities of war, death, art, and love. This keeps me motivated to continue to create the world we hope future generations can be thankful for, just like past generations did for us by showing us how to fight.” 

On a similar note about finding hope in our roots, Ramos responded: 

“There is inherent knowledge and hope within our food, music, and history. To paraphrase a story from the late Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, when you feel lost, eat a tortilla. It will remind you where you come from.”

Pablo Camargo Tang

Pablo Camargo Tang is a first-year astrophysics student at the University of Pennsylvania. A graduate of Lakeview High School and the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, he enjoys writing and photography. His work often reflects his interest in community, culture, and social justice.