February is Black History Month, and we here at the Kearsarge Food Hub want to take a moment to explore some of the ways that the Black community has done incredible work toward community care, food sovereignty, and environmental stewardship.
Black folks in the United States have historically been, and still are, disproportionately impacted by inequitable food systems, poor labor conditions within the agricultural and national food system, economic pressures, and environmental degradation. However, the Black community has also been wildly resilient despite those injustices, and we want to showcase that resilience as well as some organizations that are currently doing incredible work in the realms of community healing and food sovereignty.
One area in which the Kearsarge Food Hub is working to learn and grow into is our food sovereignty initiatives. Community gardens are one aspect of this programming that we are working on implementing both in our immediate community of Bradford, but also in further reaching spaces like with the Tray it Forward program with FEED Kearsarge! In doing this work, we are building upon a tradition established generations ago, by communities acting out of necessity and a deep care for their fellow people.
As Julie Loosigian of Sweet Beet Farm and Kearsarge Food Hub’s education team writes in “Community Gardens: Growing More Than Food” on the Kearsarge Food Hub Blog:
“There was the gardening practiced by enslaved African Americans in order to supplement their often meager and non-nutritious provisions. Charles Ball, a former enslaved man, describes in his 1853 book Slavery in the United States, what are often termed “slave gardens”; “the people are allowed to make patches, as they are called—that is gardens, in some remote and unprofitable part of the estate, generally in the woods, in which they plant corn, potatoes, pumpkins, melons, [etc.] for themselves” (p. 128). According to Ball, each family often had their own garden space; likely, such family units included extended family, and tending tasks were shared among the group.”
This work that has roots in history has continued throughout generations to the present day, where there are many dedicated communities and organizations working to nourish, heal, and sustain their community members.
We want to take the time to re-highlight some organizations we have previously mentioned that are doing incredible work at cultivating food sovereignty so that our audience can check that work out, and hopefully support it as well!
FRESH START FARMS IN MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Fresh Start Farms is a branch of the Organization of Refugee and Immigrant Success (ORIS), headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire. ORIS is a nonprofit with the mission to “aid in the resettlement of refugees and immigrants in New Hampshire by providing assistance, training, resources, and opportunities that promote self-sufficiency.” (Mission Statement on ORIS webpage). Fresh Start Farms contributes to that mission with a goal of promoting land tenure and equity for New American farmers, wherein immigrant and refugee farmers can provide culturally appropriate foods for their communities as well as economically support themselves.
THE SOMALI BANTU COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION IN MAINE
Since 2005 The Somali Bantu Community Association’s mission has been “to provide vital transitional services, advocacy, and programming that empowers members of the refugee community to uphold cultural identity and thrive in their new life here in Lewiston, Maine.” -- Somali Bantu Community Association
Liberation Farms, a community farming program of the SBCA, exists with the goal of providing “new American families struggling with food insecurity with the tools and resources to grow healthy, culturally-appropriate foods for themselves and their community. This investment in growing nourishes body and soul as farmers ground into familiar traditions and meaningfully utilize their agricultural roots as they build new homes here in Maine.” --SBCA webpage
Over the past summer, the SBCA raised the necessary funds to secure farmland in Maine. “The Agrarian Commons holds land in perpetuity, protected against future development, and conveys equitable, renewable leases to farmers and communities for 99+ renewable years.” This was a massive step toward food sovereignty, however the work continues and the members of the SBCA continue to work tirelessly toward their goals. You can read more about the SBCA and Liberation Farms here on their website.
THE SUSU COMMUNITY FARM IN BRATTLEBORO VERMONT:
And finally, we want to take the time to showcase the folks at SUSU Botanica (previously known as the SUSU Healing Collective) in Brattleboro, Vermont, who, in the time since we last wrote about them, have officially been able to launch the SUSU CommUNITY Farm.
“The SUSU commUNITY Farm is a Afro Indigenous stewarded farm and land based healing center in Southern Vermont that elevates Vermont’s land and foodways. We do this by co-creating a life affirming and culturally relevant platform for Black, Indigenous, People of color, youth, under resourced folx, and allies to thrive and experience safety and connection while beginning to develop the tools and agency to heal from the trauma of colonization.Through collective commUNITY we aspire to co-create an equitable and just culture for the global majority to thrive in Vermont that centers access to safe and affirming food, commUNITY, and job opportunities.”
SUSU commUNITY Farm creates health equity by offering culturally relevant spaces that center earth based and afro-indigenous health and healing traditions as well as reclaiming and centering the wisdom, stories, and legacies of our ancestors.” – (SUSU commUNITY Farm: About)
When we previously highlighted the SUSU Botanica, they were fundraising to purchase land upon which to create a community farm that would work toward multiple ends. Their hope was a space where BIPOC folks could come and work on healing their relationships to the land, and healing through working with the land. Additionally, the products of the garden would go toward feeding and nourishing that community. Furthermore, the idea of a Heritage Garden was also an important aspect to the work to begin at the SUSU commUNITY Farm:
"We're planning to have multiple different gardens grown just for traditional lineage and heritage throughout the African diaspora, growing in a way that's aligned with the way our ancestors have grown food," Arnold.” – (Amber Arnold, co-executive director at SUSU as quoted by Chris Mays in the Brattleboro Reformer, March 5, 2021).
We are excited to say that the money has been successfully raised to purchase land for the commUNITY farm. Now, the folks at SUSU are working to plan for the upcoming season, with goals such as raising enough funds to hire a second armer, build healthy soil on land that has been worked as a hay field for years, establish community gardens full of culturally relevant heirloom crops, increase their CSA share, and run the free CSA program for another full 20 week season in 2022. Please visit their website here to learn more about and donate to the outstanding, revolutionary, and healing work that this organization and community are doing.
We hope you can check out the amazing work being done by these organizations!