Gardens 4 Humanity

10/28/2021

Virtual Event, Around The Table
Around The Table: Food Culture
Thursday, November 4, 12:00-1:00 PM

FREE! Join Black culinary artist & activist Jocelyn Jackson and Mohawk seed steward, farmer & storyteller Rowen White Around The Table for an electric conversation on food culture, and the role it plays in shaping all our lives, stories, and dreams for the future. Details and registration here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/around-the-table-with-rowen-white-jocelyn-jackson-tickets-172894390777

[Image: multicolored corn against purple background, photos of Rowen White and Jocelyn Jackson, words "Join us for Around the Table Food Culture with Rowen White, seed steward, farmer & activisit & Jocelyn Jackson, cook activist and artics, Thursday Nov. 4th 12pm PT"]

Join RFRS for an electric conversation on the power of food culture, and how to feed a future rooted in our collective care and liberation.

10/14/2021

After decades of longstanding racism in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) loan programs, Black farmers stand to lose their farms, land and livelihoods after a temporary injunction halted an estimated $4 billion in debt relief passed by Congress as part of the American Rescue Act. Today the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Public Counsel, and pro bono counsel Winston & Strawn LLP, filed an intervention motion on behalf of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (the Federation). The motion was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Miller v. Vilsack.

WASHINGTON -- After decades of longstanding racism in the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) loan programs, Black farmers stand to lose their farms, land...

10/08/2021

U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced $4.7 million to establish partnerships with organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to historically underserved farmers and ranchers. These partnerships will support participation in Farm Service Agency programs, including those that are part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative. Learn more: https://go.usa.gov/xMGW9

10/08/2021

The residential and employment program on a North Carolina organic farm helps formerly incarcerated women find a new path.

The residential and employment program on a North Carolina organic farm helps women adjust to life after prison and learn a vocation.

09/26/2021

One of the greatest barriers to just agriculture is equitable access to land. Through a history of land grabs and forced migration, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have been separated from their land, worsening systemic inequities. Over the past 100 years, Black-owned farmland in the U.S. has declined by roughly 98 percent.

Tune in on September 30th at 1pm PT/ 4pm ET for Savi Horne, Executive Director of Land Loss Prevention Project, and Malik Yakini, Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, will talk about the impacts of land loss on rural and urban communities and what we can do to break down these barriers.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M5LXk_L2Qf2Xf6uYTSHCpg

09/09/2021

The farmers of the Little Jubba agrarian commons are replanting what was once uprooted.

09/08/2021

"From building community to standing up against historic and ongoing systemic injustices, food sovereignty is power, says a former city dweller who set up an organic homestead in Puerto Rico."

From building community to standing up against historic and ongoing systemic injustices, food sovereignty is power, says a former city dweller who set up an organic homestead in Puerto Rico.

09/01/2021

'Black farms in the U.S. plummeted from 925,000 in 1910 to fewer than 36,000 in the most recent USDA census...

Lenders — chief among them, the USDA — often refused to give them money, and often rushed to foreclose. Suppliers and customers undercut them. Laws of inheritance led to the breakup of homesteads."

BOYDTON, Va. (AP) -- There was a time when Black farms prospered. Just two generations out of slavery, by 1910 Black farmers had amassed more...

08/27/2021

"To understand strategies to build a more equitable farming system, the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets hosted a Diversity & Racial Equity Workgroup earlier this year...

The 21 recommendations outlined in this new report were developed in collaboration with BIPOC leaders, a majority of whom are Black, who have been advocating, developing solutions and building the groundwork for this report for decades. These recommendations focus on four key areas: Access to Infrastructure and Resources, Access to Education and Training, Access to Capital, and Access to Land."

https://agriculture.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/08/diversityracialequityreport_1.pdf

08/25/2021

"A new generation of elected officials is working to benefit disadvantaged farmers and African Americans in their states by serving on agriculture committees, introducing legislation to promote equity in agriculture, and fighting food insecurity."

A new generation of elected officials is working to benefit disadvantaged farmers and African Americans in their states by serving on agriculture committees, introducing legislation to promote equity in agriculture, and fighting food insecurity.

08/24/2021

“Something like one percent of farms are Black-owned,” Christa says. “But beyond that, there is just a lot of trauma for Black people related to the soil and working the land—it’s the furthest thing from what any Black person wants to do. But I know what I’m doing is healing, not just because I’m touching microbes that are scientifically proven to help heal us, but because I’m reconnecting to myself and to my ancestors and their plight. Food is so powerful for Black people—we love to cook it, to eat it, to share it. It’s historical.”

https://www.teva.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-TEVA-US-Site/en_US/Blog-Post?id=christa-barfield-farmerjawnphilly

08/19/2021

"During the pandemic, the farm hubs of the Bronx have again proved their might, producing health-boosting crops like garlic, kale and collard greens. “The trick is, how can we learn from the pandemic so that we become genuinely resilient?” says Raymond Figueroa-Reyes, president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition."

NEW YORK (AP) -- On an assemblage of vacant lots and other pockets of unused land in the Bronx, gardeners from low-income neighborhoods have banded...