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Environmental Book Club | Farming While Black
July 12, 2021 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Environmental Team of the Justice Committee continues their study and activities around nature, regeneration, interdependence, gardening, and farming. We invite you to read Leah Penniman’s book, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. Our discussion will take place on Monday, July 12, 7 pm, at Garfield Community Farm (509 Wicklow Street, 15224), or via Zoom if it rains.
In 1920, 14% of all land-owning U.S. farmers were Black. Today less than 2% of farms are controlled by Black people—a loss of over 14 million acres and the result of discrimination and dispossession. While farm management is among the whitest of professions, farm labor is predominantly brown and exploited—and people of color disproportionately live in “food apartheid” neighborhoods and suffer from diet-related illness. The system is built on stolen land and stolen labor.
Throughout the chapters, Penniman uplifts the wisdom of the African diasporic farmers and activists whose work informs the techniques described—from whole farm planning, soil fertility, seed selection, and agroecology, to using whole foods in culturally appropriate recipes, sharing stories of ancestors, and tools for healing from the trauma associated with slavery and economic exploitation on the land. Woven throughout the book is the story of Soul Fire Farm—a national leader in the food justice movement.
For more information, or to tell us you are attending, contact Nancy Heastings.
If it’s raining, the discussion will take place via Zoom. Click the button below to join, or call in by dialing 646 558 8656 and entering meeting ID 847 2282 6337 and passcode 493959 when prompted.
