Final report for LNE21-415
Project Information
Problem and Justification: Historically, Black farmers have weathered injustices from blatant discrimination. Nationally, over the last century, black farmers have become severely underrepresented in farming and farm ownership. Black farm ownership declined from 10 million acres in 1930 to 4 million acres in 2012; black-owned farms have an average size of 77 acres, compared to 205 acres for white-owned farmers. (USDA, 2017). Additionally, between 2009 and 2016, black farmers -- even after the Pigford Settlement -- received .07% less of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) lending than they did between 2001 and 2008. This translates into $28 million less in financing during that period. (Stucki, 2019)
The impact of this nation’s extractive economic system and generations of institutionalized racism have created stark racial inequities in agriculture that reverberate closer to home. In New York State’s $42 billion agriculture and food industry, Black farmers number 139 (0.24%) of 57,000 farmers; white farmers have more than 500 times the land of Black farmers; Black farms receive 60% fewer government subsidies and support; Black farmers make $1 for every $5 a white farmer makes, and they make less than any other group, netting -$903 annually while the average farmer’s net income is $42,875. (USDA, 2017)
Solution and Approach: To address these disparities, our project will support Black farmers in NYS in increasing their financial and social sustainability through educational skillshares and the development of a marketing co-op. For the co-op, we will recruit founding farmer partners to develop the governance structure and establish a legal entity. This founding group will also identify a suite of marketing services to meet the needs of member farmers, including a website that features Black farmers in NYS, and a certification and branding program that will be enhanced by skillshares and networking opportunities developed through this project. The co-op will also link farmers to land that matches their needs and provide them with support for developing marketing plans.
In addition to the co-op, we will also develop and host a series of skillshares, which will take place both online and in-person (when possible, considering COVID-19). Skillshares topics will focus on increasing both financial and social sustainability, and will include financial literacy, communal wealth building, marketing yields, and creating new products. Participating Black farmers from New York State will be invited to join the new marketing co-op, as well as existing state and regional networks.
To measure our progress, we will track farmers who join the co-op and participate in educational skillshares; we will review marketing plans; current and new network affiliations; development of farmer’s growth initiatives; acres of land accessed; and those engaged in financing options offered through Black Farmer Fund.
Research findings:
Building upon Black farmers and geographies of care literature, we explored how NY Black farmers center ethics of care in their farming approaches and, in doing so, begin to dismantle systemic oppression and discrimination and construct systems of mutual flourishing. Specifically, we argue that NY Black farmers leverage ethics of care-for-self, care-for-community, and care-for-land as a core strategy to transform unjust socio-economic systems by cultivating beautiful fragments of emancipatory food power. However, while care must scale up beyond local, space- and time-bound instances to reach its transformative potential, ongoing structural racism prevents NY Black farmers from accessing resources such as capital and land needed to scale up their care practices and advance systems-wide change. Therefore, to support NY Black farmers in realizing their transformative potential to cultivate systems-wide emancipatory food power, we found that it is essential to expand their access to the resources they require to achieve their farming goals.
According to the 2017 USDA Census on Agriculture, Black farmers’ net income was negative -$906.00. Through webinars and skillshares, 50 Black farmers and food systems actors will discover new approaches to business management and marketing of their farm products, and participate in networking and educational opportunities with other Black farmers. At least 10 farmers will go further, establishing a Black farmer marketing co-op to: 1) increase their agricultural sales by $500, for a total increase of $5,000; 2) increase access to land and financial capital; and 3) enhance social sustainability through improved mental health, well-being, and community connections.
Based on the history outlined in the proposal our team provided 14 skillshares with topics based on a survey completed on March 31, 2022. The surveys were completed by attendees at the " Wisdom of Black Farmers" Skillshare" on that date. We supported over 35 Black Farmers to attend the Black Urban Growers Conference (BUGS) in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Our team did not make assumptions; we took laborious time to, number one, find as many NY State black farmers as possible and, secondly, to engage them in a trustful and collaborative manner as to find out exactly how this project could best meet their needs and guide them to a space of increased revenue, education, and networking to bolster their farm businesses.
Cooperators
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Research
While surveys of NYS Black farmers conducted by food justice advocates in 2019 and 2020 reveal the importance of Black farmer mentorship and connections, these points remain largely absent from qualitative scholarly research detailing the experiences and needs of today’s Black farmers, particularly in the Northeast. Addressing this gap, the proposed participatory action research will examine impacts of relationship building and network development on NYS Black Farmers by 1) documenting farmers’ narratives regarding the barriers that they face; and 2) analyzing the roles that cooperatives and skillshares play in supporting them to overcome these barriers.
While scholarly literature delves into the barriers that Black farmers have faced during the 19th and 20th Centuries, much less has been written about Black farmers of the 21st century (i.e. McCutcheon, 2019; White, 2018; Wood & Gilbert, 2000). This is particularly true of those farming in the Northeastern United States; while there are studies examining individual farms in the Northeast (Penniman, 2018), limited research exists that comprehensively examines New York’s Black farmers yet or Black-led agricultural cooperatives. The majority of such research focuses on cooperatives founded during the Civil Rights era in the Southern United States (Franzen, 2020; Reynolds, 2002; White, 2018). Through this research, we started to fill these gaps in the literature by examining the ways approaches employed by NY Black farmers to overcome the barriers that they experience and to build equitable food systems structures.
Specifically, this research, conducted by Dr. Jessica Gilbert-Overland, examined Black farmers’ experiences, the barriers that they face, and the role of relationships and networks in overcoming these barriers. We pay particular attention to the role of care in developing what we call emancipatory food power.
This research will resulted in two products. The first is a manuscript submitted to ACME, a peer-reviewed journal publication, which documents our key findings and fills the aforementioned gaps in the literature. The second is a synthesis of Black farmers’ narratives gathered via the data collection process outlined below and formatted as a fact sheet for non-academic audiences. We plan to build on this research by developing a social network analysis to depict the ways that NY Black farmers support each other in accessing resources and overcoming barriers.
Study population(s):
In line with the Education Plan, this research will focused on NY Black farmers participating in the activities proposed by this project; specifically, the 55 NY Black farmers who completed post-skillshare surveys and the 22 NY Black farmers and food systems actors who we interviewed for this project.
Methods:
Data collection and analysis:
Throughout 2021-2024, we hosted 14 educational skillshares (five in-person and nine virtual) designed to help Black farmers gain farming- and business-related knowledge. Topics included land access, funding, community safety, canning, and many others. Although designed for NY Black farmers, registration was open and therefore we had over 450 total participants from 30 states and Washington, D.C. To assess the skillshares’ impacts, we invited participants to fill out a post-skillshare survey asking about their location, identity, involvement in farming, key takeaways, and any connections they (re)formed with other skillshare participants or facilitators. We received 144 total survey responses; however, in this study we only included the responses (n=69) submitted by NY Black farmers (n=55; several attended multiple skillshares).
To more deeply understand NY Black farmers’ experiences and perspectives, we conducted a series of qualitative interviews. We first recruited skillshare participants by asking survey respondents who identified as a NY Black farmer if they would be willing to participate in a 1-hour interview. Because Black farmers are too often asked to perform unpaid labor, we offered $45 compensation for their time. Of the 55 NY Black farmers who completed surveys, 45 responded that they would be interested in participating in an interview. However, we had extreme difficulty securing interviews and only fourteen completed the interview process. We recruited another three interviewees using snowball sampling. To better understand the landscape in which NY Black farmers are situated, we also interviewed five members of the project team, one from each organization and two of whom identify as NY Black farmers. In total, we conducted 22 interviews. Interview questions asked participants about their farming operations and goals, values driving their work, resources they have access to or need, challenges and barriers they face, and connections with other NY Black farmers.
Overall, 60 NY Black farmers engaged in this research, or 40% of all NY Black farmers according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2022 Agricultural Census (USDA 2022). To analyze their survey and interview responses, we conducted an iterative qualitative coding process (Weiss 1994) using NVivo. We began with codes derived from social network analysis and Black farmers literatures such as “relationships,” “networks,” “access to resources,” and “in-person vs. virtual.” We then built out our own codes as the data revealed additional themes. It soon became clear that while social networks are extremely important for supporting NY Black farmers, which we will explore in future research, the overarching theme that first required our attention was care. Iteratively developed codes revealing the importance of care included “feeding community,” “gratitude and love,” “environmental considerations,” and “healing.”
We attached PDF of the interview and survey questions that we co-developed as our first step in the research process (see Milestone 4). Please note that we tailored the survey questions to align with each skillshare; the survey questions that we are including are from our first skillshare, “Wisdom of Black Farmers,” and subsequent surveys modified this language to fit the topic of each skillshare. All surveys were conducted using Google Forms.
Farmer input:
As this research is a qualitative analysis of Black farmers’ experiences and perspectives of the barriers that they face, consistent farmer input was necessary throughout this research. By participating in interviews and filling out surveys, the farmers themselves guided the research findings.
Black farmers have experienced systemic oppression and discrimination in the United States (US) since enslavement, when they were forced to build the country’s economic foundations (Inwood, Livia Brand, and Quinn 2020, Wood and Gilbert 2000, Grant, Wood, and Wright 2012, Reynolds 2002). However, despite attempts to drive them away from the land, Black farmers continue to resist and persist (Taylor 2018, White 2018, Touzeau 2019). By forming cooperatives, creating alternative pathways to access resources, providing fresh, culturally relevant food to their communities, and reconnecting with the land, Black farmers have cultivated what we refer to as beautiful fragments of emancipatory food power (Smith II 2019, Buck 2015). Smith II (2019) defines emancipatory food power as the dual processes of food justice, which simultaneously dismantle systemic oppression and discrimination and build new, liberatory (food) systems. We propose emancipatory food power as a framework through which to examine how Black farmers can teach us to transform today’s unjust socio-economic systems to those that prioritize health and well-being for all. However, ongoing structural racism inhibits Black farmers from growing their efforts beyond time- and space-bound initiatives (Gilbert‐Overland 2024, White 2018) – what we refer to as beautiful fragments – to large-scale emancipatory food power. Therefore, we explore the strategies Black farmers in New York (NY) employ to scale-up their efforts and cultivate systems-wide transformation, paying particular attention to one overarching approach: care.
Practicing an ethics of care has significant potential to transform unjust socio-economic systems by challenging power structures, emphasizing relationships and interconnectedness, and building solidarity across distance (Popke 2006, Lawson 2007, Milligan and Wiles 2010, Wood, Swanson, and Colley III 2020). In other words, practicing an ethics of care can help to dismantle existing, harmful systems and build new systems that foster well-being. Many argue that centering care in food and farming spaces can be particularly transformative, by urging us away from dominant, industrial approaches that damage ecosystems, exploit labor and resources, and produce unhealthy food, and towards approaches that position food as an entry point for redressing past harms and prioritizing communal health and well-being for humans and non-humans alike (Jarosz 2014, Beacham 2018, Giraud 2021, Krzywoszynska 2019).
Building upon Black farmers and geographies of care literatures, we explore how NY Black farmers center an ethics of care in their farming approaches and, in doing so, begin to dismantle systemic oppression and discrimination and construct systems of mutual flourishing. Specifically, we argue that NY Black farmers leverage an ethics of care-for-self, care-for-community, and care-for-land as a core strategy to transform unjust socio-economic systems by cultivating beautiful fragments of emancipatory food power. However, while care must scale-up beyond local, space- and time-bound instances to reach its transformative potential (Power and Williams 2020, Lawson 2007), ongoing structural racism prevents NY Black farmers from accessing the resources such as capital and land needed to scale-up their care practices and advance systems-wide change (Gilbert‐Overland 2024). Therefore, to support NY Black farmers in realizing their transformative potential to cultivate systems-wide emancipatory food power, we find that it is essential to expand their access to the resources they require to achieve their farming goals.
Through their care-full approaches to emancipatory food power, NY Black farmers teach us critical strategies for transforming unjust socio-economic systems into those that prioritize health and well-being for both human and non-human communities. Specifically, they demonstrate how practicing an ethics of care-for-self, care-for-community, and care-for-land can dismantle existing system structures and develop new, just ones, such as cooperatives, alternative funding structures, and educational opportunities. Because of care’s transformative potential, particularly through food, scaling-up these new, just food systems structures positions NY Black farmers to foster systems-wide transformation. NY Black farmers are thus striving to develop material and immaterial care flows, such as policies, programs, and processes to increase access to resources, develop infrastructure, and cultivate relationships and networks, which are essential for scaling-up care to generate systemic transformation. However, the negative implications of today’s unjust socio-economic systems constrain NY Black farmers’ efforts, resulting in place- and time-bound initiatives or what we call beautiful fragments of emancipatory food power. We thus argue that it is essential to support NY Black farmers in overcoming the barriers inhibiting them from scaling-up their efforts and cultivating systems-wide emancipatory food power.
The research offered herein weaves together Black farmers and geographies of care literatures in novel ways by exploring how NY Black farmers practice an ethics of care-for-self, care-for-community, and care-for-land to cultivate emancipatory food power. In doing so, we answer calls to explore strategies for scaling-up care to reach its transformative potential by demonstrating the ways that NY Black farmers are working to create material and immaterial care flows across the state (Power and Williams 2020, Lawson 2007). This research also responds to calls to uplift narratives of Black farmers’ resistance and perseverance through our focus on NY Black farmers’ approaches to developing new, just food systems structures (Wright et al. 2020, Tyler 2020).
For more information on our research, please contact the project team for the full manuscript that we submitted to ACME for publication.
Education
The changes or adoptions that farmers made as a result of the three overnight networking events at the Black Urban Growers Conferences (in 2022, 2023 & 2024) and the sixteen skillshares are as follows:
- Financial Education, marketing, and preparing farm products for market skillshares—Through these skillshares and networking, 30 farmers were educated on the uniqueness of farming bookkeeping and accounting. The opportunity for this education is extremely rare for farmers, especially for Black Farmers. Farmers now have a template for bookkeeping, a roadmap, and connections for implementing sound financial practices on their farms. 30 farmers have received this education and will make some variation of these changes on their farms.
- 30 Farmers have been exposed to what a co-op could mean to Black Farmers in NY. Farmers who attended the Skillshare received detailed information about the history of co-ops and the process of developing, marketing, and attracting members once they are legally formed. A dedicated group of farmers continues to work on bringing the co-op to fruition.
- We have identified Brooklyn Packers as our organization offering its expertise in aggregation. This has led to farmers collaborating to aggregate and move products across the state, which has affected and will continue to affect at least six farmers.
We have identified Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (NEFOLC) as our organization. NEFOLC offers its expertise in placing farmers on land in an ownership capacity. Two farmers are now landowners and are preparing the land for the 2025 growing season.
- The measurable benefits are:
The infrastructure has been set up to create the Black Roots Collective Co-op. Sixteen steering committee members are the beneficiaries of that infrastructure work and can now bring the co-op to fruition.
Two farmers are now landowners due to the support and technical assistance from NEFOLC.
NY State Black Farmers now have a structured, organized, and collective way to aggregate products for sale across the state. That work has continued since the close of this project.
Milestones
Milestone #1 - By April 30, 2021, key individuals will create an outreach plan and begin recruitment for: (1) ten farmers to participate in the development and launch of the marketing co-op for NYS Black farmers; and (2) an additional 40 farmers to participate in the webinars/skillshares.
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6
40
6
April 30, 2021
Completed
January 31, 2023
SARE Verification Tools is an organic process that happens over time at the direction of a co-op development team. We currently have five farmers working together to develop a cooperative enterprise that will serve their collective needs. To encourage ownership of the co-op development process by the five farmers, the SARE partners have acknowledged that we cannot be wed to the idea of a marketing co-op if this is not what farmers need.
In the early convenings with the farmer steering committee members, it became clear they needed a better foundation in co-op education. We have been providing fundamental co-op education to the farmer group to better inform them of the history of co-ops, options, and examples of successful co-op's both nationally and internationally. We are looking together at case studies of black-owned co-ops and their successes and challenges.
For the Skill Share series, we had two key intentions: 1) Ensuring that the topics to be covered will be relevant and reflective of the needs of our target community and 2) Having intentionality behind the series, so that skill shares are built off of and complement each topic presented.
We spent the year capturing feedback from community members regarding what topics were most needed, specifically through our SARE partners ongoing efforts to assess and survey stakeholders. The Northeast Farmers of Color (NEFOC) Land Steward survey that had 60 farmer respondents of which 38 are Black Farmers in NY State.
Black Farmer Fund (BFF) had conversations with 8 community members who are currently receiving both funding and technical assistance through their pilot program about what current challenges they are facing and what skill shares might be relevant to helping solve some of those challenges. BFF lead a skill share in July 2021 with 40 participants all identifying as Black land stewards and food systems actors. They answered survey questions about needs and interests surrounding skill shares. This feedback, in addition to working with our Project Advisory Committee will help us build out the trajectory of interactive learning spaces for the remainder of the project. All of the survey results and information gathered is being analyzed by our researcher on the project.
Updated work on Co-op Development:
Our co-op development team which continues to consist of (Allison DeHonney, Rebekah Williams, Alison Esponoza, Rafa Aponte, Wil Moss Jr. & Julian Mangano) and Katherine Bessey from Cooperative Development Institute has been working with our group to guide us in the development process. To date we have accomplished the following:
- Co-op development training
- What type of Co-op de we want to create
- What value system are we creating
- What will our mission statement be
- Multi-regional ecosystem - how do we build this
- Promote sustainable agricultural practices and the education behind this by meeting growers where they are and providing support to either enhance respective farms or create sustainable farms and farm businesses
All committee members completed a co-op development training which included:
- Different co-op structures
- Democratic Governance
- Shared Ownership models We looked at different successful co-ops, their profiles, goals, and missions, for example Cabot Creamery. We spent some time discussing what it would mean to be B Corp Certified as Cabot Creamery currently is. What consumed a lot of our time was exactly what type of products and services we want to offer. We concluded that what would be most impactful and drive an increase in revenue to Black Farmers would be:
- Product branding
- Product aggregation if not for the entire state but at least in regions across the state
- Education and technical assistance
- Knowing what grant opportunities are available for members and providing support with research and submissions
Once we determined that we wanted our co-op to offer all four of the above we created our mission statement: "Collective Essence Cooperative" is an inclusive ecosystem of New York State Black Farmers moving products throughout the state to strengthen Black and underserved communities, while growing and accessing new markets on a multi-regional scale. We work collaboratively to advance community health and well-being by educating, cultivating and producing food all the while centering sustainability and food sovereignty.
We are now working on a business model canvas where we are determining who our key partners will be, what key activities we will focus on, our value proposition, customer relationships and our customer segment.
Now that we have completed training, and all have a better understanding of the intricacies of co-ops we then determined what type of co-op we will be. Now having our mission statement complete our group is ready to reach out to others in our network to join in future decision making.
Year 2 Co-op Development Continued:
During year two we faced the challenge of losing one of our co-op development members. Alison Espinosa found it challenging to manage personal responsibilities, work, and commitments of the co-op development team so decided to pull back from the team.
Before Alison's departure, the team completed a Business Model Canvas (SARE Co- op NYSBFC Business Model Canvas WORKSHEET ). This exercise really bonded the group - as we identified key partners, Key Activities, our value proposition, customer relationships, and customer segments, this canvas is a baseline for the group to create a business plan. Once the canvas was complete we moved on to working with an attorney to get a clear understanding of the legal structure, requirements, and laws governing co-op structures. We then began to develop by-laws and put a plan in place for year 3. The plan is to finalize the bylaws, develop the membership and governance structures, develop and implement financial and fundraising plans, and release a survey for new farmers interested in membership.
Skill shares are planned to understand co-ops and to announce the opportunity to participate in this co-op.
Milestone #2 - By June 30, 2021, four farmers from our Project Advisory Committee will confirm their participation in the project and give input on broad categories for educational topics including: (1) financial literacy and sustainability; (2) markets, products, and growth initiatives; (3) cooperative development; (4) land access; and (5) network opportunities.
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2
68
8
June 30, 2021
Completed
November 11, 2024
Pictures from BUGS conferences, described in greater detail below.
We continue to strategize with our advisory committee to work through the details of the five topics for the skill shares. Our first skillshare of year 2 will be held in March. This will be a space to channel the wisdom of 4 Black Farmers who have been farming for many years and who are well known in our community. Our intention with this event is that we will have dynamic speakers who will attract a large audience and bring attention to this project. We recognize the value of lived experiences and sharing those experiences in an intergenerational way.
With regards to topic # 2 markets, products and growth initiatives, this is being addressed by the co-op development team. Members of the co-op steering committee were provided the option to participate in the shaping of skill share development with the caveat that it was separate from their work on the co-op development. All are interested with the understanding that they may have time constraints during the growing season.
Year 2 -
Our first skillshare entitled "The Wisdom of Black Farmers" was virtual and held on March 31, 2022. On the panel were Shirley Sherrod, Savi Horne, Karen Washington, Rachid Nuri and Brennan Washington! These five Black Farmers have paved the way for current and future Black land stewards. Karen Washington facilitated an intimate conversation with her fellow farmers and friends about their journeys navigating the agricultural landscape across the US. After the panel discussion we created breakout rooms based on geographical region, with a different SARE team member in each of the rooms, gathering data, which has been compiled with other skillshare data. We had 68 black farmers and food systems workers in attendance.
Our second skillshare was held as a result of the racist massacre that happened at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, NY. During a co-op development meeting we agreed as a group that we needed to create a safe space for folks to talk, grieve and try to heal. "Community Safety Conversation" was held on June 14, 2022, one day one month after the shooting via zoom. We had 23 in attendance. This was a time to discuss how we a black farmers can continue to farm and protect ourselves and our land. The conversation was facilitated by Karen Washington and two respected elders working in the farming and food space in Buffalo, NY.
Our SARE team, our co-op development team and twelve black farmers and gardeners from New York State attended the Black Farmers & Urban Gardeners National Conference in Atlanta GA on October 14-16, 2022 (total of 21).
Our SARE team held two community gatherings for Black farmers and food actors traveling from NY State. We had over 50 NY State (a few folks from Pennsylvania and New Jersey as they heard about our work and wanted to attend) community members attend. Durning these sessions we explained our SARE project, shared data from our surveys, collected information from participants on what topics they would be able to lead skill shares in, we held breakout sessions focusing on the 3 core topics of the curriculum (business, land access and value-added products) with guiding questions from our team.
Our final series of skillshares of 2022 were held in Rochester, NY on October 28th and 29th. First was "All things collard greens: growing, harvesting, and vending with Moss Family Farm". Attendees toured Moss Fresh Fruits & Vegetables a black owned family farm in existence for over 40 years. They learned about how this 2nd generation family of farmers has navigated farming while black in rural New York State. Centering greens, participants had the opportunity to harvest and bunch collard greens while hearing from family farmer Wil Moss on best practices for cultivation, weeding and pest control.
The following morning participants engaged in "Farmers Market 101" an all hands-on skillshare with the Moss Family at the Rochester Public Market where they have been selling for over 20 years. Engagement with customers at the point of sale, filling and backfilling fruits & vegetables on the market table and overall enjoyment of the experience was had by all!
Later that afternoon participants learned "Grow to Sell: Profiting from Farm Stands and Non-traditional Growing Spaces" - what are farm stands and how might they contribute to our local food system and land work. This hands-on workshop, centering on specialty mints, dried flowers, and herbal teas encouraged and supported new and experienced growers in exploring creative ways to successfully grow and process herbs in almost any space, with the intention of creating added value products on their respective farms.
Based on the analysis of data collected to date the next three skillshares will focus on the following:
1) Business/Entrepreneurship Planning/Entrepreneurship
2) Land Acquisition
3) Rural Homestead/Value Added Products
Research:
- Using the skillshares to gather contact information, we have compiled a list of over 40 Black farmers from across NY who are willing to participate in interviews. From this list, four have been interviewed, and we are in the process of scheduling another four. We will continue to add to this list as we host more skillshares, and hope to continue interviewing farmers through Dec. 2023. Additionally, all four farmers interviewed agree to be interviewed a second time during this grant period to help us understand how their social networks have developed as they have interacted with our team and our events over the three years of the grant.
- All three completed interviews have been transcribed and undergone preliminary analysis.
- We have circulated surveys in connection with each of the skillshares that we have hosted. These surveys include both short and long answer questions and thus gather a range of quantitative and qualitative data. Over the course of the skillshares hosted to-date, we have received over 60 survey responses. These responses have undergone preliminary analysis, which has informed future skillshare development, survey development, and interviews. The information gathered during the surveys will also be used to ground qualitative findings from the interviews during the data analysis process.
- We have taken extensive photographs and kept program materials from the skillshares (with participants' permission), which will provide additional data for our analysis. Such documentation will help to guide participant observation and social network analyses, which are key elements of our methodology.
- Jessica attended the BUGs conference in her capacity as a researcher for this grant. In doing so, Jessica was able to build relationships with many Black farmers in NY, thereby facilitating the interview process. We are now witnessing the impact of Jessica developing these relationships, as the farmers with whom she connected are responding at higher rates to her requests for interviews than those with whom she has not personally connected.
BUGS Convening 2023
Skill share - Hydroponic Growing in an Urban Setting - 27 farmers attended the skill share. Attendees learned the basics of how to set up a hydroponic farm, the cost, labor needed, profitability, and increased access to markets as products are uniform and available year-round—of the farmers who attended 5 farmers agreed to be interviewed by our researcher for this project. The 5 farmers' names and contact information have been given to our researcher for follow-up.
Farmers that were supported by this project participated in farm tours that included 6 urban farms, attended lectures, and networked with elders, new farmers, and young farmers from across the nation.
See photos above.
BUGS 2024
The conference convened urban and rural farmers, chefs, food product makers, students, herbalists, nutritionists, consumers, policymakers, educators, activists, and organizations from across the country.
The theme for 2024 was “Southern Roots, Soil & Soul: Forging Urban & Rural Sovereignty”.
Day 1, attendees could choose between touring an urban or rural farm.
The Urban Farm Tour:
Explore Houston’s vibrant Black neighborhood, starting with Beauty’s Garden, a nonprofit community garden that addresses food inequities and promotes health. The second stop was Sweetwater Farms HTX, a 6-acre family-owned farm and the recipient of the “Bey Good Small Business Award.” Followed by Lush Alabama Gardens in the 3rd ward. The final visit was at a multigenerational family-run horse farm, Houston Stallion Station.
The Rural Farm Tour:
We went to Prairie View A&M, where we toured a meat processing facility and learned about current field testing being conducted on specific crops and traditional growing areas. We also observed various growing techniques, such as raised beds and container gardening.
Workshops presented by the SARE network of farmers:
Co-Facilitators: Olivia Carter and Christine Hutchinson, representing the Black Ecosystem. Building up and Building Out the Farm. This workshop focused on building farm businesses and the potential income streams generated to support one’s livelihood. During the session, we explored increasing production, broadening the scope of what is grown and raised on the farm, and generating new forms of income rooted in what is produced in their growing spaces.
Block 1: Panel discussion—Farmers, growers, and their advocates shared methods for increasing a farm’s product production. Participants interrogated these tactics to gather information to support their own businesses.
Block 2: Brain Swarming—Brain Swarming, Semination, and Connecting Beginning with content generated during the previous panel discussion, farmers and growers self-selected into groups to engage in brain-swarming about the various ways of building farm businesses.
Facilitator: Adamaah Grayse - Plants Don’t Use Watches to Tell Time, They Listen to the Stars. During this session, we asked the following question: Are there really better days to plant? The facilitator took us through the cycles of the Sun and Moon and their impact on the Earth. By understanding why almanacs were constructed and their role in informing farmers on when to plant, we gained a greater understanding of how to come into harmony with nature and have better crop yields. We explored the moon and its phases as she moves through the zodiac sign to determine the best times to complete various tasks on the farm. We note that this session received the highest rating; there was standing room only, and a request for a second session in 2025.
The total number of farmers who were supported in some way by SARE funding to attend BUGS 22, 23, and 24 was over 35.
The total number of service providers, meaning staff from Black Farmer Fund, Farm School NYC, Food for the Spirit, research partner, and Buffalo Go Green, was 10.
Milestone #3 - In year one and completed by February 28, 2022, to develop the co-op, four farmers from our Project Advisory Committee will meet regularly with key individuals and later with a marketing consultant to oversee the launch of the co-op by giving input on: (1) co-op systems, structure, and operational plans; (2) which marketing consultant to retain; (3) collective marketing strategy; and (4) services to offer NYS Black farmers.
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2
6
4
February 28, 2022
Completed
November 08, 2024
SARE Co- op NYSBFC Business Model Canvas WORKSHEET SARE Co-op identity and needs analysis SE & Co-op Resource Roundup
This milestone is complete. We met regularly over the course of the project. The four farmers from the advisory board gave input on co-op systems, structure, and services to offer NYS Black farmers, and they set up the co-op development process to continue moving forward following the project’s completion.
Year 3 - Foundational Lessons & Development
In the first three years of developing the NYS Black Farmers Co-op, now known as BlackRoots Collective, we learned some foundational lessons and set the stage for the co-op’s continued development. Our work together revealed the following aspects:
- Many farmers do not have the capacity to co-create these kinds of co-ops, so a small group of farmer representatives with entrepreneurial ambition may be necessary to lead the way.
- We now have a core group at the table that we need to nurture and make space for.
- Although a lot of work was done to launch this cooperative, new energy is needed.
- Farmers and non-farmer partners both need support for their involvement.
- The cooperative's relational aspect and opportunities for the core group to physically come together are crucial components of co-op and team building.
- Relationships and co-ops involve conflict, so considering and supporting conflict transformation is also critical.
Next Steps
Based on those lessons learned, we continue to convene a steering committee. Here is what we have established:
- We are committed to this project:
- The core group working on this project remains committed to the development of a cooperative business wherein farmers can share price information with each other, aggregate products at scale, and market collectively. This means the pursuit of an Ag and Marketing co-op in the state of NY.
- The core group will refer to the formerly created mission, business model canvas, bylaws, and articles of incorporation and facilitate a decision-making process to ensure all current group members are on board with those documents.
- Addressing lack of capacity:
- To address the issue of farmers' lack of capacity to co-create these kinds of co-ops, we have formed a new steering committee that includes both farmers and non-farmer representatives.
- To address the issue of support for steering committee members, we agreed that all farmers on the steering committee would have their membership fee waived as part of their “sweat equity,” - meaning they will be paid for this effort in membership value even if we do not have start-up stipends at the moment.
- The steering committee will continue to collaborate to find other resources to support people’s time and involvement.
- Decision-making structure:
- The new steering committee has determined a decision-making structure, including who in the group is empowered to make decisions, and who are supporters without decision-making authority.
- Relational aspects:
- We will create an education and relationship-building plan to bring the Steering Committee members together in person quarterly or bi-annually through the next two years to build relationships and trust, participate in cooperative education, and develop a sense of group culture and care.
- We will fundraise for travel and participation stipends for Steering Committee members to attend these in-person gatherings, as well as to cover costs for accommodations and food.
- New members will be welcome to join these gatherings, but limited financial support may be available to support new members depending on fundraising efforts and prioritizing those who respond to invitations first.
- We will also fundraise for conflict transformation support, as needed.
- Recruitment Plan:
- We will center a recruitment process to bring more Black and brown farmer voices to the table to inform the project, and if people want to join the Steering Committee along the way at their pace through this process, Members and Advisors will work with open arms to bring anyone interested in ‘hopping in’ along the way up to speed.
- We will honor a ‘rolling Steering Committee process’ - all Steering Committee members will track their hours and have their membership fee waived as part of their “sweat equity,” according to their time investment.
Milestone #4 - In year one and completed by February 28, 2022, 15-20 Black farmers participating in the webinars/skillshares and co-op will share their qualitative narrative in a one-on-one interview conducted by the project researcher regarding barriers that they face as Black farmers, the relationships they currently have with other farmers, how those relationships were developed, and how the development of additional relationships and networks might impact them in the future.
20
2
46
2
February 28, 2022
Completed
February 12, 2024
The video of the skillshare can be found here:
Our research partner has been interviewing farmers since 2021. The final research paper was produced and can be accessed by contacting the project team.
The survey questions. SARE - Wisdom of Black Farmers Skillshares Survey Questions
The farmer interview questions from the first skillshare. SARE Farmer Interview Questions
In the video for this skillshare, there is evidence of the community that has been created as a result of networking through these skillshares.
Value Added
Intuition Kitchen—This was a three-part series led by True Food Preservation Collective LLC, an emerging cooperative of food—and land-loving folks in the mid-Hudson Valley (unceded Lenape Land) who build skills as rituals for our collective health.
Krista Speroni led a playful practice in demystifying our foods and sharing kitchen skills, hacks & recipes using collective intuition & ancestor guidance.
Lessons learned:
-make quick pickles using surplus vegetables -understanding the importance of pickling as a food preservation method, including its benefits for extending shelf life, enhancing flavor and contributing to food sustainability -practice using intuition & taste to move "off recipe" -learn about the health benefits & properties of certain spices & herbs and of homemade vs. store pickles -how can these basics be a foundation for ideas about value added products on our farms
Post-session Recap:
-Some participants shared pickling memories -Krista shared about this work at True Foods -Discussion about using intuition to guide flavor combinations such as balancing water & vinegar, salty & sweet, spicy or not spicy, spears vs. rinds -Discussions around the various health benefits that different spices and herbs (and their various combinations) provide -Talked about how parts of fruits & vegetables that might typically be discarded can often work well for pickles, for example watermelon rinds -How to take all of this knowledge and begin to think about the possibilities of value-added products to create additional revenue streams for farm businesses
In the Preserve Natures Bounty, Introduction to Canning, this is another value added skillshare this continues to create community! https://youtu.be/kGQgzzo3jEQ
Milestone #5 - In year two and completed by February 28, 2023, ten NYS Black farmers will sign-up as farmer members of the co-op to benefit from services offered and to help assess: (1) collective marketing assets and needs; and (2) systems and structures developed. These ten farmers will also help create a survey to track agricultural sales of participating farmers in the survey and receive support from Black Farmer Fund for financing opportunities.
10
2
22
3
February 28, 2023
Completed
December 16, 2024
Survey Responses are attached here, however this response document could also be attached to milestones 2 and 4.
The co-op design process has seen a few iterations during its development. Some farmers chose to leave the development due to a lack of capacity to manage their farms and participate in the development process. However, for others, the opportunity to be a part of a co-op development was very attractive, and so they joined the team.
Priorities that drove the process of development:
- PRIORITY 1: AGREEMENTS. We will facilitate a decision-making process to ensure all current group members are on board with this project restart pathway, including supporting the development of an Ag and Marketing co-op in the state of NY and formerly created mission, business model canvas, bylaws, and articles of incorporation.
- PRIORITY 2: RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING. We will create an education and relationship-building plan to bring the Steering Committee members together in-person quarterly or bi-annually through the next two years to build relationships and trust, participate in cooperative education, and develop a sense of group culture and care. We will fundraise for travel and participation stipends for Steering Committee members to attend these in-person gatherings, as well as to cover costs for accommodations and food. New members will be welcome to join these gatherings, but limited financial support may be available to support new members depending on fundraising efforts and prioritizing those who respond to invitations first.
- PRIORITY 3: RECRUIT. We will center a recruitment process to bring more Black and brown farmer voices to the table to inform the project, and if people want to join the Steering Committee along the way at their pace through this process, Members and Advisors will work with open arms to bring anyone interested in ‘hopping in’ along the way up to speed. We will honor a ‘rolling Steering Committee process’ - all Steering Committee members will track their hours and have their membership fee waived as part of their “sweat equity,” according to their time investment.
- PRIORITY 4: RE-ENVISION. We will simultaneously center a relearning process for all of those at the table now to get us through co-op formation and financial feasibility with the assumption that if a small Steering Committee can get the co-op formed and a viable plan laid out, farmers will be more likely to opt into something they can fully conceptualize.
- PRIORITY 5: ESTABLISH. We will set a goal to design a co-op that farmers can make a clear decision on if they want to join or not. By clarifying what it means to be a member, what it costs, and what the benefits are, Farmers will really be able to tell if the co-op is for them or not when it comes time to recruit more members. This process will include incorporation, member agreement drafting, and drafting a first draft of the financial requirements. We apply this November for the Collective Courage Fund. We can plan in advance to apply for the Rural Business Development Grant, Enterprise Grant for this project to fund an in-depth feasibility study for the project from our financial projections.
SARE Milestone 5 CO-OP Skillshare March 23, 2024
Over the course of the project, we invited farmers participating in post-skillshare surveys to express their interest in membership within a NYS Black farmers co-op. Over 100 farmers expressed interest in the co-op through our survey process. The list of those farmers are in the attached spreadsheet.
In addition to inviting skillshare participants to express interest in the co-op through surveys, a major effort to recruit farmer-members for the co-op was through the in-person skillshare hosted in Poughkeepsie NY in March 2024. The skillshare, entitled "Co-op + Community Building” had two parts to it.
The first part of the skillshare featured a co-op developer, Ashleigh Eubanks of RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc. and the Central Brooklyn Food Democracy Project. Ashleigh gave an introduction to cooperative businesses and provided a historical case study of Black farmers in cooperatives, looking specifically at the experiences of Fannie Lou Hamer and the Freedom Farm Cooperative. Ashleigh provided an overview of what the Freedom Farm Cooperative was and offered its farmer-members, and associated challenges.
The second part of the skillshare featured two members of this SARE project’s farmer advisory board, Julian Mangano and Wil Moss, Jr., who shared about the overall cooperative development process that they have been engaged in over the course of this project, and the stages of the cooperative development process that they completed with support from the Cooperative Development Institute. More details of both parts of that skillshare can be viewed in the attached powerpoint presentation.
Moving forward, new co-op steering committee members are continuing to meet monthly. They are working together to launch the co-op by setting up systems, structures, operational plans, and a marketing and outreach strategy. They plan to track the agricultural sales of participating farmers, and once the co-op is launched, the farmers who expressed interest in it through this SARE project's surveys will be invited to sign up as members.
In the future, the co-op will ensure their farmer-members receive critical support and technical assistance by partnering with agricultural service providers and key partners from this project, including Black Farmer Fund, Buffalo Go Green, Farm School NYC, Food for the Spirit, Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, and others.
Survey Results SARE Quantitative Anonymized Skillshare Survey Qualitative Responses from NY Black Farmers - Qualitative Responses Survey Results
Milestone #6 - In years two and three, and completed by February 28, 2024, ten Black farmers participating in the webinars/skillshares or the co-op will meet with NEFOC LT to determine their needs and support through: (1) one-on-one land access planning; (2) integration into a land access database; and (3) access to ground lease opportunities.
10
2
52
4
February 28, 2024
Completed
January 13, 2024
Participants attended two skillshares: https://youtu.be/YKyx4hejTLY
The first, presented by NEFOC Land Trust and Black Farmer Fund, was entitled "Preparing to find Land in New York." It discussed the history of land and agriculture in NY and presented different models and tools for acquiring land. NEFOC scheduled four one-on-one land access planning sessions. As a result of this training and relationship with the partners on this SARE project, specifically Buffalo Go Green (who will be the fiscal sponsor) and NEFOC, who has shepherded the agreement, one farmer is scheduled to close on a land purchase on February 20, 2025, in Buffalo, NY. Video of this skillshare can be accessed by contacting the project team.
The second presentation was given by Leah Penniman from Soul Fire Farm, was about rural homesteading. history of Soul Fire was given. Attendees were instructed about how to prepare, what to consider all of the skills necessary for this life change, and the first steps to homesteading.
Results of exit surveys
- So many farmers discussed the impacts of not being able to access land, and when they could, they rarely had land ownership - the meant they had temporary access and so could not put down roots
- Urban farmers talked a lot about government bureaucracy preventing them from having long-term and stable access to land
-
- Preparing to find Land in New York: 22 people participated and six people filled out surveys. Five of these surveys were completed by NY Black farmers; the other survey respondent did not identify as a NY Black farmer. Overall, survey respondents had extremely positive reactions to this skillshare and expressed that they found the deep dive into the logistics around accessing farmland to be particularly helpful. One respondent shared that the most powerful part of the skillshare was learning about “the un-obvious things we should keep in mind when looking at farm land. Particularly, things that could affect the soil.” Another shared, “I learned a lot about soil testing, and how to consider whether a place has the things I need in order to survive there . I plan to work with more people who have this skill to share and utilize when visiting farms.” A third survey respondent shared that these types of skillshares are extremely helpful because, “I think providing the technical, tangible skill of getting started and finding useful resources will save lots of people hundreds of hours of research and potential discouragement.”
- Rural Homesteading: 30 people participated and six people filled out surveys. One of these surveys was completed by a NY Black farmer; the other survey respondents did not identify as NY Black farmers. Overall, survey responses were extremely positive. Farmers appreciated being able to learn from Soul Fire Farm’s more than 10 years of experience, particularly the specific steps to move from buying land to actually growing on it. One NY Black farmer shared that the most powerful part of the skillshare was, “Seeing the process over a 10 year span..from buying the land to building on it. Understanding the land and where to go for resources. How to build community.” When asked if this type of skillshare is helpful, this same person shared, “Most definitely. Hearing from someone who’s had the experience and done it for years, especially someone from my ethnic background.”
Overall, survey respondents were extremely grateful for these skillshares. When asked what feedback they would give the organizers, many offered some variation of gratitude, such as this comment from the finding farmland skillshare: “Gratitude and appreciation, I've wanted land for so long, I feel more educated about the process after skillshare.”
- https://youtu.be/YKyx4hejTLY - skillshare video
Milestone #7 - In year three and completed by February 28, 2024, 15-20 Black farmers participating in the webinars/skillshares or co-op will participate in one-on-one “exit” interviews conducted by project researcher to explore: (1) if/how the farmers have developed new relationships and networks throughout the duration of the project; (2) what the impacts have been thus far; and (3) the role they anticipate these relationships and networks having in the future.
20
2
57
2
February 28, 2024
Completed
November 30, 2024
Many Black farmers mentioned Black Farmer Fund, BFU, Farm School, and Soul Fire as essential hubs for gaining access to resources and connecting with each other. Most of these connections were formed post-covid as they transitioned into farming and more programming moved online. Then they slowly engaged in-person as they entered these networks.
Participants complimented the project team on how well organized and how smoothly the skillshares were ran. The continued request for more skillshares, more opportunities to connect and learn from the ecosystem is outline in the attached report. The gratitude for our work was overwhelming!
Milestone #8 - Ongoing throughout the project and completed by February 28, 2024, 50 Black farmers and food systems actors will: (1) register for webinars/skillshares announced on key individuals websites, circulated via email, social media, and word-of-mouth; (2) complete a pre-education needs assessment via registration prior; and (3) attend webinars/skillshares. Numbers hosted: (Yr 1) one-in person/ two-online; (Yr 2) two-in person / four-online; (Yr 3) two-in person / four-online. (COVID-19 considered regarding in-person meetings.)
50
2
416
8
February 28, 2024
Completed
November 13, 2024
2022 – The team held two virtual and four in person skillshares:
March 31st – The wisdom of Black Farmers, on the panel were Karen Washington, Shirley Sherrod, Savi Horne, Brennan Washington and Rashid Nuri. There were 180 participants for this skillshare! Each panelist gave a report out on their body of work, their collaborations and their hopes and aspirations for a more connected and thriving Black Farmer network and for the prosperity entering and growing farming operations.
June 14th Community Safety Conversations:
On the one-month anniversary of the white supremacist attack that took place at the TOPS Supermarket in Buffalo, folks gathered in a safe space to connect and reflect on what happened and to explore ways to address trauma, healing, and safety for land stewards throughout the northeast.
Karen Washington and Denise Barr led opening prayers and stories, followed by Rafael Aponte's event grounding. Breakout rooms were set up so folks could have deeper conversations and address three pointed questions regarding community safety. Leah Penniman provided closing words. There were 55 farmers and food systems workers in attendance.
October 15th & 16th – Black Urban Growers Conference in Atlanta GA, report in milestone 2.
October 28th – 29th - Greater Rochester Skillshare to address increasing profits through crop and market development. Report in milestone 10
2023 -2024 Skillshares, Education and Research
September 21, 2023 – Intuition Kitchen 6 attendees
February 12, 2024 – Preserve Natures Bounty (introduction to canning) 40 attendees
February 23, 2024 – Food Business and Policy – milestone 10, 8 attendees
February 27, 2024 – Marketing to Deepen Community Roots – milestone 15 attendees
February 29, 2024 – Farm Funds + Finance milestone 10, 30 attendees
March 23, 2024 – Co-op + Community Building milestone 5, 8 attendees
May 8, 2024 – Assessing farmland Milestone 6, 22 attendees
June 13, 2024 – Rural Homesteading Milestone 6, 30 attendees
August 19, 2024 – Farm Operations 20 participants
November 13, 2024 – Institutional and Private Market for Black Farmers in NY Milestone 11, 25 attendees
Milestone #9 - Ongoing throughout the project and completed by February 28, 2024, four farmers from our Project Advisory Committee will meet regularly with key individuals to: (1) consider results of need assessment conducted as part of webinar/skillshare registration; (2) agree on challenges and solutions to focus on; (3) determine long-term support for participating farmers; and (4) agree on additional organizations to partner with to enhance training opportunities.
4
2
25
5
February 28, 2024
Completed
February 28, 2024
The project advisory committee meet regularly, reviewed the initial survey asking farmers to advise on what skillshares they would like the committee to put together for attendance.
Skillshare on 2/27/24 - Marketing to deepen community roots was held.
The main outcome of these meetings and several of the skillshares was the need for aggregation across the state. As a result post this project two NY Foodways Gatherings have been scheduled one on January 18th which was held at in Poughkeepsie, and the second will take place on March 22 in Buffalo, additional organizations included are Brooklyn Packers and Rock Steady Farm. Goals of the gathering: 1) information sharing 2) who is doing what around the state 3) introduce Black Roots Collective Food Co-op 4) aggregation 5) funding coordination & health insurance cooperative beginnings
Milestone #10 - Ongoing throughout the project and completed by February 28, 2024, through group reflections during each webinar/skillshare and in follow-up surveys sent via email, 50 Black farmers and food systems actors will participate in evaluation to gauge new skills/knowledge attained, new actions taken, and barriers to progress regarding: (1) financial literacy and sustainability; (2) markets, products, and growth initiatives; (3) cooperative development; (4) land access; and (5) network opportunities.
50
2
50
2
February 28, 2024
Completed
December 31, 2024
Evaluation was accomplished through the continued research during the project, surveys were given after every skillshare, the results were complied by our researcher, and the results are detailed in the research report. Described here are some examples of skillshares that were requested by Black Farmers in NY State.
Greater Rochester Skillshare was held to address increasing profits through crop and market development:
Skillshare 1: "All Things Collard Greens: Growing, Harvesting, and Vending with Moss Family Farm" on Friday, October 28 - Tour Moss Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, a Black-owned family farm in existence for over 40 years, and learn about how this 2nd-generation farm has navigated farming while Black in rural New York State. Centering greens, participants will have the opportunity to harvest and bunch collard greens while hearing from family farmer Wil Moss on best practices for cultivation, weeding, and pest control.
Skillshare 2: "Farmers Market 101" on Saturday, October 29 - Join this hands-on skillshare with Wil Moss, Jr. at the Rochester Farmers Market and learn more about Moss Fresh Fruit & Vegetables’ approach to managing direct-to-consumer sales. Participants will gain firsthand experience by assisting the Moss market stand with backfilling (or refilling) produce as it sells and interacting with customers, and attendees can also expect to visit other farm stands via a market tour.
Skillshare 3: "Grow-to-Sell: Profiting from Farm Stands and Non-Traditional Growing Spaces" on Saturday, October 29 - What are farm stands and how might they contribute to our local food and land work? This hands-on workshop, centering specialty mints, dried flowers, and herbal teas, will encourage and support new and experienced growers in exploring creative ways to successfully grow and process herbs in almost any space - and with the intention of creating added-value products. Participants will have the opportunity to tour urban farmer and creator of Harlem Brood Teas Pamela “Mama P” Reese Smith’s urban farm in Rochester, NY, create their own tea blends from a recent harvest, and browse Mama P’s farm stand, as well as those of other local growers. Mama P will guide participants through a discussion on land access inequity in Rochester, her interest in farm stands, and her vast experience in yielding gems from the garden to create herbal products.
Skillshare 10: Food Business and Policy
- Must know food policies + programs that exist for NYC/NYS Farmers/ Producers
- Food Waste and Surplus l Nourish NY
- City Harvest Local Food Advocacy l Not just farm to table but Farmers at the table
- Current bills to support, how to support segue into the Farm Bill
- Farm Bill and how the Bill addresses the needs of minority farmers, including women, veterans, and socially disadvantaged groups, to ensure equitable access to funds, resources and opportunities.
- Discussed the provisions in the farm bill that will have the most significant impact on BIPOC large/ small scale farmers and communities.
In the video for this skillshare, there is evidence of the community created as a result of networking through these skillshares.
Value Added Intuition Kitchen—This was a three-part series led by True Food Preservation Collective LLC, an emerging cooperative of food—and land-loving folks in the mid-Hudson Valley (unceded Lenape Land) who build skills as rituals for our collective health.
Krista Speroni led a playful practice in demystifying our foods and sharing kitchen skills, hacks & recipes using collective intuition & ancestor guidance.
Lessons learned:
-make quick pickles using surplus vegetables -Understand the importance of pickling as a food preservation method, including its benefits for extending shelf life, enhancing flavor and contributing to food sustainability -practice using intuition & taste to move "off recipe" -learn about the health benefits & properties of certain spices & herbs and of homemade vs. store pickles -how can these basics be a foundation for ideas about value added products on our farms
Post-session Recap:
-Some participants shared pickling memories -Krista shared about this work at True Foods -Discussion about using intuition to guide flavor combinations such as balancing water & vinegar, salty & sweet, spicy or not spicy, spears vs. rinds -Discussions around the various health benefits that different spices and herbs (and their various combinations) provide -Talked about how parts of fruits & vegetables that might typically be discarded can often work well for pickles, for example watermelon rinds -How to take all of this knowledge and begin to think about the possibilities of value-added products to create additional revenue streams for farm businesses
In the Preserve Natures Bounty, Introduction to Canning, this is another value added skillshare this continues to create community!
Milestone #11 - Ongoing throughout the project and completed by February 28, 2024, 50 Black farmers and food systems actors will inform program improvement and progress towards the end goals of increased sales and improved social sustainability by participating in a facilitated group discussion together that occurs once annually as part of a webinar/skillshare.
13
3
25
3
February 28, 2024
Completed
November 13, 2024
Institutional and Private Market Access for Black Farmers in NY. This skillshare was a hybrid of in-person and virtual and interactive.
During this skillshare participants were involved in a facilitated group discussion regarding how to increase sales, marketing, continued networking and improved social sustainability.
Milestone #12 - Ongoing throughout the project and completed by February 28, 2024, through qualitative research questions sent via survey following each educational offering (included in milestone #10), 50 Black farmers and food systems actors will reflect on if and how the webinars/skillshares impacted: (1) relationship-building and network development; and (2) the ways in which Black farmers navigate the barriers they face.
50
2
63
6
February 28, 2024
Completed
January 31, 2025
Researcher Jessica Gilbert advanced the research component in three key ways.
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities:
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
40 Black farmers participated in a skill share and provided information via a survey to advise what skill shares they would be interested in attending. We had a section called "Hot Topics," which asked what type of farming and land stewardship they are currently practicing and what they hope to practice in the future. Based on this feedback and other survey results, the team used this information to build the content for our skill-share presentations.
Learning Outcomes:
1)Map of Black Farmers across State: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1pUuoIdAFW3qGXsmbtNyMFOgZmhSauaw&hl=en&usp=sharing
2) Wisdom of Black Farmers: Over 50 years of farming and food systems work. Stories of struggle and overcoming land loss and land access challenges, growing a successful farming operation. 180 attendees
3) During the Rochester Skillshare, attendees learned about growing (collard greens), harvesting on rural farms and preparing for a farmers market the following day, backyard herb growing and marketing those products. 23 attendees
4) During the Intuition Kitchen Skillshare, attendees learned how to pickle, about recipes for allergies, spices, and their health benefits and fermentation. 6 attendees
5) During the Canning - Nature's Bounty and Introduction to Canning - skillshare, led by Olivia Watkins, Co-founder of Black Farmers Fund - attendees learned step-by-step instructions on how to "Can," including information from the USDA principles of home canning and recipes from National Institute of Food and Agriculture. 40 attendees
6) Farms, Funds, and Finances skillshare—a highly requested skillshare in which attendees learned about bookkeeping for farmers, tax preparation , and everything else "you need to know" for financial success on the farm. 30 attendees
7) Marketing to Deepen Community Roots - a skillshare attendees learned about regenerative farming and how to market the quality of products resulting from regenerative agriculture. 12 attendees
8) Accessing Farm Land - another highly requested skillshare led by Northeast Farmers of Color Land trust - attendees were educated on determining if farmland is suitable for growing and overall basic information regarding how to access land. 22 attendees
7) Institutional and Private Market Access for Black Farmers - farmers discussed resources, quality of food and aggregation across the state. This work continues, there has been one meeting of farmers interested in continuing to gather and discuss this work specifically aggregation. The next meeting is scheduled for March 22-23, 2025, in Buffalo, NY, with tours of the Buffalo Go Green operation and the Massachusetts Avenue Project operation. his work.
8) Rural Homesteading and Farm Operations - a total of 55 attendees at these skillshares, at both of these events, attendees were able to learn about various types of farming operations and get an understanding of what preparation needs to take place if one is considering homesteading.
Performance Target Outcomes
Target #1
10
Farmers will establish a Black Farming Marketing Cooperative.
10 farmers will access both blended capital opportunities and new markets or growth opportunities for their products. Of these, 4 will access new plots of land through ground leases.
10 farmers will report enhanced well-being due to improved mental health and community connections. Additionally, they will increase their revenue from agricultural sales by $500, for a total increase of $5,000.
10
The change was an introduction to a group of Black Farmers ready and willing to engage and support each other's work.
10
Farmers gained awareness about this project. The big takeaway was that farmers were excited and impressed to learn about the number of other Black Farmers that they did not know and are now in network with. Also, the opportunity to build or join a co-op specifically designed to meet the needs of Black Farmers
We had 104 farmers interested in exploring, creating, and becoming a member of a Black Farmers Marketing Co-op, this information was uncovered through surveys, in-person skillshares, and co-op community-building activities. The creation of the co-op continues, convenings are scheduled, and support for this co-op to come to fruition remains strong. The target was met regarding the proposed number of farmer beneficiaries who participated and the proposed number of agriculture service provider beneficiaries.
10 farmers either accessed both blended capital opportunities and new markets or growth opportunities for their products, the breakdown is as follows: 1 farmer accessed a blended capital opportunity to purchase land that was previously leased and to expand his fruit orchard production. 3 farmers acquired new parcels of land in the WNY area. 1 is a new urban farmer who purchased her land, 1 urban farmer expanded her operation through a new land purchase, and 1 farmer moved from a rural setting to an urban setting and will lease the land for 7 years with the option to purchase, this deal was initiated and supported by Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust. Buffalo Go Green is the passthrough for all funds.
12 farmers are working together to continue to aggregate products across the state. 1 farmer is moving products from Rochester to Harlem for the weekly farmers' market. These aggregation talks continue, the next one is scheduled for March 22-23rd in Buffalo.
Black Farmers report centering their work on "ethics of self-care, community, and land to transform unjust socio-economic systems into those that foster health and well-being for all." Many report that "Farming is a form of self-care." Farming brings joy, physical activity, and healthier eating habits.
9 farmers reported expanded markets. Networking through this project allowed for increased sales of value-added products both at BUGS 2022 and across NY State (we were not able to detail regarding the exact amount of increased sales). Again, this network building and aggregation continue. 1 farmer put it this way: "Us speaking to each other, us applying for grants together, us sharing our demographics and sharing the needs of our communities together is really what will keep us knitted and rooted together. We will become stronger in knowing how to apply; we will become stronger in the language that the funder...or legislators need to hear. We learn from the organizations that we are a part of".
Our first skill share was for Black Farmers to respond to a survey asking them to share their needs and interests for future skill shares.
Hope to Practice in the future:
| 59% | Nuts - hazelbert, acorns, walnuts, etc. |
| 54% | Rural land "homesteading" skills - food preserving, off grid energy, water systems, etc. |
| 54% | Agroecology, agroforestry, polycultures, food forest |
| 52% | Tree fruits - apple, peach, plum, etc. |
| 52% | Mushrooms |
| 48% | Honoring and protection of ancestral remains / burial grounds |
| 48% | Honey bee keeping |
| 46% | Forest management - wildlife, firewood, recreation, timber etc. |
| 44% | Medicinal herbs - echinacea, sage, chamomile etc. |
| 44% | Regenerative pasture management |
Major Barriers
| 43% | Lack of access to money and/or credit |
| 57% | lack of access to land |