Episode 19: Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm
“We appreciate the legacy of George Washington Carver at Tuskegee University, who convinced an entire generation of farmers in the late 18th century to practice regenerative… cover crops, mulching, composting, diversifying their crops…
“ It’s a tragedy to rob Organic of it’s proud history, to imagine that it is new, an innovation of the West. ”
From https://www.farmingwhileblack.org/team and https://www.soulfirefarm.org : Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol educator, farmer/peyizan, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2011 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. Leah holds an MA in Science Education and BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a Manye (Queen Mother) in Vodun. Leah has been farming since 1996 and teaching since 2002. Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. Their food sovereignty programs reach over 10,000 people each year, including farmer training for Black and Brown growers, reparations and land return initiatives for northeast farmers, food justice workshops for urban youth, home gardens for city-dwellers living under food apartheid, doorstep harvest delivery for food insecure households, and systems and policy education for public decision-makers.
Indispensable resources from Soul Fire Farm:
https://www.soulfirefarm.org/media/publications/
https://www.soulfirefarm.org/portfolio-items/food-sovereignty-action-steps/
https://www.soulfirefarm.org/portfolio-items/equity-guidelines/
https://www.soulfirefarm.org/media/farming-while-black/
Take Action:
Policy demands: https://www.soulfirefarm.org/get-involved/take-action/
Reparations: https://m4bl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reparations-Now-Toolkit-FINAL.pdf
Fairness for Farmworkers Act: https://www.harris.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Fairness%20for%20Farm%20Workers%20Act%20One%20Pager.pdf
Justice for Black Farmers Act: https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/11/black-farmers-have-been-robbed-of-land-a-new-bill-would-give-them-a-quantum-leap-toward-justice/?fbclid=IwAR1unD-AUvcnYkDBkV2dHBVxUyyiaZS8NtpYTq1O490XAqucUMT3yznQVu4
More on George Washington Carver: https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/george-washington-carvers-legacy-went-beyond-peanuts
Donate: https://www.soulfirefarm.org/support/
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Episode #19 Notes
1:00 - What inspired you to start Soul Fire Farm?
2:15 - Tell us about your farming practices, the origins of these practices, and how they’ve been appropriated?
5:15 - How might you critique the Organic farming standard especially around BIPOC farmers around the US?
6:20 - How is Soul Fire Farm enabling food access in your community, and how is it rooted in food sovereignty?
8:30 - What can we do with food policy in ending racism in the food system, particularly around farm owners and workers?
11:30 - How would reparations play into anti-racist food policy, and how could people support this?
14:30 - Entrepreneurial ally programs, and working in the direction of reparations.
15:30 - How can federal policy enable healthy food access?
18:30 - New federal bill on land justice for black farmers.
21:00 - Organizational dynamics: how does listening come into your organizing work?
24:00 - What are some internal organizational strategies for a more just and inclusive work environment?
25:45 - Whaat are some steps funders can take to dismantle racism in their own practices?
29:00 - Individuals and the steps they can take to move the food system in a positive direction.
30:45 - On high functioning boards.
32:45 - Any suggested readings?
Farming While Black, Leah Pennimaan
Broken Earth Trilogy, NK Jemisin
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms Trilogy, NK Jemisin
Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu
Dare to Lead Podcast, Brene Brown
Freedom Farmers, Monica M. White
Black Food Geographies, Ashante M. Reese
