A growing movement in the Pacific Northwest is being led by black farmers in the Seattle area looking to build community and create equity.
“Having young people come here and ask me who does all this, who’s the farmer, and it’s like it’s me, the black woman here,” said Nyema Clark, Queen Farmer at the Nurturing Roots Farm in Beacon Hill.
Clark never thought that she could build an urban farm in a city pushing people out that look like her.
“We need this. It shouldn’t be taboo. It shouldn’t be something that we can’t access. We cannot afford,” she said. “Black people have so often been, I think, pushed out of the systems that could really benefit you as a community and I think it’s intentional. And, I think being a black person, it’s intentional that we focus and reinvest in ourselves.”
Another black farmer, Edward Hill, has helped cultivate and grow the community of black farmers in the area for decades.
“How do we turn this into an economy for the community that can both be something that heals us and provides us with work and industry that genetically apart of us beyond and before slavery,” Hill said.
Hill helped create a first of its kind conference for black farmers called “Back to the Root” happening Friday, February 22 at Oregon State University.
“This is not just about Black Folks,” said Hill. “It’s about building a larger community that is familiar with us as participants in the food system and aren’t shocked when they see you show up at that conference.”
Farmers like Melony Edwards, who farms on Whidbey Island, knows what it’s like to be the only one.
“A lot of people of color won’t take the risk to a go to a rural white community to farm because they don’t know what’s expected,” Edwards said. “I didn’t know if the community would accept me or if they could chase me off or something like that.”
Edwards is the only black farmer on the land that isn’t hers.
“Most farmers of color that I know of don’t own land. Like this isn’t my land. So in order for us to be able to sustain ourselves long term, we need access to land and to be able to afford it as well.”
That’s one of many reasons the conference will benefit local black farmers.
“There’s money specifically targeting black veterans, Native American veterans, farmers of color, underrepresented populations that have not been able to get into this,” said Hill
Creating access is key, especially when you’re doing something you love
“It just feels so right. I feel like this is what I supposed to be doing. I can take control of my health and then give something to my kids and leave a legacy here for my community,” said Clark. “It’s like a gift yeah.”