An update.
The anti-police protests and the activism in support of the Black Lives Matter movement may be diminishing in your spheres of influence, but we urge you not to become complacent. To achieve real change will take years of sustained energy and effort (see all past efforts that have withered on the vine…).
The murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests have firmly and forever (I hope) pushed our family and farm out of the quiet mode of anti-racism, i.e., "just trying to be good people will hopefully be enough," and into the more outspoken mode of anti-racism via direct and sustained action. It is my firm commitment that we will not be quiet allies. We will be loud advocates and direct activists.
Our two most concrete actions to date are weekly food donations to the Hope Center and weekly donations of 20% of our market sales to organizations and individuals working in some way to increase racial equality and end systemic white supremacy. In addition to our donations, more recently we have been sharing our causes with our farm share community and offing an opportunity for them (you fabulous people!) to support these good works as well.
Here is what we as a community have given:
Sylvanaqua Farms: This farm and farmer are incredible anti-racism activists in Virginia speaking directly to some of the racism that exists in the farming world. Chris is working to create a new type of farm community that would provide access to farm land for people of color and change the dynamic of food distribution today as we know it.
Roanoke Community Bail Fund: Our local bail fund to directly support people stuck in jail unnecessarily, due purely to lack of access to money.
No Justice No Peace: These activists in Roanoke are focused on reforming the police and ending white supremacy in our town.
Humble Hustle: Humble Hustle is a local nonprofit doing amazing work with communities of color in our area.
Native American Rights Fund: While the recent Supreme Court victory for First Nation people was a huge step in the right direction, it’s more important than ever to support legal advocacy by and for indigenous people.
South West Virginia Agrarian Commons: This organization seeks to create a new model of land distribution, ownership, and stewardship that increases equitable access to farm land and seeks to dismantle systemic barriers to new, young farmers which have severely restricted people of color from finding agricultural opportunity in the U.S.
Moving forward this season, we will continue to pick different causes every week to support. Giving in this way allows us to spread our love around the community and bring new and different causes onto your radar (assuming you read our newsletter :). Maybe this act will help a few more people think about giving, and think about the small changes that each of us can act on to make the community a more equitable place.
This winter I hope to spend time thinking about a longer term strategy for how our farm can continue to engage directly and vocally in social justice work. I have some ideas swirling around in my head that I spend my time thinking about while picking beans and blackberries. One idea is to have a camp (or two) specifically for children of color. Another could be running community gardens in neighborhoods with little access to fresh food. Another might be sponsoring a farmer apprenticeship program for young people of color who don’t have access to land. These are just a few… for now, we’ll keep giving, and keep picking beans.
If you have thoughts, send them to me!