Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land

Description

Recipient of the 28th Heinz Awards for the Economy: Leah PennimanJames Beard
Foundation Leadership Award 2019: Leah Penniman Choice Reviews, Outstanding
Academic Title”An extraordinary book…part agricultural guide, part
revolutionary manifesto.”―VOGUENamed a “Best Book on Sustainable Living and
Sustainability” by Book RiotIn 1920, 14 percent of all land-owning US farmers
were black. Today less than 2 percent 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 and
needs a redesign. Farming While Black is the first comprehensive “how to”
guide for aspiring African-heritage growers to reclaim their dignity as
agriculturists and for all farmers to understand the distinct, technical
contributions of African-heritage people to sustainable agriculture. At Soul
Fire Farm, author Leah Penniman co-created the Black and Latinx Farmers
Immersion (BLFI) program as a container for new farmers to share growing
skills in a culturally relevant and supportive environment led by people of
color. Farming While Black organizes and expands upon the curriculum of the
BLFI to provide readers with a concise guide to all aspects of small-scale
farming, from business planning to preserving the harvest. 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. The technical
information is designed for farmers and gardeners with beginning to
intermediate experience. For those with more experience, the book provides a
fresh lens on practices that may have been taken for granted as ahistorical or
strictly European. Black ancestors and contemporaries have always been
leaders―and continue to lead―in the sustainable agriculture and food justice
movements. It is time for all of us to listen.”A moving and powerful how-to
book for Black farmers to reclaim the occupation and the contributions of the
BIPOC community that introduced sustainable agriculture.”―BookRiot.com”Leah
Penniman is . . . opening the door for the next generation of farmers.”―CBS
This Morning Read more

Features:

Product Details:

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chelsea Green Publishing (October 30, 2018)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1603587616
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 17
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.18 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.75 x 10 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #75,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #81 in Food Science (Books) #112 in Black & African American History (Books) #261 in African American Demographic Studies (Books)
• #81 in Food Science (Books)
• #112 in Black & African American History (Books)