Jul 12, 2021
Editor’s Note: Black-owned farms make up less than 2 percent of all farms in the United States. According to a 2020 report, Black farmers lost 80 percent of their farmland from 1910 to 2007, often because they lacked access to loans or insurance needed to sustain their businesses. We need to better support these businesses and work together to ensure that we’re breaking down barriers for Black farmers to enter the agricultural industry and succeed in it.
CONTENT SOURCED FROM ROOTS DOWN
We believe that Black lives matter. Our modern-day agricultural system was built on exploitation, slavery, and stolen land. Systemic racism in agriculture is clear in the disproportionate government aid given to white farmers, food apartheid in communities of color, and Black farmers losing ownership of land at double the rate of white farmers. Of the near one billion acres of agricultural land in America, people of color own less than 2%. As an agriculture business focused on equity and justice, we feel it is our responsibility to use our privilege to call attention to these injustices, amplify the voices of Black agrarian workers, and prioritize servicing Black communities.
As a white-owned business operating under an inherently racist, oppressive system, we recognize that our work will not be over until we dismantle the very structures that our company currently benefits from. We vow to support the BLM movement in all the ways that we can. We vow to fight for communities over capitalism. We vow to help rebuild an agricultural system that is void of racial inequity. We vow to use our privilege to serve as accomplices to this revolution.
That's why we're building this list of the top 88 Black-owned green businesses, to provide our network with a launching point for doing the work of dismantling the past and building a more just, equitable, and green future. If you would like to see any other businesses or resources added to this list, please reach out to us! We want this page to just get better and better.
A few steps toward anti-racism.
Looking for a few ways you can use your privilege for good? Here are some tips that white and privileged folks can take to aid in the fight for racial justice.
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Redistribute your wealth
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Buy from Black-owned farms and growers
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Listen to Black leaders (white voices like ours should not be in the spotlight)
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Volunteer your time and/or services to Black-owned organizations
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Attend protests
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Call your representatives to demand that they defund and dismantle police
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Educate yourself instead of asking people of color to do the work for you
California
FARMS TO GROW, INC is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to working with Black farmers and underserved sustainable farmers around the country. Farms To Grow, Inc. is committed to sustainable farming and innovative agriculture practices which preserve the cultural and biological diversity, and the agroecological balance of the local environment. Our mission is to assist African American farmers and other under-served farmers/gardeners maintain and create sustainable farms and spaces to grow food and motivate the next generation of farmers to grow sustainably and with the community in mind.
A child’s mindset begins to develop at birth. We believe that enrichment can plant positive seeds in the minds of growing youth. This is our “Busy hands = Busy minds” concept: providing activities that encourage kids to explore their limitless creativity, and absorb knowledge about the world around them. We serve youth (ages 4-14) by engaging them in gardening, art, and STEM. Our hands-on enrichment opens minds to a complete potential for learning all while having fun, laughter, and excitement.
We believe every youth who attends our program leaves with the inspiration to Dream big and Believe they can achieve anything in life. Busy hands = Busy minds can be seen in every part of our program, to help kids create and develop a positive mindset.
Birthed from a belief that queer, black, woman farmers need more representation and celebration in the growing world, Ashlee Johnson-Geisse created Brown Girl Farms. While envisioned for many years, this intentional space was officially formed in response to an urgent need for plant starts and fresh produce within the community. Brown Girl Farms moved to its new home in Hayward where Ashlee Johnson-Geisse lives with her wife Jen and their pup Jay.
Florida
Hawaii
Georgia
Urban GreenWorks (UGW) is a Miami-based not-for-profit organization and a fund of the Miami Foundation. We exist to restore the economic, physical, and social health of under-served communities. Our focus is community food security and environmental restoration. UGW creates programs for communities plagued by poor access to fresh food, blighted and neglected open space, low urban tree cover, and an under-employed population of young adults. We provide environmental programs and green job training to incarcerated men and women, youth remanded by court to drug rehab and at-risk high-school youth in low-income neighborhoods.
Gilliam's mission is to nourish communities across metro Atlanta with fresh, healthy, locally-grown food that is accessible and affordable for all. They are a 3-acre sustainable urban garden located in Atlanta's Westside neighborhood. Since 2014, their diversified garden produces beautiful vegetables, herbs, fresh eggs, and their very own dried spice blends.
Gilliam's Community Garden serves as an outdoor educational center for local children, homeschool families and schools seeking unique science-based and STEM learning. They provide cooking classes for seniors, as well as learning tours and urban farming experiences for volunteer groups.
Founded by Chef Gida Snyder, Slow Island Food & Beverage Co. is a Black woman-owned food products company on the beautiful island of Kaua’i. Our mission is to uplift farmers, support and mentor other women in the food production space, and to celebrate the diversity and abundance of incredible ingredients grown in Hawaii. Chef Gida is a Certified Master Preserver and alumni of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific with years of international cooking experience. She is driven by quality and uses her skills to bottle the exceptional fruit & produce and share a taste of the islands we call home!
Our excellent team of (mostly) women come from diverse backgrounds; restaurants, farming, retail, science and art but all have one thing in common: a deep love for food & farms. From juicing to bottling and everything in between, we all have a hand in making our Slow Island products amazing! Teamwork makes this dream work!
New York
The mission of East New York Farms! is to organize youth and adults to address food justice in our community by promoting local sustainable agriculture and community-led economic development. East New York Farms! is a project of the United Community Centers in partnership with local residents. We have been working with youth, gardeners, farmers, and entrepreneurs to build a more just and sustainable community since 1998
Vision: To build community pride, provide healthy provisions to our neediest residents, encourage youth empowerment and develop a communal culture towards land use and community health. Brooklyn Rescue Mission was founded in 2002 by a group of clergy and community workers with a vision to service the hungry, hurting and homeless people of Central Brooklyn with healthy fresh food and clean warm clothing. The mission’s founders helped many poor working families, predominantly headed by low wage earners, by providing food outreach and clothing assistance. Brooklyn Rescue Mission, Inc. was successfully formed and now assists families living in a community where many of the residents are one paycheck away from homelessness.
Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. We raise and distribute life-giving food as a means to end food apartheid. With deep reverence for the land and wisdom of our ancestors, we work to reclaim our collective right to belong to the earth and to have agency in the food system. We bring diverse communities together on this healing land to share skills on sustainable agriculture, natural building, spiritual activism, health, and environmental justice. We are training the next generation of activist-farmers and strengthening the movements for food sovereignty and community self-determination.
