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

In 1920, 14% of all landowning U.S. farmers were Black. Today, less than 2% of farms are controlled by Black people. That’s a loss of more than 14 million acres resulting from discrimination and dispossession. While farm management is among the whitest of professions, farm labor is predominantly brown and exploited. People of color disproportionately live in “food apartheid” neighborhoods and suffer from diet-related illnesses. The system is built on stolen land and 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 colo