Volume II, Issue II Available for Pre-Order Now
THE NEW FARMERS OF AMERICA (NFA) CONFRONTED ISSUES OF FOOD INSECURITY WHILE ADVOCATING FOR SOVEREIGNTY OVER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND EDUCATION IN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. In 1935, the NFA established one of the largest African American youth farm movements, helping boys develop leadership skills and gain access to professional opportunities in agriculture.[1]
Among the many strategies the NFA employed to advance self-determination and resist racist policies, food preservation emerged as both a means of sustaining African American households in North Carolina and a tactic for asserting community power. This article argues that preservation practices merit greater recognition as both practical and political tools for advancing Black agency.
This study centers North Carolina due to the abundance of archival sources originating from the state. In the early to mid-twentieth century, the African American agricultural landscape in the southeastern region endured the exploitative systems of sharecropping and tenant farming, both of which contributed to food insecurity. Following emancipation, cotton and tobacco production expanded in the region, often to the detriment of African American communities. Denied reparations and land, African American sharecroppers had no agency over the soil they toiled on and were at the mercy of landlords.[2]
Denying access to land, capital, and resources prevented many African Americans from growing their own food, contributing directly to rising rates of malnutrition. In Human Geography of the South, southern sociologist Rupert Vance documents the scarcity of food crops and livestock during his visit to eastern North Carolina. He writes, “First in the nation in its combined production of cotton and tobacco, no other area produces cash crops of such value; no area has increased its tenancy rate so rapidly, and in no area do livestock, milk, and home-grown vegetables play so little part in farming.”[3] The agricultural conditions Vance observed intensified food insecurity throughout the region.
The NFA’s work with canning developed in response to federal efforts to increase local food production in rural households. These efforts aligned with the broader agricultural progressivism movement, which promoted improved farming techniques to uplift the rural South.[4] The establishment of the Cooperative Extension program brought a wave of home demonstration agents, tasked with teaching families food preservation methods. Extension agents also organized canning clubs for boys and girls, and taught families gardening practices aimed at improving nutrition.[5] Although the program claimed to support all farmers, in practice, it failed to serve African American communities equitably. African American extension agents in the South operated with limited funding and inadequate resources, which severely constrained their ability to support African American farmers.[6] The NFA adopted canning practices not only in response to these broader initiatives but also as part of its educational mission, weaving food preservation as a tool in its practice.
African American canning communities in North Carolina demonstrated self-determination by using preservation practices to
counter the limited biodiversity imposed by a monoculture agricultural system. Through its canning initiatives, the NFA fostered both community agency and long-term sustainability. The pamphlet “Vocational Agriculture in Negro Public Schools of North Carolina” notes that NFA members primarily canned fruits and vegetables for their own school lunchrooms, supplying students with nutrient-rich ingredients often unavailable at home.[7]
The NFA extended canning efforts beyond the classroom, establishing community canneries where families could preserve the fruits and vegetables they cultivated. African American farmers supplied produce from their own harvests, while families coordinated planting schedules to map their diets and reduce reliance on the exclusionary, white-controlled food system, which offered little nutritional value. Because African American farmers were forced to grow cotton and tobacco as cash crops, which didn’t support their livelihoods, selling preserved food provided an additional source of income.
NFA chapters in North Carolina reported success with these canneries, as evidenced by the institutions they built. By 1946, 43 canneries operated across the state, collectively processing more than 800,000 cans annually.[8] Black newspapers regularly celebrated the NFA’s achievements. The Future Outlook, an African American newspaper, praised the organization for teaching “minority groups to grow independent as to their actual needs, and to contribute something worthwhile to their respective communities.”[9]
The North Carolina chapter also emphasized service to both its community and others worldwide. During World War II, when rationing strained food supplies, the NFA donated canned goods to an African American orphanage in Oxford, North Carolina.[10]
In Littleton, the McIver School Cannery, operated by the state NFA chapter, served 183 families and produced more than 70,000 cans annually.[11] In 1945, the NFA partnered with the Home Economics Girls to organize a can drive for food insecure populations in postwar Europe. Working in collaboration with local families, the group collected 500 cans from the community cannery to support international relief efforts. Altogether, the North Carolina NFA chapter contributed 23,000 cans.[12]
This international outreach demonstrated how African Americans mobilized through the NFA to organize and influence food systems beyond their local contexts The Roanoke Rapids Herald acknowledged the McIver Cannery’s significance, stating: “The community cannery has not only served the community in helping conserve food products, but it has been an instrument in teaching the advantages of cooperative activities.”[13]
After World War II, NFA chapters continued producing and preserving food throughout their communities. In Rocky Mount, North Carolina, these efforts led to the establishment of the Pender Porter Cannery, later recognized as one of the state’s most respected facilities. Located in Edgecombe County, the cannery processed over 50,000 cans of fruits, vegetables, and meats each year, playing a necessary role in strengthening the local food system.[14]
From the 1930s through the 1950s, canning shaped the everyday lives of African Americans in rural North Carolina. For the state’s NFA chapters, community preservation extended beyond personal or local needs, aligning with broader efforts to secure food sovereignty and build collective self-determination. In her article “Locations of Black Identity: Community Canning Centers in Texas, 1915–1935,” historian Debra A. Reid describes how African Americans in Texas organized similar canning programs to preserve fruits, vegetables, and meats. She argues that these efforts provided protective spaces for Black farmers and promoted cooperative labor in response to systemic exclusion.
Yet, while community canning offered a foundation for Black agricultural self-determination in the mid-twentieth century, this momentum was disrupted in the following decade by sweeping federal legislation. The passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act abruptly halted the NFA’s success. By mandating its merger with the Future Farmers of America (FFA), the legislation dismantled an organization that, for over three decades, had allowed African American stewards in agricultural educators to establish deep, community-rooted relationships essential to sustaining local food systems. This forced consolidation severed those ties and placed white officials in control of institutions they had never supported.
In an oral history interview, Dr. Arthur P. Bell, a former NFA member who later became a professor of agricultural education at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, reflected on the emotional toll of the merger: “The Blacks were demoralized.
The morale went down because they felt as if they had lost something.” He emphasized that many African Americans did not view this as a true merger, but rather as an “absorption,” one in which white leadership subsumed the NFA and erased its legacy.
Despite its forced merger with the FFA, the early strides of the NFA still should offer Black food justice stewards a blueprint for methods to achieve self determination. Its example demonstrated that food preservation could serve as a powerful tool for building community-based food systems. Through NFA-supported hubs, Black North Carolinians reduced their reliance on the white-controlled food economy. Collective planning enabled communities to manage diets, store food during shortages, and distribute resources equitably.
Today, none of the canneries once operated by the North Carolina NFA chapter remain in operation. Still, the model they offered continues to hold relevance. Community canneries offer agency over food production and distribution, which is an essential strategy for resisting the industrialized food system that continues to harm Black communities. Reviving such canneries represents an urgent priority for today’s food justice stewards, especially in the face of growing systemic fragility.
The NFA’s commitment to youth engagement also offers critical lessons. During the 1946-1947 school year, more than 9,000 young members across North Carolina participated in food security work through the organization.[15] These students not only cultivated and preserved food but also assumed leadership roles within their communities, helping to sustain local food systems.
Bell emphasized this dynamic in his interview: “The NFA played a very significant role because their people were in rural communities, and many people were not mindful of the activities that were a part of the NFA. The teacher of agriculture would travel throughout the community, visiting homes with the students, working with adults, bringing them into the program, and then they became familiar with the activities of the NFA and developed an appreciation for what it was doing for their sons. Unfortunately, young girls were not a part of the NFA at that time.”[16]
The movement’s decline also offers important lessons. The forced merger with the FFA not only erased the NFA’s legacy but also led to a sharp drop in Black youth participation; as of 2024, African Americans account for only 5.7 percent of FFA members.[17]
A new organization, modeled on the NFA, that centers youth while adapting to the modern realities of both rural and urban life, is urgently needed. Such a group could help increase agricultural knowledge in Black communities and address the widening age gap among Black farmers. By rejecting the dominant food system, which allocates more than 70 percent of U.S. farmland to grain and cattle, a revitalized movement could once again advance the struggle for Black agency and food security.
