Volume II, Issue II Available for Pre-Order Now
I MET JENNIFER THOMPSON, A BLACK NATIVE OF ATLANTA, NEARLY A DECADE AGO DURING PRE-COLLEGE ORIENTATION. Now, years later, she’s not only one of my closest friends but a person I call often to talk about the challenges facing our hometowns and Black people around the world. Her deep knowledge of food systems, soil, and growing helps many who travel with her learn why agriculture is integral to Black liberation. Whether you journey with her to Sapelo Island or the mountains of Cuba, she is eager to connect people with land. As a 27-year-old grower and market manager, she offers wisdom about the role of farmers in the ongoing struggle for Black liberation.
We spoke about her journey as a young student organizer turned community leader, and what it means to nourish community across the African diaspora.
You started your journey of leading agricultural programs as a young student organizer. What’s the link between organizing and the farming you’re doing now?
Organizing at Davidson College allowed me to gain confidence in going after projects, resources, and mentors that I might’ve otherwise been steered away from. I never did projects by myself at Davidson, so I don’t do projects by myself now.
How has that translated into the coalitions where you find yourself as a farmer in the Southeast, with connections to Cuban, Bahamian, and Jamaican farmers?
I have a deep recognition that I can’t—and won’t—do projects by myself. That’s not the way life plays out. It’s not the way science plays out. Everything is stronger with at least one other [being or life form].
Everything is stronger with at least one other [being or life form].
I don’t hold a specific title. I fill in where necessary. That flexibility shows trust. There’s more work to be done to ensure that people are doing collaborative work. At what point do we build out ways to interact with each other outside of one-off trips?
That was the goal Victor-Alan and I had in mind when creating pathways for Davidson to support the cultural revitalization project with Maurice Bailey in Sapelo. It has lasted to this day. It’s the longest project I’ve ever been involved with. And I’ve taken breaks, thanks to the structure that we built with other Black-led organizations like Black Too Earth.
My guiding questions are: How are folks building community? Did you continue to talk to folks? Are you going back? What are you taking? We have to get out of that vacation mindset. When we go to Sapelo, I let people know they’re going to be working.
What challenges are you and farmers throughout the Southeast facing right now?
Economic sustainability, access to resources. The biggest and scariest looming threat is the declining number of active farmers. This is shaping how farmers are being defined. There’s fear about job sustainability and market access.
You’re talking about the supply chain and its impact on a farmer’s life?
Yes. This is serious work. This is how folks eat. Farmers are impacted by the supply chain, and we supply. Many people don’t have intimate relationships with farmers anymore.
What would you say to people who believe that interest in farming has piqued?
I do think there’s a heightened interest in farming. However, it’s like any dream; if you have no place to nourish it, then it might die.
Folks aren’t realizing that young farmers cannot afford this farm land. There’s a farmer I know who put his farm on the market a year ago for $1 million, and it’s still not sold. I don’t know many people who have $1 million or can get approval from the bank for loans at that amount or who can conjure that in grants or sponsorships. It’s really difficult to achieve that first step of securing the farmland. I have friends who are my age, and they’ve never been able to farm on a site for more than a year and a half.
What do you enjoy about the collectives you’re a part of? What are the practical steps that you think build a stronger food justice movement across the African diaspora?
We need to pay our elders to teach us how to farm on their land. There are so many Black farmer elders sitting on knowledge. The transfer of knowledge is slowing down. There needs to be a collective effort amongst organizations serving the South to transfer that knowledge that’s currently with our elders. There’s a heightened interest in farming, and funds are going into farm programs for kids in grade school. What do we have for them when they leave those school spaces? How are we cultivating the spaces for after?
Is there anything else you’re thinking about regarding challenges for farmers right now?
The cut of government aid.
SNAP’s about to bop us in the back of the head like we ain’t never been bopped in the back of the head before.
People should use learning more about SNAP as a starting place. What is SNAP, and why do people have it? What are the requirements to be eligible for SNAP? How does the erasure of it play into the lives of folks who rely on SNAP? And then know that SNAP, in some places, is in line to be completely cut in 1 to 2 years. That’s going to make people hungry. We have to be aware that SNAP isn’t just going to affect people buying food. It’s also going to affect the farmers who accept SNAP and vendors, and stores. It’s going to be a big drop in the economic bucket that is food systems, and that’s really scary.
