GREENMAIL - Leah Penniman: Steps to Make Farming More Inclusive - Franklin & Marshall College
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FEBRUARY 2021
GREENMAIL
A Monthly Newsletter by Franklin & Marshall College's
Center for the Sustainable Environment
Leah Penniman: Steps to Make
Farming More Inclusive
BLACK HISTORY by Becca Barter
MONTH Today, around 19 million Americans live in food
apartheids (Silva, 2020). In a rural area, food aparthieds
exist when people do not have access to a food market
within 10 miles of their home. Urban food apartheids are
locations where one does not have access to fresh and
nutritious food within a mile of their residence (“The
Leah Penniman - 1
Harsh Reality of Food Deserts in the United States,” 2017).
John Francis, Planet These areas are sometimes referred to as food deserts,
Walker - 3 however the term ‘food apartheid’ has become more
common in recent years in order to emphasize that this
Majora Carter - 5
is a man-made phenomena (Bierend, 2018).
Leah Thomas, - 7
Intersectional The amount of families experiencing food insecurity has
Environmentalist increased greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic because
of price increases for fresh food and the inability to use
food stamps for online groceries in most places in the
United States (Meyersohn, 2020).
However, the lack of access to fresh food in many communities is not a new issue, and
continues to disproportionately impact people of color, particularly the Black
1 community, who are twice as likely to experience food insecurity than white individuals
Racial disparities also exist in food production. Farmers of color only make up 8%
of the United States’ 2.1 million farmers, and only half of that percentage own the
land that they farm (Holt-Giménez & Harper, 2016). Furthermore, these farmers
tend to make less than $40,000 annually, while their white counterparts make
roughly $190,000 yearly (Sewell, 2019). The discrepancy in the salary and number
of white farmers is due to the theft of indigenous land and the exploitation of
minority labor. Additionally, after the Civil War, many Black Americans owned
farmland in the South. That land was systematically taken away from them during
the Jim Crow era through discriminatory practices (Nawaz & Yang, 2019). Until
recently, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) continued to
discriminate against black farmers by preventing them from receiving loans.
Some farmers have been pushing back against injustice in the food system. In
Pigford v Glickman , 400 black farmers sued the USDA for ignoring grievances that
black farmers brought up to USDA officials and for denying loans and other forms
of support. The government eventually settled the case, providing each farmer
with $50,000. Eight years later, then-Senator Barack Obama helped reopen the
case, allowing the plaintiffs to receive more financial support, and as president,
Obama provided another $1.25 billion to the claimants (Sewell, 2019).
While there have been strides to make conventional agriculture more inclusive,
sustainable farming is still typically dominated by white farmers. Farmers markets
and organic agriculture tend to be supported by white, wealthy consumers.
Additionally, some sects of sustainable farming, such as regenerative farming or
agroforestry, which is farming with a focus on restoring and maintaining the
natural ecosystem, tend to ignore the Black and indigenous contributions to the
origins of the movement (Wozniacka, 2021).
There have been several activists, particularly
activists of color, that have been pushing for
equality in the sustainable food movement,
especially in food apartheids. One activist, Leah
Penniman, has been fighting for food sovereignty
in minority communities. Penniman created Soul
Fire Farm and authored the book, Farming While
Black. Soul Fire Farm is dedicated to creating
social justice for BIPOC farmers, rebuilding soil
health through Afro-indigenous farming
practices, and providing healing experiences in
nature for individuals that live in the urban
settings. This organization reaches these goals by
offering farming workshops and classes to young
students of color, as well as through outreach
and education to spread knowledge of their
practices. Penniman originally created Soul Fire .
Courtesy: Medium
Farm because she lived in the South End of Albany, New York, which is considered a food apartheid,
and was unable to find fresh food locally. She wanted to use her farming knowledge to make a
difference for her community. Penniman’s goal is to create a new generation of Black, Latinx, and
indigenous farmers that connect with the land and are able to understand the cultural importance of
2
food sovereignty (Bierend, 2018). Her book, Farming While Black, further discusses these ideals and is
available online at Amazon and Thrift Books
John Francis the
And tragically enough, John’s journey
actually started with a joke. John Francis,
born in Philadelphia in 1946 and the son
Planetwalker
of African American working class
parents, laughed with a friend about
swearing off cars as protest. The joke
soon became all too real when one year
later a friend of Francis’ died
By Will Thoman unexpectedly and he swore off
motorized travel. The friend had a good
job as a deputy sheriff, a beautiful wife,
A total of 533 T2 oil tankers were built throughout the first half and lovely kids. And when he was gone
of the 20th century. Built to carry oil, diesel, and gasoline, they Francis realized that there aren’t any
were meant for merchant service, but could also be mobilized promises in life. He started walking
as navy vessels in times of war. Based on a ship design from because if he was going to do anything,
Bethlehem Steel, the T2s boasted a length of 152.9 meters and he better do it now.
a beam 20.7 meters wide. Two of the tankers, signed IMO
numbers 5024362 and 5264558 respectively, the Arizona For 22 years, Francis walked everywhere.
He personally attributes his decision to
Standard and Oregon Standard shipped millions of gallons of
his self described “over-inflated sense of
oil, diesel, and gasoline across the seas.
self importance.” Believing others would
follow in his footsteps, he became
The Arizona Standard and Oregon Standard had dutifully
frustrated with many of the people he
worked for 15 and 16 years when, in 1971, they were deployed spoke to on his way. Everywhere he went
for war. The two collided into one another and collectively people wanted to know what he was
spilled 800,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay. doing and why. The frustrated Francis
Devastating both marine and terrestrial ecosystems, plants, grew tired of these inevitable arguments,
and animals, the spill accounts for the largest in Bay area and on his 27th birthday in 1973, began a
history. The foul smell crept to every corner of the Bay and vow of silence that would last 17 years
hung stangantly in the sky. Black bile burrowed deep into (Save one phone call to his mother in
beaches as far as your eyes could see and your nose could sniff. year 10). He saw his vow of silence as a
gift to his community. He wanted to
listen to the people and the world
around him, a goal that fundamentally
changed his relationship to
environmental activism.
Instead of speaking, Francis listened his
way across the entire USA and much of
South America, hoping to inspire others
to reconsider their relationship to the
petroleum industry. Communicating
with gestures, sign language, and his
ever present banjo, Francis was anything
but idle. He founded Planetwalk, a non-
profit Environmental awareness
organization. He also educated himself,
receiving a B.S, a Master’s in
Environmental Studies, and a PhD in
Land Resources without speaking a
word. He ended his vow of silence on
Earth Day of 1990. The next day he was
hit by a car and injured.
He wanted to listen to the people
and the world around him, a
goal that fundamentally
changed his relationship to
Cover of Francis' book. Courtesy of Planetwalk environmental activism.
3
Though the paramedic assured Francis she wouldn’t tell anyone, he refused to ride in the ambulance and
instead walked himself to the hospital. Not too long after in 1994, at the border of Venezuela and Brazil, his
walking companions stared at him with wide eyes as he stepped on a bus. Francis had decided that the
world had changed and he would be a better environmentalist if he rode in vehicles again. In the decades
following his walk, Francis has worked with the U.S Coast Guard to write oil-spill management legislation and
in 1991 he was appointed a U.N Environmental Program Goodwill ambassador. In 2005 he wrote his
experiences down in Planetwalker: How to Change your World One Step at a Time .
What struck me most about John’s story is his unique understanding of time and the human spirit that could
only come from such a long strange trip. In a 2005 interview, Francis said he walked “because now is the only
time we have to do what we need to do.” We only have so much time to do what we need to do and to find
his path, Francis looked to himself. In his book, he said he kept silent because:
“most of my adult life I have not been listening fully. I only listened long enough to determine whether the
speaker’s ideas matched my own. If they didn’t, I would stop listening, and my mind would race ahead to
compose an argument against what I believed the speaker’s idea or position to be.”
Everyone who is and has ever been can agree to that at least a little. John Francis helped me better
understand the importance of listening to others and doing your best to understand them. The importance of
educating yourself and preparing yourself to be the best that you can be. Not being afraid to dedicate
yourself to something unorthodox. Not being afraid of your faults and shortcomings (and more importantly,
not being afraid to address them). And I think the best way to end is with the same 2005 interview from May
11th
Mark Hertsgaard (Interviewer): I’m going to read a passage from your book about your decision to stop
speaking: “the environmental crisis is really a crisis of the human spirit. Does that mean we have to wait for
humans to become better people before we can solve the environmental problem? “
Francis : I’m not sure I would say that humans are going to become better people, but I think humans are
going to become who we are. Frankly, I look at my life and I go, “God, I have great hope for everybody!”
Because I look at where I came from, and I could never have seen me walking across the country, silently
going to school, and 20 years later I’m in Washington, D.C., writing federal oil-pollution regulations. Looking at
my journey, which is part of all of our journeys, I have great hope.
Courtesy of the Inside Speaker Series
4
Majora Carter: Sustainable
South Bronx
By Jeremiah Kaplan
“No community should have to face more
environmental burdens than any other. Period. We
have to strive for equality in all aspects of life, but the
environment is chief because it affects everything—
how we breathe, what we eat and how we move through
our communities and our lives.” -Majora Carter
Image credit: Majora Carter Flickr
In the 1930s, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
began designating New York City neighborhoods with
ratings between A and D to indicate their level of The South Bronx handles 23% of the city’s
investment risk for banks. Neighborhoods designated as waste while comprising less than 3% of the
“A” were considered “least risky”, and deemed ripe for city’s population. Carter took it upon herself to
investment. Neighborhoods rated “D”, signifying “most tackle these historically-rooted and systematic
risky”, were primarily neighborhoods of color that would challenges facing her community.
go on to lack federal investment for decades. This
After receiving her master’s degree from NYU,
process, known as “redlining”, set the stage for the
Carter began work for a community
environmental inequalities New York City faces today,
development corporation in her home
including a significant lack of greenspace in historically
neighborhood of Hunts Point. It was there that
redlined communities. The Bronx is an example of one of
she began her work on riverside access
these primarily Black redlined communities. restoration projects. Working with community
members and the Parks Department, Carter
As a Bronx native, Majora Carter experienced many of the raised $3 million towards the development of
negative effects of environmental racism firsthand. Hunts Hunts Point Riverside Park. She helped clean
Point Hospital, located in the neighborhood Carter grew up this polluted section of the river, build a
up in, experiences child asthma hospitalization visits at pier for fishing and boat launches, and created
nearly twice the rate of the rest of the city, primarily due a playground surrounded by green space for
to the high number of industrial facilities, waste transfer community members to access. This sparked
stations, and highways located within the Bronx. Carter’s career in environmental justice work.
5 Image created using maps from American Community Survey (accessed via Local Housing Solutions) and Citizen’s Committee for
Children of New York (accessed via The EJBM Blog)
In August 2001, Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx, an organization with the goal to “address
economic and environmental issues in the South Bronx … through a combination of green jobs training,
community greening programs, and social enterprise”. Carter also co-founded the Bronx River Alliance
and helped form the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training Program, training workers for urban
green-collar jobs. In 2008, Carter shifted careers and founded the Majora Carter Group, a real estate
development and urban revitalization strategy consultant firm. Her company focuses on developing low-
income communities into thriving economic areas, with the goal of increasing the wealth of Black and
Brown neighborhoods that were historically disadvantaged by redlining.
Carter’s overall vision of environmental justice is that “no community should be saddled with more
environmental burdens and less environmental benefits than any other”. To this end, Carter started work
on a Greenway movement in the South Bronx. Her hard work secured $20 million in a Federal
Transportation grant to build and restore riverside parks around the industrialized area, providing jobs,
recreational opportunities, and green space for residents. These parks not only improve the quality of life
of local residents, but combat the high levels of air pollution prevalent in the region. Green spaces can
directly remove pollutants from the atmosphere and lower air temperature in the urban environment.
Carter’s committed work in the field of environmental justice is not only helping to undo decades of
systematic environmental racism, but she herself serves as a role model for many people, and especially
women, of color.
If you’re interested in learning more about Majora Carter, check out her 2006 Ted Talk entitled “Greening
the Ghetto”.
Image credit: http://www.rudybruneraward.org/
6
Leah Thomas and
Intersectional
Environmentalist
by Max Sano
What does it mean to be an intersectional
environmentalist? In Leah Thomas’s own words,
This is an inclusive version of environmentalism
that advocates for both the protection of people
and the planet. It identifies the ways in which
injustices happening to marginalized
communities and the earth are interconnected. It Courtesy: Intersectional Environmentalist
brings injustices done to the most vulnerable
communities, and the earth, to the forefront and
does not minimize or silence social inequality.
Intersectional environmentalism advocates for ... built to address
justice for people and the planet.
the unjust murders
In response to the murder of George Floyd, Leah
Thomas posted to Instagram with the same line of Black lives and
over and over again: Environmentalists for Black
Lives Matter. As a graduate of Environmental the silence from
Science and Policy from Chapman College (Class
of 2017), she found it deeply troubling that white
the environmental
environmental activists would be consistently community -Leah
present at climate rallies but were nowhere to be
found during Black Lives Matter demonstrations Thomas
and protests against systemic police brutality.
The post went viral and Thomas suddenly had the
opportunity to encourage inclusivity and diversity Where does intersectionality originate?
in the environmentalist movement that has been The concept was coined by Columbia
long overdue. Collaborating with other activists, University Professor of Law Kimberle
such as Diandra Marizet, Sabs Katz and Philip Crenshaw in a 2016 TedTalk; she
Aiken, Thomas created a multimedia website underscores the significance of gender
called Intersectional Environmentalist. This and race-based prejudice Black women
platform was “built to address the unjust murders faced in the United States.
of Black lives and the silence from the
environmental community, [and] we are Without addressing systemic injustice
committed to amplifying the voices of all those through a variety of identities and
fighting to uplift underserved communities, perspectives, Crenshaw rightfully says
preserve cultures, and protect our planet.” that discrimination can and will go
unchecked.
7
Picture of Leah Thomas from her Vogue Article, “Why Every Environmentalist Should Be
Anti-Racist” (Source: Vogue)
The Intersectional Environmentalist, or IE, platform provides a variety of resources and
content to engage the public in anti-racism work and holistic climate justice. The
Dismantled podcast invites a host of climate justice activists and environmentalists to talk
about a variety of issues, including intersectionality through the perspective of Black
women (Episode 1), making your way in the sustainability industry (Episode 2) and the role
of corporate responsibility in sustainability initiatives by their sponsor Dropps, a plant-
based cleaning supply company (Episode 3). IE Stories is another area of the website that
provides personal essays and articles that exemplify intersectionality in the
environmentalist community; there are scarcely acknowledged personal narratives from
individuals such as Sheila Moravati in “The Iranian Environmentalist” and Matt Ellis-
Ramirez in “Hour-Twelve of An Ecological All-Nighter: Reflections from a climate organizer
with ADHD”, as well as opportunities for institutional change from Maya K. van Rossum in
“Why Racial Justice Demands Constitutional ‘Green Amendments'’” and from George Duval
in “Urban Farming: Breathing Life into Low Income Communities”.
In addition to the Intersectional Environmentalist, Leah Thomas has an Instagram eco-blog
@GreenGirlLeah in sustainable living and @thegreensgirlco, a collaborative eco-lifestyle
account. On June 8th, 2020, her article to Vogue titled “Why Every Environmentalist
Should Be Anti-Racist,” delves into the necessity for white climate activists to demand
clean air, water and land for not only themselves, but for Black and Brown communities
that have lacked this access disproportionately. Thomas urges us to take the Intersectional
Environmentalist pledge that “advocates for both the protection of people and the planet”
in order to address the inequitable misfortune that will face communities of color. In a
time when only 22 of the 50 largest newspapers in the United States covered the latest
landmark report on climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
trailblazers such as Leah Thomas and Intersectional Environmentalist pave the way for
8 quality multimedia journalism to an inclusive audience of changemakers.
Works Cited
Leah Penniman: Steps to make Farming More Inclusive by Becca Barter
Bierend, Doug. 2018. “Americans of Color Largely Excluded from Producing and Eating Fresh Food.” The Counter. November 8, 2018.
https://thecounter.org/food-apartheids-farming-while-black-leah-penniman-soul-fire-farm-interview/.
Holt-Giménez, Eric, and Breeze Harper. 2016. “Dismantling Racism in the Food System Number 1, Winter-Spring 2016 Special, Multi-
Authored Series on Racism and Liberation in the Food System Food-Systems-Racism: From Mistreatment to Transformation.” Food
First. https://foodfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DR1Final.pdf.
Meyersohn, Nathaniel. 2020. “Groceries Were Hard to Find for Millions. Now It’s Getting Even Worse.” CNN. June 9, 2020.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/business/food-deserts-coronavirus-grocery-stores/index.html.
Nawaz, Amna, and John Yang. 2019. “How Southern Black Farmers Were Forced from Their Land, and Their Heritage.” PBS
NewsHour. PBS NewsHour. August 13, 2019. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-southern-black-farmers-were-forced-from-
their-land-and-their-heritage.
Sewell, S. 2019 There were nearly a million black farmers in 1920. Why have they disappeared?
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disappeared.
Silva, Christianna. 2020. “Food Insecurity in the U.S. By the Numbers.” NPR.org. National Public Radio. September 27, 2020.
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9 Majora Carter Group, LLC. http://www.majoracartergroup.com/Works Cited (continued)
Majora Carter: Sustainable South Bronx by Jeremiah Kaplan
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