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My name is Leah Penniman.
I'm the Farm Manager
and Founding Co-director of Soul Fire Farm
in Grafton, New York.
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Soul Fire Farm is a community training farm
that welcomes thousands of people each year
to learn Afro-Indigenous regenerative farming methods.
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Unlike industrial agriculture which mines the soil
and pollutes the atmosphere,
regenerative farming actually improves
the ecology year after year.
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We're having a positive impact on the earth
which is a rare thing that you can say
in the agricultural world.
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The Federal Government uses the word food desert
to define a neighborhood that's high poverty
and where there aren't any supermarkets.
We prefer the term food apartheid.
One of the tragedies of food apartheid,
is that Black Indigenous
and people of color are disproportionately likely to suffer
from hunger, diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure
and other diet related illness.
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The good news about using a term like food apartheid,
which defines it as a human created problem,
is that humans can also solve it.
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One of the reasons that we started Soul Fire Farm
is that we along with our neighbors were struggling
with food apartheid in the south end of Albany.
So these neighbors were the very people who encouraged us
to start a farm for the people.
And our Solidarity Shares is the first program
we ever created back in 2010.
We deliver produce, vegetables, eggs to the doorsteps
of the people who need it most in our community
at whatever price they can afford.
So if you come here on a Thursday,
you see us bustling with harvest,
filling boxes, packing that into the van
and getting that out to the people in our community
who are experiencing hunger.
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We also train thousands of new farmers
of all ages each year.
We teach everything from soil to seed to harvest to market.
All of that is infused with historical and cultural lessons
about how our ancestors related to the earth
and how we can fight for our own food sovereignty
and dignity in the food system.
Soul Fire Farm has a number of training programs
for children and teens.
Our most popular is a week long camp called LOL,
Liberation on Land,
where young people learn to advocate for social justice,
art space, healing and social change
as well as some basic farming skills.
Nice.
(laughing) I think the most important thing
for young people coming out to the land
is seeing what's possible in their own lives.
So when they see folks who look like them
running their own business making change in the community,
whether or not they become farmers,
they're able to see that it's possible
for them to make a positive contribution
and for them to live a long, healthy and dignified life.
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Like my ancestors did,
I believe that the earth is not just a commodity
to be exploited to be used up.
But she's really a relative of ours.
She's a sibling, she's an artsy
and we treat the earth with that reverence
making sure that everything we do is done with consent,
that it's done with care,
that it's done with respect.
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We hope that that type of ecological humility
is able to be amplified out
and impact the way that we as human beings
also interact with one another.
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You know, I love that this is a conversation
that brings people back in through the process of learning.
Once you get your hands in soil
and you're part of that process.
It's just fabulous.
Absolutely, and while we're rural,
we're on 80 acres in Mohican Territory upstate New York.
We do a soul fire in the city urban farms program
where we provide eight by four boxes,
you know, for folks
to grow their own food Yeah.
along with seeds and plants.
And it's been really powerful,
especially in this time of COVID-19 to get the pictures
and testimonials from families with children saying
that this has been their saving grace.
Like not only do they get fresh food
but their children have meaningful activities,
that connection to nature, family bonding
and so I do think it transcends the material
and the cellular as you say to the psycho spiritual.
We want you to continue your work
and we reached out to our friends.
I've eaten a million of their products by the way.
And it's really funny 'cause I always bought
Garden of Eden tortilla chips.
It's a brand of natural chips and snacks.
And I used to buy it at the Garden of Eden,
the small market in our neighborhood
when we were back in the city.
They are donating $5,000 to Soul Fire Farm
to help you guys with your mission.
Isn't that great?
Oh, that's fantastic.
That is wonderful.
Thank you for encouraging that
and it means a lot.
You're generous, yes.
Yeah, I'm very generous.
Thank you so much for supporting Soul Fire.