Our most cherished sustainable farming practices, from organic agriculture to the farm cooperative, have roots in African wisdom, but discrimination and violence against African-American farmers

Our most cherished sustainable farming practices, from organic agriculture to the farm cooperative, have roots in African wisdom, but discrimination and violence against African-American farmers have led to their decline from 14% of all growers in 1920 to less than 2% today. Furthermore, Black communities suffer disproportionately from food apartheid. Renowned longtime farmer, educator, author, and food sovereignty activist, Leah Penniman, explains the deep roots of this land loss and food injustice and shares the work she at Soul Fire Farm and others around the country in Black and Brown farming communities are doing to reclaim ancestral rights, renew ties to the land, achieve genuine agency in the food system, and advance food sovereignty. (Leah is also the sister of frequent Bioneers presenter Naima Penniman, half of the brilliant musical/spoken-word duo, Climbing PoeTree.)

Leah Penniman delivered this talk at the Bioneers 2020 Conference, introduced by Nina Simons. Watch more keynote videos at https://bioneers.org/2020talks/

Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol farmer, mother, Vodun Manye (Queen Mother), and award-winning food justice activist who has been tending the soil and organizing for an anti-racist food system for over 20 years. She currently serves as founding Co-Executive Director of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York, a people-of-color led project that works toward food and land justice, which she co-founded in 2010. She is the author of: "Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land."

To learn more about Leah's work, visit Soul Fire Farm at https://www.soulfirefarm.org/

In this video, Barry Heidt interviews Rebecca Moore of Google of Outreach at the 2009 Bioneers Conference.  Ms. Moore discusses her project, the