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A Brief History of Discrimination against Black Farmers—Including by the USDA

The Equation

Such promises included “ 40 acres and a mule ,” the first unsuccessful systematic attempt at providing reparations. The Southern Homestead Act was enacted to redistribute 46 million acres of land to formerly enslaved people. The failure of this act likely played a role in paving the way for sharecropping and tenant farming.

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Our Best Food Justice Stories of 2023

Civil Eats

‘Rhythms of the Land’ Preserves the Untold Stories of Black Farmers Filmmaker and cultural anthropologist Gail Myers discusses the making of her documentary, the oppressive history of sharecropping, and power of seed saving for Black farmers. acre Growing Home farm grew fresh produce for restaurants and surrounding communities.

Food 139
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Meet the Arkansas Farmers Turning Sweet Potatoes into Spirits

Modern Farmer

Prime farmland, it attracted countless farmers, including the Black farmers seeking to fulfill the promise of “40 acres and a mule” that followed the American Civil War. It’s still run by the family today, now growing 100 acres of mostly sweet potatoes, the warm-climate vegetable that is an important staple in African American foodways.

Acre 98
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A Brief History of Discrimination against Black Farmers—Including by the USDA

The Equation

Such promises included 40 acres and a mule , the first unsuccessful systematic attempt at providing reparations. The Southern Homestead Act was enacted to redistribute 46 million acres of land to formerly enslaved people. The failure of this act likely played a role in paving the way for sharecropping and tenant farming.

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Urban Farms are a Lifeline for Food-Insecure Residents. Will New Jersey Finally Make Them Permanent?

Modern Farmer

Because she doesn’t have at least five acres, her application to join the federal Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program – which would have enabled her to accept food vouchers from low-income seniors – was denied four times. “We need the state of New Jersey to take urban [agriculture] seriously,” said Mustafa.

Food 126
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Healing From the Past to Grow for the Future

Wisconsin Farmers Union

Full Circle Healing Farm is a two acre vegetable, herb, and flower farm in Mequon. The farm is located on the Fondy Farm at the Mequon Nature Preserve , a 40 acre incubator farm that has the mission of providing affordable, long-term leases to historically underserved producers. He often thinks deeply about their experiences.

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Transforming the Delta

Food Environment and Reporting Network

If we took 5 percent of the acres and diverted them into almost anything that wasnt a commodity, its literally an additional $2.5 Over the next two decades, tractors, mechanical harvesters, and chemical herbicides made sharecropping obsoleteyou no longer needed much labor to farm cotton or grains. today it is less than 2 percent.

Acre 107