Black History Month and an Equitable Food System
There’s no question that Southern food is beloved. Hoppin’ John and hush puppies, grits and collard greens, low country boil and sweet potato pie.
It’s easy to savor these dishes that shape the flavors of the South and think the Black communities that introduced them are likewise celebrated, supported, and respected. But racial inequities throughout history allow disparities to persist within our food system and beyond.
Skimming the boiling cane juice to make sorghum syrup at cane mill near Carr, Orange County, North Carolina, September 1939
We might see farmers of color vending at local markets or featured on a sign at the grocery store and assume our state’s producers come from diverse backgrounds and have equal access to farmland. Yet 96.2% of farmland in the US, including North Carolina, is white-owned. Black farmers own just 3% of farms in the state, about 1,500 total.
Knowing US farms receive subsidies, we may infer that funding is distributed evenly, however almost 97% of the $9.2 billion provided in October 2020 through USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program was apportioned to white farmers.
We might know of food distributions happening in our area and conclude everybody in underserved communities is being fed. But the food insecurity rate in NC was 21% for Black residents in 2021 (about double the average total statewide). Data from subsequent years is similar, Durham County included.
Agricultural and Science Building, North Carolina A&T State University, 1926
Within North Carolina’s food system alone, our long history of racial injustice perpetuates inequities today, impacting farmers of color across our state. Food hubs have a role in building more just systems of growing, sourcing, and supplying food, providing under-resourced farmers with new market opportunities, support to scale their businesses, technical assistance, visibility, and more.
At Farmer Foodshare, our mission to create an equitable food system by increasing access to fresh, local food for all and supporting the viability of marginalized NC farmers is inseparable from racial justice. As we work to see local farms thrive and every person living in our foodshed gain access to good food grown here, we know that happens in tandem with removing race-based discrimination.
Black History Month recenters the work we are committed to doing every day of the year. As we put into practice what it looks like to cultivate a food system that nourishes everyone – from producers to eaters – we’re learning from our peers and the communities we serve. We invite you, Friends of the Foodshare, to learn with us and grow towards a better future together.