November 2017 Quick intro: This business aims to end injustice in the food industry by promoting food sovereignty and uprooting racism in the industry. Location: NY Highway 2, Petersburg, New York For (A LOT) more info: soulfirefarm.org This time I visited a social enterprise as a volunteer, not a customer. On October 28th, I joined the Community Farm Day at Soul Fire Farm. To be honest, I was a little bit confused about what it was. I got out of our van and saw a vast farmland full of people bending their backs facing the soil. I was greeted by one of the staff members who instructed me that there were three activities: picking Brussel sprouts, planting garlic, and preparing the soil. I chose to pick Brussel sprouts, and they looked DELICIOUS. Then, Leah Penniman, the co-director, came to introduce us (me and members of Cluett house) to sweet potatoes. “We tried to grow and serve fresh, organic, and culturally relevant products to the African-American population which was why we chose sweet potatoes,” she started, “Yams were native to Africa, but since we were unable to grow them here, we went with something close: sweet potatoes.” I was impressed by their thoughtfulness or their customers. Now, it was time to start. During Community Farm Day, people were free to jump between various tasks, or stick with one. I decided to dig up, pick up, sort the sizes, clean, weigh, and pack sweet potatoes. Throughout the process, I met different volunteers joining me for each task. After the job was done, we had a Pot Luck Lunch where each group brought their dishes and shared. Sweet potatoes were one example of the work done at this farm. As stated on their website, “Soul Fire Farm is committed to ending racism and injustice in our food system.” Leah shared during a tour of the farm that, in the food industry, producers, consumers, and owners are not the same people which make the industry prone to food apartheid. Soul Fire Farm realized that the history of discrimination and oppression left a mark on the land and the people. Soul Fire farm provides farm-fresh food to households living under food apartheid. They also offer various training programs for youth and farmers to foster community food sovereignty and African-Indigenous environmentally friendly farming practices. They support movements working toward policies changes. You can support Soul Fire Farm by donating, volunteering, and joining the movement!
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