Frequently Asked Questions
View my answers to questions I frequently receive. If you don’t see your question below, please share it with me here.
How do I start a community garden?
To begin, find out who owns the land in which you want to start a garden. If the land is privately owned, you must ask the landlord for permission. If it is publicly owned, find out what entity has jurisdiction over the land. For example, in New York City, Green Thumb issues four-year leases for people who want to grow in the city. They also offer workshops and free supplies for gardeners. For more information on how to initiate or locate a community garden near you in New York City, visit Green Thumb’s website.
Community gardening is hard, labor-intensive work. You will always need the help of other people. Plus,it is so much fun to do it with other people. Gather a group of at least ten folks from your community who are committed to tending the garden together. Establish shared guidelines for using and respecting the garden space. Schedule collective workdays, regular meetings, and events so that as you grow food together, you grow together as a community.
How do I go about acquiring land and founding a farm?
Always start by consulting farmers in the area in which you would like to grow. There are certain farmland trusts that you can identify. Oftentimes, word of mouth from neighboring farmers will lead you in the right direction.
Above all, don’t give up. There is a lot of land to farm. In fact, acquiring land may be the easiest step. Just because you own land, doesn’t mean that it is farmable. You must test your soil to confirm if it is conducive for growing. In New York, contact Cornell Cooperative Extensions to request a technician to test your soil. Every municipality has a cooperative extension agency that assists local farmers. Some test soil for free while others require a fee.
If you are thinking about farming, you must also consider the infrastructure to support it. Here’s a short list of structures to put in place:
a barn to store equipment;
a greenhouse for plant management, including seeding, propagation, holding to protect seedlings from the elements;
a wash station to clean and cool off vegetables after they have been harvested;
a cooling area to store tender root vegetables and tomatoes;
a refrigeration area to hold greens and other vegetables that require colder temperatures for storage;
and access to essential utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water.
What advice would you give to a young farmer?
Dream big and follow your dream unapologetically. Farming is hard work, but remember: There is power in growing your own food and owning your own land. You are harvesting wisdom and resources to pass down to future generations.
Cultivate your passion to learn. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Seek guidance from mentors and elders who hold knowledge of food and the land to share. For so long, we have been taught to escape go away from the land. Now, there is a growing understanding of how important it is to return. Always be mindful of the ancestors and indigenous peoples who walked these soils before us. We stand on the shoulders of greatness.
What does “food apartheid” mean?
Oftentimes, people use the words “food desert” to describe low-income communities who have limited access to food. In fact, we do have access to food—cheap, subsidized, processed food. The word “desert” also makes us think of an empty, absolutely desolate place. But there is so much life, vibrancy, and potential in these communities. I coined the term “food apartheid” to ask us to look at the root causes of inequity in our food system on the basis of race, class, and geography. Let’s face it: healthy, fresh food is accessible in wealthy neighborhoods while unhealthy food abounds in poor neighborhoods. “Food apartheid” underscores that this is the result of decades of discriminatory planning and policy decisions. It begs the question: What are the social inequities that you see, and what are you doing to address them?
How do I get involved in food justice work?
Food justice is an active movement. It requires that you get involved in addressing the systemic injustices that face your particular neighborhood or community. Start by finding a local organization serving your community. Don’t give in to passivity, complacency, or ignorance. When you see injustice, you have to call it out.
Get involved with or donate to the powerful work of these food justice organizations:
Purchase seeds from the following companies, which source their seeds from indigenous people and people of color and reinvest in those farmers and their communities.
How do I work in service of low-income or underserved communities?
Always seek out the leadership in a community for direction. There is a long history of outsiders in positions of privilege or power coming into communities they perceive as needing their “help” and instead exacerbating problems or creating new ones. I say, “We don’t need no fixing.” The leadership and solutions are already present in a given community. If you are willing to leverage your resources, expertise, or finances to support those solutions, seek the leaders that are already doing the work. They can then use what you offer as they see fit in service of their vision.
Whether you are a government official, philanthropist, or privileged individual seeking to invest in a local problem-solving capacity, don’t ask what a community needs. The answer you receive will come from a place of deficit. Ask what a community wants. The answer you receive will come from a place of power.
If you have resources that you would specifically like to share with black and indigenous farmers, view the Northeast Farmers of Color Network’s Black-Indigenous Farmers Reparations Map here.
How do I get involved at Rise and Root Farm?
Visit the Rise and Root website here to volunteer, attend an upcoming workshop, or book a tour.
The best way to engage is to sign up for a Community Farm Day, which is held every last Saturday of the month from 10am to 1pm.