In this special Emerald series supported by NW Journalists of Color and the Facebook Journalism Project, photographer and writer Sharon H. Chang introduces the womxn and nonbinary farmers of color at the heart of Washington’s agrarian revival movement who are moving the needle towards not only a future livable planet, but a socially just one.
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Clark and Donaldson are Black womxn farmers who both run urban farm projects in Seattle. Knowing that food sovereignty is key to Black health and liberation, for years the womxn have been growing culturally relevant, organic foods to support and empower communities of color. “It’s farming as revolution, farming as care,” said Donaldson describing her project, Percussion Farms and Preserves, based in the Central District. Clark’s project, Nurturing Roots, is just a few miles away on Beacon Hill. “We’re about preservation,” said Clark. “We’re about survival.”
Their words are prophetic at a time when Black people are disproportionately dying from COVID-19. A central reason African Americans have been so hard hit is because they are more likely to have pre-existing health conditions caused in large part by environmental racism. Because of the racist legacy of redlining, for instance, Black people are more likely to live in crowded metropolitan areas and neighborhoods with lack of access to local, healthy food options. Poor nutrition and unhealthy diets heighten risk of chronic conditions such as diabetes and obesity, the same conditions that make people more susceptible to dying from COVID-19.
Increasing access to healthy foods can literally save Black lives.
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Nurturing Roots is in a similar “planning and extreme grow mode,” said Clark. Some of Nurturing Roots’ partners have linked arms to provide hot food to limited-mobility residents and high-risk individuals. Clark has been donating food to the Seattle Community Kitchen Collective and others. Meanwhile, the farm increased their start yield to provide free grow-at-home boxes which community members can come pick up and grow at home in a variety of spaces. “Self-sustaining is key!” the farm’s Facebook Page reads. Nurturing Roots also advocates for the incarcerated community, which is disproportionately Black and Brown and one of the most vulnerable populations to coronavirus infection. It is one of many ways Black farmers make sure not to leave anyone in their community behind, Clark said, and it matters now, during the coronavirus crisis, more than ever.
“In times like these,” Clark said, “small farmers truly are becoming superheroes.”
View Original Article: SOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD
Written By: Sharon H. Chang
Sharon H. Chang is an activist, photographer, and award-winning writer. She is the author of the acclaimed book Hapa Tales and Other Lies that reflects critically on her Asian American, Mixed Race, and activist identity through the prism of returning to Hawai‘i as a tourist. She lives in the Columbia City neighborhood.
Featured image: by Sharon H. Chang.
