In the fall of 2018 we purchased 88 acres of undeveloped, mostly open pasture in the West bank of Orleans Parish. This farmland was once Chitimacha/Choctaw cypress swampland. The Lower Coast peninsula of the west bank was taken by Bienville when the French colonised New Orleans 300 years ago. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the land was a sugar cane plantation, and hundreds of enslaved and/or exploited workers from Africa and indigenous tribes labored for the benefit of white colonists here. When the Stanton Plantation was broken up and sold into residential lots in the mid-20th century, it had been the largest and last remaining plantation within New Orleans city limits.
We were able to purchase a portion of the former Stanton Plantation because we are white and have access to generations of accrued family wealth. When we initially purchased these 88 acres we did so with the intention of preserving the land as open green space, growing vegetables, and over time establishing the land as an agricultural resource that would be used to engage the community.
While these values still fall within our mission, we also recognize that growing and selling vegetables and preserving green space do not in themselves contribute to the creation of a more just and equitable food economy in our region. As land "owners" and beneficiaries of historical policies that excluded and denied rights to non-white - especially Black and Indigenous - people, we have a responsibility to help undo the harmful legacy of these policies in agriculture, land and food access, and wealth building.
As growers of fresh produce, and members of the New Orleans community with access to knowledge, training, land, and financial resources, we aim to help address expanding food insecurity and the decreasing numbers of BIPOC farmers in our region. Here are some ways that we, as small players in a much larger system, are trying to address racial and economic inequity in our local food system:
Food Access
Land Access and Knowledge Sharing
Wealth Redistribution
It is a privilege to grow food for our community, and it is a privilege to steward this land with the knowledge we have gained through countless systemic advantages. We hope you will join us in leveraging these advantages towards a more just and equitable food system in our region.
We were able to purchase a portion of the former Stanton Plantation because we are white and have access to generations of accrued family wealth. When we initially purchased these 88 acres we did so with the intention of preserving the land as open green space, growing vegetables, and over time establishing the land as an agricultural resource that would be used to engage the community.
While these values still fall within our mission, we also recognize that growing and selling vegetables and preserving green space do not in themselves contribute to the creation of a more just and equitable food economy in our region. As land "owners" and beneficiaries of historical policies that excluded and denied rights to non-white - especially Black and Indigenous - people, we have a responsibility to help undo the harmful legacy of these policies in agriculture, land and food access, and wealth building.
As growers of fresh produce, and members of the New Orleans community with access to knowledge, training, land, and financial resources, we aim to help address expanding food insecurity and the decreasing numbers of BIPOC farmers in our region. Here are some ways that we, as small players in a much larger system, are trying to address racial and economic inequity in our local food system:
Food Access
- We offer subsidized Community Shares to help alleviate the financial barrier to fresh, local food for our customers. Please visit our GoFundMe page to contribute to subsidized veggies for our neighbors.
- We accept SNAP payments for farm shares and participate in the Market Match program through a partnership with Market Umbrella, which matches each SNAP dollar a customer spends. This means that SNAP user only pay for half the price of their shares with SNAP and Market Match covers the rest.
Land Access and Knowledge Sharing
- We are working with institutions and non-profits in New Orleans and Louisiana to create a more robust local growing community through free educational workshops and paid apprenticeship opportunities with a specific focus of recruiting BIPOC individuals who are seeking a career in agriculture.
- We have begun and will continue to offer space on our land for other growers and food producers, particularly BIPOC, queer, and female business owners who are in need of affordable and secure land leases. If you are interested in connecting about opportunities to utilize space on our land, please reach out to us.
Wealth Redistribution
- Each growing season (fall and spring) we commit to donating 10% of our net profits directly to Black farmers in our region. The last two years we have contributed to the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, which supports Black farmers in the South.
- We are researching different Land Trust and Cooperative models as we reimagine long-term ownership structure of our farmland.
It is a privilege to grow food for our community, and it is a privilege to steward this land with the knowledge we have gained through countless systemic advantages. We hope you will join us in leveraging these advantages towards a more just and equitable food system in our region.
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Here are some organizations whose work we support and admire, and whose efforts we aim to join both in solidarity and, in some cases, more formal partnership. Local SPROUT NOLA NOLA Community Fridges Market Umbrella/Crescent City Farmers Market Food Policy Advisory Committee (FPAC) Grow Dat Youth Farm VEGGI Farmers Cooperative Provost Farm LLC Regional/National Federation of Southern Cooperatives Soul Fire Farm The CoFED |
Some Black-Owned Farms/Growers Serving New Orleans Indian Springs Farms Association Pointe Coupee Minority Farmers Cooperative Know Dat Grow Dat Mama Isis Farm and Market Ms Gloria’s Treme Garden Laketilly Acres Holly Grow Sheaux Fresh Foods Agrowtopia George's Produce |