#black futures month
February 26th is CSA Signup Day!
What is CSA Signup Day, you ask? It’s our favorite thing, a made up holiday which celebrates farms and they way local food producers enliven the local foodscape and the economy. It seem that around the end of February is the time that most people are signing up for CSAs so why not throw a party?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture which means community members invest directly in their local food producer up front before a seed is in the ground. The customer gets a steady supply of seasonal local veggies at a great price. The reason that this is so important is because farmers invest a lot into producing a highly perishable product and, without buyers up front, can face major challenges at harvest time. They buy seeds, mushroom spawn, baby chicks; they get the truck tires changed; they fix the greenhouse all before you ever set foot out the door to the farmer’s market. CSAs help spread the risks and benefits of agriculture out over the entire community keeping farmers afloat and bellies full.
What better time than now to mention the connection between CSAs and Black History?
That’s right, like so many things, CSAs have a black person to thank for existing. Booker T. Whatley, the American farm genius and professor, created and perfected the model that changed the game for small farmers. In his book “How to Make $100,000 Farming 25 Acres” Whatley presented a blueprint to help the average farmer overcome the common obstacles of a notoriously harsh industry.
“…The clientele membership club is the lifeblood of the [farm]. It enables the farmer to plan production, anticipate demand, and, of course, have a guaranteed market. The farmer has to seek out people—city folks, mostly—to be members of the club. The annual membership fee, $25 per household, gives each of those families the privilege of coming to the farm and harvesting produce at approximately 60 percent of the supermarket price…one of these 25-acre farms should be able to support 1,000 member families, or around 5,000 people…[The farm] should be located within 40 miles of some metropolitan center; that’s pretty much a prerequisite for setting up one of these farms…” Booker T. Whatley
Those are the written words of an Alabama farmer published several decades before the European and Japanese farmers who are often given credit for making CSAs popular in the US…weeeeeeird. No, it’s not weird. It’s systemic but you can change all that!
Here are ways you can celebrate CSA Day’s Black History
1)Join a CSA Operated by a Black Farmer
The Legacy of Booker T. Whatley lives on at these DC area farms and you can join them today:
Good Sense Farm’s Wild Food CSA - Whether you are a CSA verteran or a newbee we highly recommend joining our CSA. The shares are made up of delicious veggies from local farms, cultivated mushrooms and foraged edibles. In yoru box, you get the makings of a delicious journey to the edge of the wilderness and back. Pictured above was the haul from our first month’s share with wintercress, baby greens, several types of mushrooms, heirloom fish peppers and turnips. Recipes included. Join here.
Rainbow Hill Farm CSAFarmer Gale’s CSA is wonderful and we love her strategy. Here’s what makes it unique:
Instead of bogging you down with more of the same old produce, we grow the stuff you won’t find anywhere else (think Asian greens like mizuna and tat soi, turmeric, ginger, and over two dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes) and our deliveries are always a manageable size. No more waste, no more monotony. And we promise we’ll never leave you hanging with a basket of mystery produce. Each week we’ll share recipes, tips, and tricks to help you make the most out of your bounty.
Community Farming Alliance Never fear, I have word that the farmers of CFA will announce their CSA plans soon! in the meantime, Three Part Harmony Farm is selling Veggie Shares! Get yours today.
5 a Day CSA - Farmer Vicki makes sure to put the most accessible healthy options in the weekly wellness box she puts together.
*If you are not in the DC area, this list might not be the most helpful but there are some resources out there for how to find farms in your area like Local Harvest.
2)Read about it!
Natasha Bowens, author of The Color of Food wrote this great article in Mother Earth News about Whatley and they also published his small farm plan here too. Also, if you want to get me his book as a gift, it’s right here on my wishlist.
3)Tell the story to everyone you know!
How you do it is up to you but we all have a duty to set the record straight!
Happy CSA Day!
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Go to a trunk show or flea market in DC and you’ll meet some really good people. This might be true of everywhere but I’m from here so I claim that as a bias.
I had a table next to Mike and Monique of Hood Hippies at last year’s Georgia Avenue Winter Fest and they embraced me before we even introduced ourselves properly. You ever heard someone say, “I love everything you go going on over there” and mean it? That was the feeling.
What I found out after looking them up was that I love everything they’ve got going on too. They are a couple creating a lifestyle brand which curates powerful images and words to challenge and re-script the economic, environmental, racial and gender narratives around black marijuana consumption and cultivation culture. They have been holding space in the DC Cannabis community since before last year’s referendum on legalization and created Hood Hippies in 2008 as a means of celebrating cannabis as an avenue of self expression. Their typical experience shopping in cannabis stores was that there weren’t images of people of color in or on the cool clothing and accessories that were becoming popular signifiers of the legalization movement. They also noticed that people were tight-lipped when it came to talking about the medicinal benefits that they had experienced with cannabis and that they believed could benefit their community. Their answer? Make some noise and provide a platform for other like minded people and so Hood Hippies was born.
Mike and Monique’s observations could be written off as subjective unless we understand upon what foundation the modern legalization movement was founded – The Global War on Drugs – described by Wikipedia as:
“A campaign of prohibition of drugs,military aid, and military intervention, with the stated aim being to reduce the illegal drug trade. This initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments and the UN have made illegal.” [Quote and links from Wikipedia]
Even as marijuana legalization advances, that war is ongoing and has consumed over a trillion dollars to feed far-reaching political, economic and militaristic interventions into vulnerable communities and sovereign states across the globe. In its wake, millions of people, disproportionately from communities of color and poor communities, have been killed, imprisoned, had property seized or were denied access to basic resources and freedoms because of these policies. The policies were created and enforced more harshly on black and brown communities from the start in the twilight of the civil rights era to today.
I grew up in Northeast DC in the late 1980s, at the height of the so called crack cocaine epidemic, and came to know early that being from a black community came with a stigma of being criminalized via a defacto association with drug use, poverty and violence. That association was more than a notion. It had real impacts on the lived experience of black and brown people across the globe. Before “harm reduction” and “drug use as a public health issue” became the lingua franca of modern campaign politics, there were “tough on crime” policies which criminalized all sorts of activities through association with drug use or with the black market economy created by drug prohibition. Parents were stolen from families. Family homes and property were seized and a lot of money was made off the backs of poor communities.
Fast forward to today and it seems to some that the strategy towards marijuana legalization is to leave those associations behind and take on new ones without making amends for the harm done. The question that looms is one we have asked before in the context of black farmers and marijuana cultivation.“Who will benefit, socially and financially from an end to the prohibition? Who will inherit the economic and cultural windfall from the green rush?”
Like what you’re reading? Want to book Good Sense Farm for a panel or conference? Want to reprint this piece for a larger audience? Email us at [email protected].
Enter Monique and Mike with a straightforward concept. Create t-shirts which speak to the black experience and aspirations in marijuana culture, tap into sacred practice of adornment to create a movement aimed at healing and affirmation on a psychic and cellular level. From where I sit, seems like they are doing spirit work, healing black relationships to a place of trauma, and challenging the power structures which hoard resources from black communities under a any disguise. Watch out ya’ll, they coming for the green in more ways than one.
Let’s hear what Monique and Mike have to say about it!
GSF: We are black farmers so we’re used to being told that we’re rare when we’re not. From the outside looking in, I see a few folks of color running cannabis-related businesses in DC and wonder what the community is like. How has your relationship changed to the work since DC legalization? What are roadblocks that need to be knocked down? What aspirations do you have for yourself going forward?
Monique: This is a great question! Thank you for being farmers. I am in love with nature and farming. People don’t understand the positive effect of plant life and our relationship to nature. I’m no scientist, but the energy of plants could make DC a much better city. Anyway, to answer your question, prior to legislation I was living in MD. Real estate in DC is pricey, you get more bang for your buck in MD. Professionally, I have been teaching in DC for 11 years–always at risk kids, always special education. Our babies need us and my calling is to be in education.
I will admit, I was not on the ground pushing for legislation in DC–I watched and worked my company and supported in other ways by pushing the culture through design and truth (spreading information). Once the law was passed, I immediately moved to the city and got busy. The cannabis community is multi-layered because there are all of us excited for the plant and the law and the opportunities.
The newness of the “green rush” has all of us smiling and celebrating. There are some good people working within the community. Good souls, ya know? But, as you settle into the groups you quickly notice different folks: growers who have been doing this and can now work as consultants to others; new growers with questions and who need direction; medicine makers who change flowers to teas and edibles and concentrates to share; folks who never forget our people (those in federal housing or living in rentals and are not allowed to grow or smoke due to crappy landlords and federal law); those who don’t grow and want to assume power positions so they come as organizers who attempt to bring folks together and charge fees (something like a union or group mentality); genuine folks who are sick and need access; artists and all sorts of creative beings who have launched businesses; and of course women who have formed alliances to push our businesses forward.
Overall, I have have a mixed experience in the DC community because some are in it for the economy building and power and money and some are in it for unifying and educating. As you work through, you find out who is who and you go from there. I never did cliques, I’ve always had close friends, but I enjoy being a loner in the sense that I don’t need anyone to approve what I do or to make a move with. The roadblocks are the same as in any other industry, the cannabis field is open for opportunity but you have to pay to play. You have to know people in places or you have to be willing to be grassroots and tap the power of the people. Hood Hippies always sides with the people. You will always find us in the streets with our products, designed with the people in mind. 90% of what we make or carry is hand made by us or another small business in the USA. As far as aspirations, I have many. Going forward in 2016, I will position my company both locally and nationally by attending events in DC and other major markets like Philly, Atlanta, Richmond and Baltimore. It’s no secret, I love a good challenge and intention is everything. Our designs this year will celebrate women and men who are true to themselves and are proud of their genius. I’m a rebel in that sense. Conforming is boring and draining, Hood Hippies represent the light of being and the healing power of cannabis!
GSF: The way you describe the Hood Hippies lifestyle/philosophy as “a new trend in thinking, being and living" is really interesting. Can you tell us what’s new? How do you embody this philosophy? Can you take it off and put it on like your really nice t-shirts? If so, what’s the thread count?
Monique: I love this! You have such a great vibe, Zach! Our philosophy “new trend in thinking, being and living” means just be yourself, be the best you that you can be–whoever that is. It’s new because we have been taught and trained and bombarded with all these social norms and “American ways” that we have no idea who we really are. Black folks in America have had our identities hidden, stripped, changed and manipulated so that we are left to either do the research and study so that we understand our greatness or we just put on the masks of what we are given. The path of self discovery is the design process; you encounter a “new you.” We create our reality, we design our lives.
At Hood Hippies, we provoke thought with what we produce. For example, our Good Vibes hoodies strikes people and makes them feel good. It reminds them to be happy and enjoy the fact that they are alive. The pot leaves offer a way to access that happiness and reduce the stress levels that we all encounter living in this place. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, but I am woman enough to make strides daily to improve. I get knocked down and I take that blow and get right back up. You cannot live in fear and that’s how I embody this philosophy. Life is short and each day matters; our designs push people to know their power.
Another example: this “Beauty is a Beast” tee for ladies is a black woman in all of her glory. I love men, we need men, but the awe-inspiring well of strength found in a woman is so so amazing! We bear so much and have played a vital role in making positive change in the world and that’s what life is about.
My husband is a “Pot Snob”–he values the garden and the medicine. He gets lost in the flavor and the aroma. He takes pride in the process with time and attention. BUT remember, Mary Jane is female; it’s the female that produces the goodness. LOL. Pot Snobs are connoisseurs–just like cheese, coffee or wine, we want the best bud. Those better buds come from care during the growing process. I’m sure you can relate to the love that goes into your farming.
Thank you so much for this opportunity–so glad we met! When you put on a Hood Hippies tee you express the real you, the good vibes, the fabulous, let’s do the damn thing part of you! The thread count is infinite! The only one in your way is you! Let’s get it.
And there you have it folks. If you didn’t peep it, Mike didn’t do much talking but we plan to catch up with him in a future episode about the underground connection between fungi and plants!
In the meantime, visit the Hood Hippies site here and on Facebook and follow @swankyladycouture on Instagram!
See you in the subterranium!
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Zachari was recently featured in the Allstate “Stories Worth Telling” Black History Month Campaign speaking about complex relationship to land and place shared by all black people, farmers and non-farmers. (via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbHXx_zb_VU)
