Essay On African American Farming

Teresa and Kevin Springs, the owners of TKO Farm go to great lengths to educate the new generation on sustainable farming, but there is some resistance. In history, farming was a means of growing all the food one needed, and in one place, but for Black farmers, it means something different. Many young African Americans resist the idea of farming because “the thought of farming leaves a bad taste in their mouth, but we believe farming is the key to independence” (“More than Just a Farm” n.d.). Teresa says. The Springs have found countless benefits with farming, and they want to pass down the knowledge they received from their co-op elders. Teresa and Kevin Springs believe that with guidance from the past, they are able to look forward and teach

The first venture into farming for African Americans post-slavery was sharecropping, described as “a type of farming where landowners rent portions of their land to families in exchange for portions of their crops at the end of each year” (History.com Editors 2018). This was a tactic used in the post-civil war reconstruction that kept African Americans from purchasing land of their own. At the end of each year, the tenants of the land had to pay the landowner a portion of their crop. This left the landowners with money and the farmers with low wages, serving as a “legal” way to replace slavery. From this emerged cooperative farming (co-op), providing a way for Black farmers to claim their independence, but collectively. Cooperative Farming can be defined as “a process of farming in which two or more farmers form a group to conduct farming practices collectively” (“Cooperative Farming” n.d.). The farmers work together and help to increase each other's profits. This allowed for change and evolution in the Black farming

They are “Organic farming [which] focuses on the inputs used (pesticides, herbicides, etc.) and sustainable farming [which] focuses on the physical treatment of the ground” (Tillable 2021). At TKO farm they practice sustainable farming, as it is “Completely self-sustaining—chickens feed off leftover veggies, and in turn, their eggshells go back into the soil as a source of calcium carbonate—they don't use any herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or petroleum-based fertilizer” (Ervin-Springs 2022). Sustainable farming is a way to honor and preserve the land for future generations. It focuses on soil health, managing erosion, and incorporating natural materials into the farming process. Their goal is to teach future generations about how to sustainably farm, and the importance of preserving the