10 Bay Area Farms & Organizations Addressing Racial Justice Through Food

As COVID-19 is causing long-lasting effects across America and the call to end police brutality continues, I’ve seen communities fight systemic racism and capitalism through an important daily source we all can connect to: food.

COVID-19 has singlehandedly changed the way we grocery shop, eat at local restaurants, and socialize. Many of us, myself included, have found solace in spending more time outdoors or in the kitchen, learning about growing our own vegetables, cooking new recipes, and supporting our local farms. Along with it, there’s been an emphasis on supporting Black-owned businesses during the current civil rights movement as a way to show solidarity not only for the moment, but for a lifetime. As someone who has grown up in a community that lacks diversity, but is abundant in local agriculture, I had to ask myself, how can I support the Black community in my own backyard through food?

I started with Instagram. This may seem an unlikely place to start but as someone who is spending more time on my phone than ever before, I have taken the time to curate my Instagram feed to provide me with the news, resources, and organizations I care about. I found an incredible community of farmers, food bloggers, gardeners, and local restaurants that are constantly sharing and supporting other local farms and businesses. I’ll share some organizations and farms I discovered momentarily, but first, I wanted to start with the numbers to highlight why this is important, especially in the Bay Area.

In 2017, there were 3.4 million farm producers nationwide according to the US Department of Agriculture. Less than 2% (1.3% to be exact) of farmers were Black in the United States compared to 95% of farmers who were white. Other demographics showed that 3% of farmers were Latino/Hispanic, 1.5% were American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 0.6% were Asian. Taking a closer look at my community, the percentages were almost identical (no surprise here). In 2018, there were 6,405 farms and of those farms, only 9 farms were Black compared to 6,150 farms (96%) that were white (Census of Agriculture for Sonoma County). In Sonoma County alone, the agriculture industry was a billion dollar industry in 2018 (Sonoma County Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures).

It’s important to note that this data is from a world where COVID-19 doesn’t exist yet. Recent data has found that with the current health crisis, more than one in five U.S. adults experienced food insecurity in the beginning of the pandemic, which impacted low-income communities of color at a disproportionately higher rate (Urban Institute). Now more than ever we must support farms and organizations focused on dismantling and overcoming racist systems through food so that Black and brown communities can thrive, hopefully inspiring a new generation of farmers in its wake.

1. Raised Roots

Raised Roots is an urban farming company committed to providing superior produce, gardens and farm education. They are based in Oakland, California. Most recently, they were featured in several publications for their efforts to feed front line protestors during the Bay Area protests.

2. People’s Kitchen Collective

People’s Kitchen Collective is on a mission to not only fill our stomachs, but also nourish our souls, feed our minds, and fuel a movement through community dining, education, and exhibitions and programming.

Photo source: @peopleskitchencollective on Instagram

3. Farms to Grow, Inc.

Farms to Grow, Inc. is a nonprofit organization assisting African American farmers and other under-served farmers/gardeners maintain and create sustainable farms and spaces to grow food and motivate the next generation of farmers to grow sustainably and with the community in mind. They are based in Oakland, CA. You can follow their journey on Instagram.

4. Black Earth Farms

Black Earth Farms aims to nullify the industrial food system and further food justice and food sovereignty for low-income, Black, and Indigenous communities, families, and individuals in Huichin (Oakland), Berkeley, San Leandro, San Francisco, and Emeryville.

5. Mandela Partners

Mandela Partners is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with local residents, family farmers, and community-based businesses to improve health, create wealth, and build assets through local food enterprises in low-income communities. They are based in Oakland, CA.

Photo source: @mandelapartners on Instagram

6. The Berkeley Basket

The Berkeley Basket is a backyard CSA that provides local families with fresh, organically grown, "hyper-local" produce (and at times, eggs) for more than a decade. It was founded by Sophie Hahn (Berkeley City Council Member), and Willow Rosenthal (Co-Author of The Essential Urban Farmer and founder of City Slickers Farms).

Photo source: @berkeleybasketcsa on Instagram

7. City Slicker Farms

City Slicker Farms, founded by Willow Rosenthal, began with a mission to empower West Oakland community members to meet the basic need for fresh, healthy food by creating sustainable, high-yield urban farms and backyard gardens.

Photo source: @cityslickerfarms on Instagram

8. Brown Girl Farms

Brown Girl Farms is a Black queer female owned farm business in Berkeley, CA.

Photo source: @browngirlfarms on Instagram

9. Fresh to Farming

Kiley Clark started a GoFundMe campaign to help them achieve a life long dream of starting their own farm in the Bay Area. Kiley currently works at Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol, CA, which is another incredible local farm specializing in Asian heritage vegetables. You can follow their journey on Instagram.

10. Urban Farm in Bayview, San Francisco

Isaiah Powell and Faheem are two Black men who strive to turn an overgrown lot into an organically-grown food oasis in the middle of a vast food desert. They started a GoFundMe campaign to rehabilitate land in the community and use healthy food to forge strong bonds between the people of Bayview/HP in San Francisco.

Photo source: @the_art_of_calibird on Instagram