Farming While Black

by Leah Penniman

  Eventually we found a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program that offered a pickup point 2 miles uptown. The price of the share became our second largest expense after the rent. Since we were carless, collecting our share involved a weekly walk with one child strapped to my back and the other in the stroller. On the return trip, the stroller-bound child protested mildly as she balanced the heavy vegetables in her lap.

  As we built relationships with our Albany neighbors, we learned that our struggles to access food were echoed throughout the community, with the most significant barriers being cost and transportation.

  Soul Fire Farm was born in response to the South End community’s yearning for life-giving food and our family’s passion for connecting land stewardship and social justice. We believed that to free ourselves collectively, we must feed ourselves. Rooted in the principle of Ujamaa, cooperative economics, we decided on a subscription-based farm-share model that would reduce the access barriers of transportation and cost, while providing the farm with guaranteed income.

  In 2011, the first year of our Ujamaa Farm Share CSA, fewer than 20 families signed up, almost all of them our former neighbors from the block. I did most of the growing in the evenings and delivered vegetables and eggs on Sundays, working around my full-time public school science teaching job. We accepted SNAP/EBT (formerly food stamps) and charged a sliding scale based on self-reported income. To address the transportation barrier, we brought bushel boxes stuffed full with a rainbow of mineral-rich bounty right to people’s doorsteps. Each year we grew the program, expanding beyond the South End to other neighborhoods impacted by food apartheid, including West Hill, Arbor Hill, and South and North Troy. My partner, Jonah, paused his natural building business to work on the farm full-time, and eventually we welcomed apprentices, then staff. We currently have 80 to 100 families in the program who affectionately term it “Netflix for vegetables.”

  Just as it takes a village to raise a child, so does it take a village to steward a farm. Soul Fire Farm was, in many ways, the third biological child of Jonah and me. This beloved farm child needs at least as much resource, time, tenderness, 24/7 care, and deep commitment as our two human children. However, it would be deeply dangerous and counter mission to keep this child trapped in our nuclear family. We grew our village slowly, first with another family of close friends who built a bohío (Puerto Rican roundhouse) and lived with us part-time. Then we welcomed apprentices and interns to live in our home from anywhere from a few months to a few years. We incorporated and built a board of 15 directors for shared accountability and ownership. We have a committed and brilliant staff of 3 to 10 people depending on the season. The farm and the CSA are now managed by the land-loving power trio of Larisa, Damaris, and Lytisha; while Amani and I facilitate the programs; and Jonah keeps the human habitat in order. Over time the Soul Fire Farm village has grown into concentric circles of hundreds of committed individuals to whom the project is accountable.

  In this chapter we explore models for business planning that provide financial sustainability while questioning capitalism. We delve into models for worker-owned cooperative businesses, explore community-based marketing, uplift communal labor strategies, and end with templates for creating your own mission-driven business plan.

  In the first year of Soul Fire Farm’s Ujamaa Farm Share CSA, the packing operation was small enough to fit in our living room. Photo by Jonah Vitale-Wolff.

  Worker-Owned Cooperative Business Model

  Nana Ofori, chief of the Akim Abuakwa people of the Ashanti kingdom in Ghana (1912–43), said, “I conceive that land belongs to a vast family of whom many are dead, a few are living and a countless host are still unborn.”1 Our people have stewarded land in common for much longer than we have acquiesced to the Western notions of enclosure and private property.

  At the time of writing, we are working to transition Soul Fire Farm from private landownership to communal landownership and stewardship. Jonah and I have experience living and working in two cooperatives previously. We spent three years in a collective house on 5 acres at the edge of Worcester, Massachusetts, that was owned in common through a trust. The 8 to 13 residents made decisions through consensus and split the costs of property maintenance. We also lived cooperatively with two other families in a three-unit property that was owned by an urban community land trust in Albany. In both cases we were affirmed that ownership in common is not only ethically desirable, but profoundly practical.

  Owning a farm business cooperatively has many potential advantages. Multiple individuals can join their purchasing power and share the upfront investment. The administrative burden of marketing, record keeping, and tax filing is shared. Members can delegate responsibilities for different aspects of the business, both distributing risk and allowing for specialization. In an era where loneliness is on the rise, cooperatives can also provide the solidarity, fellowship, and deep human connection that we require as human beings.

  UPLIFT

  Fannie Lou Hamer’s Freedom Farm Cooperative

  Fannie Lou Hamer was the granddaughter of enslaved Africans and the daughter of sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta. Hamer was tricked into picking cotton when she was only six years old and then forced by the plantation owner to continue picking, once he had seen that she was capable. She later worked as the plantation’s timekeeper, keeping official records of the number of bales sharecroppers had picked. Realizing that the plantation owner had adjusted the scales to maximize his profit, Hamer surreptitiously set the scales right. In that act she became a rebel, later reflecting that “I didn’t know what to do and all I could do is rebel in the only way I could rebel.”2

  While Hamer is best known for her organizing with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, her rebellion extended to food and agriculture. In 1969 Hamer founded the Freedom Farm Cooperative on 40 acres of prime delta land. Her goal was to empower poor Black farmers and sharecroppers, who had suffered at the mercy of white landowners. She said, “The time has come now when we are going to have to get what we need ourselves. We may get a little help, here and there, but in the main we’re going to have to do it ourselves.”3 The co-op consisted of 1,500 families who planted cash crops, like soybeans and cotton, as well as mixed vegetables. They purchased another 640 acres and started a “pig bank” that distributed livestock to Black farmers. The farm grew into a multifaceted self-help organization, providing scholarships, home-building assistance, a commercial kitchen, a garment factory, a tool bank, agricultural training, and burial fees to its members.4

  Global Village Farms is a cooperatively owned project led by Indigenous people in Massachusetts. Youth members of the Community Environmental College program of the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island help with the Global Village harvest. Photo by Matt Feinstein, Future Focus Media Co-operative.

  Legal Entities for Cooperative Farm Businesses

  Contractual agreement. A contractual agreement may be used for trial or temporary ventures with limited risk. While not legal entities, contractual agreements outline the conditions for a particular project. For example, two farmers who want to share land for a season could write a contract outlining how costs and labor will be shared. A contract can be a precursor to joint ownership and the creation of an enduring legal entity.

  Sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person that provides no distinction between the finances of the owner and the business. To create a sole proprietorship, you need to register the name of your business (called a DBA—doing business as) at the county clerk’s office. Farm income is reported on the owner’s personal taxes, on Schedule F. Sole proprietorships do not provide liability protection, and your personal assets could be seized if the business incurs unpayable debt.

  Partnership. Partnerships are not recommended as a legal entity, because they do not provide liability protection and expire at the death or departure of one of the members. However, they are simple to create and ensue automatically
whenever two or more people go into business together for a profit. To formally create a partnership, you need to write a partnership agreement that describes each partner’s contribution, the allocation of profits and losses, rules for decision making, and the process for partners joining or leaving. Extension personnel, land-grant university staff, farm credit institutions, and other agricultural service agencies can also help you set up a partnership agreement. The profits from a partnership are taxed on your individual income tax return.

  Limited liability corporation (LLC and L3C). An LLC is the simplest and most versatile business entity available for cooperative businesses. The members of the LLC determine how it is owned and managed, the allocation of profits and losses, and the decision-making process. To create an LLC you need to choose a business name, file Articles of Organization with the secretary of state followed by a Statement of Information, and create an Operating Agreement with basic operational rules. Filing fees for an LLC are modest, generally under $100. LLCs provide limited liability, meaning that your personal assets are protected when the business incurs an unpayable debt. The profits of an LLC are taxed on the individual tax returns of the members. This means that members of an LLC do not receive a salary, rather a share of profits based on percent ownership or relative contribution to the project. Note that LLCs can be organized with internal structure adhering to cooperative principles, namely “one member—one vote” and the distribution of profits back to members according to use, allowing them to be taxed as cooperatives by the IRS. Some states allow a low-profit limited liability company (L3C) to facilitate investments in socially beneficial, for-profit ventures. A significant advantage of an LLC or L3C is that undocumented people can be owners of a business in the USA, while they are not allowed to be employees. Consider creating a business entity that uplifts immigrant justice.

  Cooperative. A cooperative is a business that is member-owned, member-controlled, and generates member benefit. Cooperatives are democratically controlled by their members, with each member having an equal vote. All profits of the cooperative are distributed back to members in proportion to how much they have participated in the cooperative. To create a cooperative, you first choose a business name that includes the word cooperative. Next, identify initial members and a board of directors. Prepare bylaws and membership agreements, which define the internal rules of operation. Prepare and file Articles of Incorporation and a Statement of Information with the secretary of state. As a type of corporation, cooperatives have required management practices, including processes for electing a board of directors, holding board and member meetings, keeping written records of meetings, and filing annual reports. Cooperatives are required to distribute dividends to their members, but can retain a certain percentage of their profits in the business bank account. These retained assets are taxed as corporate profits. The USDA Office of Rural Development provides services to rural co-ops and will help a group of farmers form a cooperative. They have sample bylaws, information on how to run a cooperative, loans, and grants.

  Nonprofit organization 501(c)3. While farming is not often profitable, it is not in itself a charitable purpose that qualifies for nonprofit designation by the IRS. If you are organized for a charitable purpose—the alleviation of poverty, education, research, or religion—you can consider forming a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Having a tax-exempt nonprofit qualifies you to apply for grant funding and means that individuals can make tax-deductible donations to your organization. Nonprofits are only permitted to generate income from activities related to the mission of the organization. Nonprofits are owned by no one and do not distribute income to their members. Members of the nonprofit are employees who can receive a reasonable salary but cannot retain the assets of the organization, even if it disbands. Any personal funds put toward starting the organization would be considered donations, as members cannot build equity.

  There are significant requirements and legal restrictions for creating a nonprofit. You must elect a board of directors to manage the organization, and there are restrictions on decision making for those who have personal relationships or conflicts of interest. To create a nonprofit, you first file Articles of Incorporation with the state, create and file bylaws, and then file for tax-exempt status with both the state and federal government. The filing process is complex and can take over one year and approximately $1,000 before approval is granted. We found it essential to engage the assistance of a lawyer in the process of applying for 501(c)3 status. Many law schools have free or low-cost legal clinics to help community members with the paperwork.

  A less common form of nonprofit is the 501(d), a structure used by monasteries and other entities that support themselves with a cottage industry and divide income equally. Another type of nonprofit is the worker-run nonprofit. This can be a 501(c)3 or 501(d). In a worker-run nonprofit, the board of directors can grant the employees power to influence the realms and programs in which they work, the conditions of their workplace, their own career paths, and the direction of the organization as a whole.

  Source: Adapted from Faith Gilbert, Cooperative Farming: Frameworks for Farming Together, Northeast SARE, accessed April 14, 2017, https://www.cooperativefund.org/sites/default/files/Cooperative%20Farming%20Greenhorns%20Guidebook%202014.pdf.

  Choosing and Creating a Legal Entity

  The first step in creating your farm is to access and honor legacy knowledge. At the 2017 Black Farmers Conference, farmer Matthew Raiford of Gilliard Farm explained, “I planted 100 trees in my first year on the land and they all died, because I didn’t bother asking my grandma what grows well here.” We honor our family and ancestors by building upon their wisdom, rather than imagining we can invent new truth all on our own. Pour your elders a cup of tea, sit at their feet, and ask them to give you advice.

  Under the guidance of your elders, the next step in establishing your cooperative business is to choose a legal entity. Creating a legal entity to own your business cooperatively allows for greater access to bank accounts, loans, and investor funds and also allows a vehicle for smooth transition among members. It is crucial to determine your business goals and select a legal entity that will serve those goals, rather than letting the legal entity define your operation. In the case of Soul Fire Farm, we started as a sole proprietorship for its simplicity and then transitioned to a worker-run nonprofit organization to be able to access resources to support our educational programs. We are putting our land into an LLC that will be run as a cooperative, to maintain maximum flexibility and the ability for members, including children, to build equity.

  Agreements for Sharing Resources and Labor

  While it may seem that informal agreements are more in keeping with our culture as African-heritage people, the reality is that contractual agreements have a deep and enduring history among our people. When I was living in Ghana in 2002, I remember market women outlining detailed procedures for how they would locate their stalls, share market upkeep, and collect fees for their collective business. These agreements were as thoroughly understood and strictly enforced as the written contracts of the West. Further, tacit agreements are inherently biased toward founders and those closest to them, and can perpetuate bias. When agreements are explicit, written down, and accessible to current and prospective cooperative members, greater transparency and agency ensue.

  Membership

  One of the first things to decide as a collective is the process for becoming a member and the responsibilities of membership. Here are some questions to consider:

  What are the criteria for membership?

  What is the process for applying to be a member?

  Is there a trial period for new members?

  What financial, work, or other obligations do members have?

  What decision-making authority do members have? Do all members have an equal vote or are there tiers of membership?

  What authority do members have to act on behalf of the group? Can they sign contracts, make purchases,
take on debt, give public lectures?

  What is the process for dismissing a member?

  When a member leaves voluntarily, what happens to contributions that the member has made to the organization?

  If several members leave at the same time, what structures are in place to ensure that the assets of the collective are not excessively drained?

  Wildseed Community Farm

  Wildseed Community Farm & Healing Village, a new people-of-color-led, queer-centered land and justice project in Millerton, New York, developed a detailed application process for joining their collective based on the qualities they most desire in collaborators.

  Desirable Qualities for Collective Members

  Emotional maturity

  Strong resonance and alignment with vision and purpose

  Meaningful skills and experience to contribute to, such as: Farming and gardening skills

  Construction skills

  Plumbing and electric skills

  Group process and conflict resolution skills

  Hardworking, with physical and emotional stamina

  Collective-minded, collective responsibility and accountability

  Commitment to self-awareness and self-reflection

  Nourishes successful long-term relationships

  Experience in group living situations

  Financially responsible with ability to honor commitments

  Long-term vision

  Eagerness to work on ongoing deep personal growth and relationship to others

  Anti-oppressive framework and willingness to challenge power dynamics, internalized oppression, and privilege

  Skilled at handling conflict

  Clear communication

  Attitude of gratitude