Government and tracking ag

 https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2024/may/understanding-farm-diversity-insights-from-the-agricultural-resource-management-survey

So through I readings in Healing Grounds, historical and social barriers have been mentioned pretty often. It made me curious to how the government might track this data and if anything is done with the information. This led to me finding an article from the USDA posted last year.

The article highlights that “socially disadvantaged” farmers, defined as those who are not white, including Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian farmers, make up a relatively small portion of total farm operators. No surprise there. More importantly, these farmers often operate smaller farms and have fewer financial resources compared to white farmers. This suggests that even when diversity increases numerically, there are still significant inequalities in terms of land ownership, income, and access to government support.

The article also suggests that the USDA is placing more focus on understanding and addressing these gaps, though it does not go deeply into how effective current policies have been. That leaves an open question about whether increased attention will translate into meaningful change.

In summary, U.S. agriculture is slowly becoming more diverse, but structural inequalities remain significant despite it being 2024. The report makes it clear that representation alone does not resolve deeper issues related to access and equity, and that progress in this area is gradual at best.

Chapter 4 + Conclusion

    'Round the block once more the USA went, and managed to make things harder, again, for themselves and others through the discrimination of Asian peoples this time. In all seriousness though this shines a spotlight on a pattern in US history and agriculture, so much so that I don't even think I have to describe it more, so I won't. 

    It stood out to me that this time around, the legislation just flat out blanket banned all Asian immigrants from becoming US citizens. Was that kind of policy writing actually popular at the time? Because I have to imagine if that happened now, the public would have some words to say as we are seeing now with daily clashes against I.C.E agents. This chapter really annoyed me though honestly, not because it was bad or anything, but because the book was doing what it was meant to do, educate so that readers can correctly direct there annoyances, this time, to the government. This chapter, and really the entire book, strikes me as a message to others who care about the subject matter to know where the struggle came from originally, and to know where that is today, so that you can enable yourself and others to do all you can where it will matter most, good things really.

    It also stood out to me that the Hmong, and other Asian-American farmers created organizations to gain land and a say. Because that connects to every other struggle we read through in this book, as in each group found similar but unique ways to persists even when the cards (often land and citizenship access) are stacked against them. Just something to give hope that human ingenuity finds a way for the right way.

    

Thoughts on Chapter 4

     The initial opening paragraph of this chapter, while not entirely relevant to the main topic the class covers, shows the widespread adverse effects the US government had on other regions in their "war on communism" and how destructive it was for the citizens of those affected regions. I personally do not agree with communism but I also strongly disagree with the decisions the US government had made and the willingness of them to sacrifice innocent lives to fuel their war. This may not directly correlate with the topic but I believe it is still a strong point that not many people think about or get to see. Now, I do want to say that along side the African American population being discriminated at the time, the Asian population in the US received just as much if not more discrimination during the period as propaganda circulating targeted Asians and painted a picture which dehumanized them, I believe the disproportionately high infractions received by Asian farmers at the time were deliberate attempts at directly targeting them because of the widespread misinformation and fearmongering. The chapter goes on to point out the importance of polyculture crops as each chapter before had with each ethnicity having naturally incorporated it into their growing tactics, this goes to show the vast importance of polyculture crops and rotations over soil stripping monoculture crop methods. 

Chapter 4

What stuck with me most in this chapter is the idea that regenerative agriculture is about more than just the land. It also involves people, power, and fairness. The author points out that you can’t truly improve soil health if the system is still built on inequality, especially when many of the techniques being used today come from Black and Indigenous communities who are often left out of the conversation. That connection between environmental and social issues made this chapter feel more real.

The concept of silvopasture was also really interesting. Instead of removing trees like industrial farms usually do, this method keeps them as part of the system. Trees end up doing a lot of work—protecting soil, storing carbon, and helping animals by providing shade and even food. It seems like a more balanced way of farming, which makes me question why modern agriculture tends to simplify everything instead of working with nature.

Another part that stood out was how farmers in different parts of the world have used simple, practical methods to take care of their land. These weren’t expensive or high-tech solutions, but they were still effective. It shows that a lot of the answers we’re looking for already exist, and maybe we just haven’t been paying enough attention to them.

The chapter also brings up how regenerative agriculture is kind of at a crossroads right now. Some companies are starting to use the idea for marketing, without making real changes, while others are pushing for something deeper that challenges the whole system. That difference matters, because it shows that real progress might take more than just surface-level fixes.

Furrows, Fallows and Composting

 I chose to examine the agricultural techniques that were mentioned in chapter 4 to gain a better understanding of the terminology and to explore how others achieve true subsistence-farming despite less than ideal conditions.  

Fallowing is a way of letting the land rest. It can be classfied into different periods, short; 1-2 year rest, long; 3-4 year rest. Likewise it can either be seeded; which implements rotational crops such as legumes, or white; which leaves the soil completely bare. Finally, it can include tilling the land, or leaving manure on top of the soil. Fallowing is especially important in mountain ranges where the Hmong people typically farmed due to the fact that land erosion was a big concern. Allowing the land to rest and recover, provides adequate soil formation, nutrient and water retention, and can also fight off pests and disease thanks to an interruption in their lifecycle. Fostering newly sprouted trees and allowing for native species to regrow in the land promotes more biodiversity in the long run.  

 

Furrows are unique in their ability to retain moisture and allows farmers to plant in mounds. Furrows are just narrow trenches that stretch across fields, creating something similar to a tributary system in the fields that allows water to flow to the plants. According to some published studies I came across, alternative furrow practices are the most widely used and most efficient in terms of water management in Ethiopia. Furrows can include having a boundary wall built along the sides to control water flow and mitigate excess soil erosion.  

 

The final piece that I’d like to discuss is the importance of composting. Having truly been exposed to this in my times spent at either the monasteries or bioecological farms in MX I began to realize this is one of the easiest ways to help rejuvenate the land. Composting in essence is just returning the “waste” back to the land, “one man’s garbage is another man’s gold.” Not only granting the soil a chance to develop a healthy topsoil layer, it also promotes the presence beneficial macroinvertebrates in the soil. The EPA suggests adding 3 times the amount of brown materials such as twigs, dried leaves, paper, cardboard and untreated wood chips all rich in carbon, to the green materials which are nitrogen rich like tea, coffee, food scraps and grass clippings. If allowed reach to temperatures of 130-160° F it will kill off any pathogens living within the soil. Checking for adequate moisture will ensure the compost pile heats up to the required amount, in addition to turning over the pile you could potentially have a ready to use compost in as little as 3-5 months.  

Chapter Four - Thoughts

     This chapter introduces the idea of Silvopasture, which is the intentional integration of forage, livestock, and trees. This model of farming looks a lot like a forest rather than a factory. This is in contrast to modern and industrial farming, where trees are seen as obstacles within a field. However, this chapter argues that trees are multitaskers within the regenerative world. The roots anchor the soil and store large amounts of carbon; they act as shelter and fodder for animals and create a diverse income stream for farmers through timber, fruit, and nuts.  

   The most compelling story in this chapter was about the A-frame. Filipino immigrants used low-tech, simple tools to plant living barriers and terrace hillsides. This represents the theme of the whole book: we don’t need high-tech and high-priced gadgets to save soil but rather the wisdom of people who have lived in partnerships with the land for decades. 

    There is no happily ever after bow at the end of the book, but instead a challenge. Regenerative is currently at a crossroads between corporate regeneration, where big companies use carbon credits to continue polluting while putting a “soil-friendly” label on their products, versus transformative regeneration, which requires a dismantling of the extractive economy and reparations.

    In this book the “ground” is not just the actual dirt beneath our feet, but it is the foundations of our society. We will never be able to have healthy soil if farmworkers are still treated as disposable parts. Carbon sequestering cannot occur while we are disenfranchising the Black and Indigenous communities who invented these techniques we are trying to implement on a larger scale. Regenerative Agriculture is a decolonial movement. We need to change who has the power while changing the way we plant in order to fix a broken system. Overall, the book is impactful because it keeps people and climate together. The science of the soil is inseparable from the justice of the land. We have to be willing to get our hands dirty with both the soil and the politics present within our food system.

"Putting Down Roots"

 Asian roots in Fresno, CA, small farming operations are essential for climate-resilient food production.  Asian American growers practiced regenerative agriculture with their strong ecological knowledge and community-based farming systems.  Facing hardships to rebuilding farms from war implemented displacement, migration.  Additionally facing exclusion from racism and land dispossession returning from internment camps. Pinpoints the Hmong, Amerasian and other Asian groups following their ecological practices that contradict US narratives separating them from legitimate contributing farmers. These farmers instituted their homeland farming knowledge of intercropping, terracing along with seed saving knowledge. Racism pushed farmers onto marginal lands limiting produce to informal markets. Through these barriers they developed water-efficient practices developing specialty organic produce. Using these successful practices they still remain invisible to policy discussions about local food and sustainable agriculture and regenerative farming.  It presents farming as cultural survival and not purely economic growth

Carlisle mandates the real need for generational farming wisdom of these contributing groups that have been historically excluded from the US agricultural decision making and recognition of the group's contributions,

Healing Grounds - Chapter 4

 In chapter 3, it was disucssed how there were many diverse farms that only needed a small amount of land to be diverse. The beginning of chapter 4 discusses the Hmong and how a lot of Southeast Asian in Fresno, California were very small in size. Moua discusses the variety of produce that she grows on her farm and how it changes according to the season. She is able to do a lot with the land she has, and is still able to run a successful farm. This makes me wonder, why do people fear that if they switch from a monoculture to a polyculture that they will lose money? Moua talks about how her husband quit his job just to help her out on the farm which I find amazing that she was able to make a sufficient living wage off of farming. 

Chapter 4 also discusses how the farmers market that Hmong farmers sell at are usually very diverse and appeal to multiple different cultures. This is very important because it allows people to practice their traditions and prevents them from dying off. As we discussed in class, culture and food are very closely tied together. The Hmong people used their ancestors' knowledge of farming and applied it when they migrated to the U.S. This allowed them to make diverse crops and make the most out of what they have. 

The methods that Chinese farmers would use were very interesting to me. I have never thought about using fish poop as food for plants. How is this collected and spread around to different plants? It’s definitely more sustainable to use biological nitrogen instead of making fertilizers and using fossil fuels to do so. Why have these methods been pushed to the side in agriculture in the U.S.? We need to listen more to different cultures and what farming practices they use. 

I find it really disappointing that the discrimination the Hmong people faced lead to them not being able to hold onto land for a long time. This caused them to not be able to practice their regenerative farming methods, resulting in them turning to less sustainable methods. Appreciation and the understanding of other cultures is also necessary in order for people to continue letting their traditions and ideas live on.

Chapter 3

 What stood out to me most in Chapter 3 of Healing Grounds was how important land ownership was for Black communities and how much it connected to freedom and independence. After slavery and during Reconstruction, owning land meant people could support themselves, grow their own food, and not have to depend on systems that were built against them. Farming and working together through cooperatives gave people a way to build stronger communities and create opportunities for future generations. But racism, violence, and unfair policies made it really hard for Black farmers to keep their land, which made it harder to build long-term stability. I also thought about how this connects to Latin American communities. In a lot of Latin American countries, land has also been controlled by wealthy landowners or corporations, while Indigenous people and small farmers were pushed off their land. Just like Black communities in the U.S., many of these groups relied on farming, mutual aid, and co-ops to survive and support each other. Land is not just about food, it is also tied to culture, identity, and having control over your own future. This chapter made me realize that food justice is about way more than just having access to healthy food. It is also about who owns the land, who makes the decisions, and who benefits from the food system.

AMF and Ruderal Taxa

 Little did I know, arbuscular, is derived from the Latin word arbusucla, which makes a lot of sense. Little tree, arbol means tree, arbuscula is little tree, -ar suffix means belonging to. I thought the word stopped there not mycorhizzal fungi followed it. Almost instantaneously I remembered the words of Dr. El Mounadi, "Mycorhizzal fungi and carbon are really important to keep track of to know how biodiverse the soil is." Mycorhizzal fungi have a special sense of belonging to the little trees, and yet the way the communicate is also very much like that of litte branches and networks of tree pathways that aren't even visible to our eyes. "The whole really does add up to more than just the sum of it's parts." has to be one of my favorite eternal truths. Together, united we stand, working together we will always be much stronger than trying to solve solutions in a "lone survivor mentality."

Ruderal Taxa are typically the first ones on the scene after a massive crime scene, not the police and by that I mean a wildfire, landslide, exploitation of any kind. First coined by Berlin ecologists after WWII due to the many plants that first errupted in now blank canvases. Ruderal Taxa are the first to colonize disturbed land. Which Ruderal Taxa invades, will more than likely depend on the climate and specific geographic location of where you reside, a.k.a. your particular biome. Most commonly noted in our area is the beloved dandellion. From what little I do know I can only imagine that one could classify these ruderal taxa at some point or another a weed and or invasive species. The interesting part is that they multiply like flies on cow pies. The main job of these plants is to colonize, therefore, in the case of our dandellion containing as many as 150-200 seeds per head. 

Indigenous knowledge

"This... is what farming looked like when it wasn't wage work for an oppressed few but an entire community's way of life." Just before reading this page, I made a note that we could have such a happy and balanced society if it weren't for capitalism. Carlisle was illustrating the scene when Aidee Guzman visited her family farm in Mexico and was dreading harvest season, as she was used to what her parents experienced in the United States on large agribusiness monoculture farms. She was delighted by the party-like atmosphere harvesting from your own garden with the people closest to you. A general theme I am picking up from this book is the ways in which the white man has systemically destroyed cultures and then attempts to rebrand it for themselves. First with the Native Americans, then black slaves, and now with our neighbors in modern day Mexico. Through extreme political and economic corruption, we have made Mexico reliant on our corn and other commodities, while making it impossible for them to regeneratively farm on their own anymore, AND not permitting citizenship. We come at them from all angles, and then further demonize them for being "illegal criminals", when we are the ones forcing them out of their livelihood to work on our land for slave wages. The United States runs as a giant, corrupt corporation thinking only in short term, selfish gain. And come to think of it, the United States government greatly resembles the agribusiness commodities it is in the pockets of, all the same and no diversity. I think it's important to credit sustainable farming practices to those who truly invented them. Modern science can sometimes make a groundbreaking "discovery", but when the indigenous people try to speak up and say "Yeah, we've been doing that for literally thousands of years..", they are pushed aside to allow the light to shine on, typically, the white scientist. Many opportunities for science are only available for financially well-off white people, and due to various socioeconomic factors and prejudices, it's very hard for people of color to break into science, let alone be taken seriously, which perpetuates this white savior complex from developing. Science and research has a tendency to be quite pretentious and I understand the irony of that coming from a white science student, but I think for efficient advancement towards a just and sustainable society, we need to listen to indigenous wisdom regarding the Earth. We all deserve to have a party in the garden with our loved ones, free from the shackles of an oppressive oligarchy. 

Chapter 3

     This chapter taught me something new about migrants bringing seeds with them. It sounds obvious that one would do that if they were part of a farm and are moving to a new country or area., but it just never grazed my mind that a lot of the migrant farm workers in the United States likely tend to their own gardens when not working for a monoculture. Put yourself in the boots of someone who works for an agricultural system that ultimately forced them to move and work for them, that they know is flawed, inefficient, and unsustainable, and all at the same time tending to their own, more efficient garden, and are given zero say into how to improve the monoculture they work for. I would imagine it is painstakingly frustrating at least. A lot of our countries farms are literally covered in workers who could be doing more for the land than their bosses, and really policy, allows. The pieces almost could not be more in place to really start turning things around. Obviously farm owners and policy makers must know this. Are they afraid to let it happen because they aren't sure who would profit most from it?

    Those smaller farms, mostly undocumented and led by immigrants, were said to have more biodiversity, and more crops on a smaller land area. It is hard to know if their systems could be deployed at such a scale to feed the world, but we do know that they produce enough for themselves, on a smaller plot, with no soil degradation methods, and no artificial fertilizers. What other agricultural techniques could possibly be worth more to look into and experiment on ways to increase the scale of than these already proven ones? The way things seem to be going point to nature's natural methods of pest control and nutrient supply as already both the most efficient and sustainable ways to do so. Adding pieces to its equation have almost always resulted in more negatives than positives when treated as status quo as compared to only rearranging its pieces.

Healing Grounds Chapter 3

Due to my dad, I have taken up an interest in Etymology. What stood out to me in this chapter was the underlying theme of how language shapes culture and societal views. In the indigenous languages of Nahuatl and Maya there is no word that directly translates to the English word “agriculture,” with the most similar phrase being “MeyajbilK’aax,” meaning “working with nature.” Notice how fundamentally different those words are. One specifies the process of working WITH something else, in this case nature, which carries generations of reciprocity, communication, and heritage. The word agriculture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means, simply, “the science or occupation of farming.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary then goes on to define occupation as “ the act or process of taking possession of a place or area.” The English language directly reflects the lens in which western culture looks at nature: as something to obtain and “own.” While other cultures, in this case specifically indigenous cultures, look upon nature as something to collaborate with to strive for mutual flourishing. These lenses can be seen in the “agricultural” practices and methods implemented by these cultures within, and beyond, this chapter of Healing Grounds. With evidence of indigenous complex agriculture landscapes of biodiverse home gardens that blended and mimicked the forests surrounding them through modern day Mexico and into Central America. This harmonious way of gardening is a stark contrast to the monoculture and chemical fertilizer practices common to “modern” western farming, highlighting the cultural views that stem all the way back to language.

Chapter 3

One thing that really stood out to me from Chapter 3 was how smaller farms can actually produce more variety than big farms just by working with the land instead of against it. It’s kind of surprising that farms with less space can grow more types of crops, while large farms usually stick to just one. It shows that diversity can be more effective than size.

I also thought the part about pollinators was important. Bees are more attracted to farms with different plants, and they struggle in monoculture farms because there isn’t enough for them to feed on. That makes me wonder why monoculture is still so common if it doesn’t support pollinators as well.

The section about fungi was interesting too. The way fungi and plants work together seems to depend on the environment, and in more diverse areas, that relationship is stronger. It shows how everything in nature is connected, even underground.

Overall, I liked the idea of treating soil like something alive. If farmers took better care of the soil, it would probably lead to healthier crops and better farming in the long run.

Healing Ground Chapter 3

  I found it incredible that the 1% of farmers in the Central Valley are able to have tons of different kinds of crops despite having 10 acres or less to work with. A lot of large scale farms only grow one kind of crop in an area much larger than these other farmers were. This shows how if you work with the land, you can get more out of it even in a smaller area. 

     Pollinators play a very important role in agriculture and overall biodiversity. They were more drawn to smaller scale farms, in monocultures the bees that were there struggled to find anything to eat. The bees in polycultures had a large supply to choose from, which resulted in them wanting to stay in that area. Having a more diverse farm results in having more pollinators, which then leads to happier plants. With this as a known connection, why do we stil continue with monocultures if we know that polycultures will be more successful. 

The mutual relationship between the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the plants that exist in biodiverse areas has proven to be more beneficial for coping with many different kinds of harsh conditions (conditions that could also be triggered or worsened due to climate change). The fungi there is more diverse, meaning they have different “personailities” in a sense. However, in monocultures the type of this fungi that exists there is more selfish and the relationship it has with plants is different than it is in a diverse environment. It’s fascinating that the fungi somewhat changes “personalities” based on its environment. We are just at the beginning of understanding this fungus and I find that fascinating. 

The intercropping method of planting corn, beans, and squash was a well thoughtout plan. It naturally drove away pests without the need for chemicals or other unnecessary things, while also drawing in insects that helped improve the crop. This makes me think of what other kinds of plants would best benefit from each other and “belong” together. 

I think the Mexica’s mindset of seeing soils as living organisms helps to humanize the soil in a way. This idea should be more mainstream in agriculture here in the U.S., it shows how the soil should be cared for and more carefully considered when being a farmer. If there was no soil, there would be no crop!

Using Farmworker's Knowledge

 Carlisle narrated regenerative farming, using Guzman's life experiences with the Latinx immigrant farmworkers.  Though the farming hardships of his family and returning to its ancestry farmland in Mexico. Points that to be effective will need to center around the farmers who do the labor. These are the people who possess a family history of ecological knowledge. This inherited successful agriculture is not new when compared to current practices of farming.  These tried-and-true practices include intercropping, seed-saving, and soil, enrichment.

Guzman's found that the knowledge gained by the farm workforce, is often disregarded with racism assuming that the correct knowledge only comes from universities or white farmers. The injustice showing who is the expert and excluding farm works from decision making, land access and recognition of their knowledge. You need the labor's experience with the regenerative skills to regenerate the land.

The farmer works with regenerative knowledge were displaced through US trade policies, land grabs, climate changes, and political violence. Farm workers must be protected with land access, labor rights and immigration and helped against exploitation. Suggesting developing inroads for these people to become stewards of the land and not just cheap labor. Goals to maintain fairness include aiding marginalized farmers, fair distribution od needed resources, reviewing past harms, including the shifting of power base.

A bottom-up model of regeneration moves forward with recognizing the farmworkers are leaders, beyond just physical labor, a truer understanding support of their ancestral knowledge to be used on land that is shared being stewarded collectively, Letting solution come from the people most affected.  Using a top-down model does not work.

Chapter 3 - Thoughts

  There is a common group called the “three sisters” which contains squash, beans, and corn. This is often represented as a piece of folklore and is commonly referred to as the Milpa. However, Carlisle treats it with the political and scientific respect it deserves, framing it as a carbon-sequestering technology rather than a garden patch. 

Milpa relies on a relationship-based design. Rather than using chemicals to kill all of the weeds, the Milpa works through cooperation. The corn provides a trellis for the beans to climb, the beans pull nitrogen from the air and put it into the soil, acting as a natural fertilizer, and the squash creates a living mulch with its big leaves that regulate soil temperature and help to prevent weeds. A healthy Milpa can contain tons of species, including plants that modern farmers would dismiss as weeds. Such a diverse ecosystem can withstand pests and droughts that would wipe out a monoculture field.

Carlisle then links the Milpa to the lived reality of Mesoamerican migrants. Ancestral seeds are often carried across borders, often in the face of hardship. In these communities, the Milpa is used as a form of cultural resistance. Growing Milpa is seen as an act of claiming an identity. The farmers are refusing to conform to the food system rather than erase thousands of years of botanical knowledge. 

Regenerative agriculture often repackages Indigenous knowledge as “innovation” while those who had guarded that knowledge are marginalized by the agricultural policies claiming to be fixed. Milpa is not possible without the people. By abandoning the philosophy and just adopting the technique, we are just practicing a new form of colonialism. The Milpa is a social contract between land, people, and ancestors rather than just a planting guide. We need to start looking at the relationships between things rather than just the techniques used. Laboratory chemicals are not needed to feed the world, instead we need to support small-scale farmers who already know how the work with the natural cycles on the planet. 

Chapter 2

 Chapter two of Healing Grounds also stood out to me because of how it focused on Black communities and their relationship to land, which felt like a really important shift in perspective. Instead of only talking about land in a general sense, the chapter highlighted how Black Americans have historically been denied access to land and how that has had lasting effects. It made me think about land not just as something cultural or environmental, but also as something tied to power, opportunity, and stability. What I found especially interesting was how the chapter talked about the history of Black farmers and land ownership, and how much of that was lost over time due to discrimination, policies, and systemic barriers. That loss is not just about property, it is about generational wealth and independence. I feel like that is something that does not always get talked about enough in discussions about sustainability or agriculture. It added another layer to what “healing” really means in this context.I also liked how the chapter showed examples of Black communities reclaiming land and reconnecting with agriculture. It made the idea of healing feel more active and ongoing rather than just something theoretical. These efforts are not just about growing food, but also about rebuilding community, creating access, and challenging systems that have excluded people in the past.Overall, this chapter helped me see how environmental justice and racial justice are closely connected. It made me realize that you cannot really talk about one without the other, especially when looking at the history and current realities of land access in the United States.

There is another way

What stuck with me the most from this chapter is the adoption of co-op and mutual aid organization in the Southern black communities during the Reconstruction era. Developed in a time of necessity when opportunities were not equally distributed to black Americans, groups such as the Colored Farmers Alliance, Freedom Farms, and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives allowed freed slaves and their descendants opportunities that would not have been there for them otherwise. While the lifespan of some of these co-ops was short lived, the impression they left is lasting. We talk a lot in this class about how many of society's problems can be traced back to money. Cooperatives are a step in the right direction, leading away from hierarchical economic statuses, and towards a more circular economy. We do not have to live within the bounds of our current system, there are other options that just need to garner enough support. The individuals and families who founded these co-ops did not have an easy life, but by banding together they were able to accomplish something in a system that worked against them. The same can be done now in an age with extreme wealth disparity that continues to grow, perpetuated racism, sexism and classism, and corrupt political parties. 

Additionally, the work Olivia Watson is doing at Oliver's Agroforest exemplifies working out of the bounds of the current system. Our common agricultural practices are gravely detrimental to the health of the planet. Simply knowing how to grow your own food, feed your community, and do it in a way that is beneficial to the planet is a great act of resistance against oppressors. Having a farm that functions in accordance with nature and the ecosystem is a dream of mine, and it's uplifting to know that it is possible and there are others working towards the same goal. 

Healing Grounds Chapter 2: African Indigenous Agriculture and What it Teaches Us

African Indigenous agriculture not only teaches lessons of the land, but also of humanity and the nature of the world. These strategies also provided a route of perseverance against the societal discrimination in the agricultural sector. The agricultural practices were accessible to economically struggling black farmers and provided food security, economic foothold, and sustainable self sustenance. The parallels between people and nature/land are so prominent, and that was really displayed in this chapter of Healing Grounds. Diverse forest plant life was destroyed, land stripped of biodiversity, for the sake of farming cash crops and rapid urbanization. Black farmers faced oppression and systemic racism through the seizing of their land, increased taxes, declining of loans, discriminatory laws and acts, and being forced into contract labor. Families who acquired land were targets of lynching and violence, which were further efforts to completely displace black farmers from their land and impoverish the black farming community as a whole. Through this extreme hardship, refuge was found within, what this chapter called, then “hidden Black subsistence economy,” saving them from borrowing money from their landlords or going hungry. This system was based on black agroforestry, resisting chemical agriculture, and drawing on strategies originating in Africa that supports biodiversity and the health of ecosystems, while also providing farmers with a huge variety of crops. The principle of this type of farming is to plant crops around trees, and to build up and sustain the existing, or one existing, ecosystem. I love how this strategy of sustainable agriculture was described, in a mutual thriving of the farmer and “farm,” of the oppressed ecosystem and oppressed peoples. The mutual benefit of mindful farm practices, providing freedom and self-sustenance, through collaboration and the unifying relationship between people and forest. Mutual flourishing learned from the land, and implemented, historically, by African Indigenous peoples and black farmers.

40 A & a Mule

 Sounds too Good to Be True

"I certainly wasn't expecting that," says every good-intentioned man with a plan. I can only imagine the type of words used by Gen. William T. Sherman after having his efforts halted by a new president. I think it allows us to see the nature of the beast when it comes to policy implementation within a bureaucratic structure, at the very least, a faulty system. This has been happening since the time the world began revolving. 

While providing immediate benefits in January only 4 days after being proposed by Gen. Sherman, President Lincoln helped establish the order with a bureau to allow for proper redistribution of lands and essentially forming a body of overseers that would ensure the act went into effect through the sovereignty of the people it was entrusted to, the Freedmen. 

It goes to show that although we may not agree with policies, we can learn to dialogue and resolve injustices working together towards a common goal. Gen. Sherman although, never boasted that he wanted racial equality for all. I can't help but think, hope, that just maybe a change of heart occurred and the General realized something needed to be done to acknowledge, repair, aid, in some sense the damage done to his brothers in arms. The rice coast (roughly 350 miles) was given to the Freedmen for many motives; punishing the Confederates who started the war, but more importantly a beginning act towards social aid and the beneficence of all. 

Works Cited: 

Myers, Barton. "Sherman’s Field Order No. 15." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Sep 30, 2020. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/shermans-field-order-no-15/

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Black Land Matters

     A lot of stories were covered in this chapter, specifically around Black-owned or operated farmland either here or in other parts of the world, either in the past, or present. What stuck out to me the most was that African and other non-European and non-American agricultural practices were and still are similar to practices being pushed by organic farmers today. And the idea of pesticides being introduced in this light made me view them as a weapon to weaken a community, just like killing the Bison. 

    We read before that the USA specifically targeted Bison in an effort to weaken native communities, and while I don't think this is as targeted, the thought occurred that policy makers may have been so quick to push pesticides not only for the short term production increase, but also because they knew many Black farm owners would not be able to afford them, and would then be out-produced and out-priced by wealthier white farmers. Conspiracies aside, the glamour of pesticides was seen through by Carver, yet they still went on to dominate agriculture, even today. 

    It was said that in the late 1700s, one person couldn't believe how productive some farmlands were on the Virgin Islands, all year-round. Yet we did not adopt those agroforestry methods as status quo, and had little agroforestry until the late 1900s. I don't know if there is some witty phrase for this, but it feels like every time the USA has tried to rid of something in an effort to do it the USA way, it goes south, and then the original ways are re-adopted and re-branded as new methods discovered in the USA. Ah, the internet calls it "reinventing the wheel". 

Black Land Matters

 I found it jarring that black people woud be arrested and forced into doing even more unpaid labor as punishment. People were attached to slavery even after it was supposed to end, they relied on it, despite it being completely inhumane. As long as they were meeting their quotas and making money, their workers didn’t matter. There wre so many loopholes that were used during this time period so people could continue to have lots of workers for free or for a low cost. 

It took a long time for black people to have the ability to own land in the U.S. and things had begun to look up at the beginning of the 1900s. However, the amount of black land owners greatly decreased throughout the century. Discrimination continued, white people were so against black farmland, ignoring the fact that black people were the backbone of the success of their farms. 

Hearing Olivia Watkins' story highlighted the hardships that people who managed to keep their land had to face. Being pressured by white neighrbors to give up portions of land, attempting to discourage them from creating livelihoods out of farming. What was salvaged must be cherished. It’s important for black land owners to have someone in their family to pass it down to. The conservation of legacy has to be protected to further open doors for black people that were once closed. Instead of being pushed out, they should be welcomed and considered vital to agriculture. 

Like various other articles we’ve read in this class, the importance of indigenous knowledge is brought up in this chapter. Building a relationship with the land instead of fighting against it. Olivia Watkins studies how different plants or fungi interact with the environment, and how that knowledge can be applied to revive the land. I think it’s important for this idea to be regurgitated constantly in order to keep the regenerative agriculture movement alive.