The first part of this chapter takes a dive into the history of black owned land and talks about the annual negro farmers conference. Something that caught my attention was the endless cycle black farmers had with debt. They were not able to feed or clothe their family which resulted in them borrowing money from local merchants. Unfortunately, these merchants were connected to the planters who land they farmed which led to landowners retaining their labor force and dictating the terms of their work. It’s also know as sharecropping, aka a system of slavery.
There was so much land taken from black farmers. Even when black applicants were approved for loans the rates would be were worse for them compared to white farmers for the same sized land. It lead to a lawsuit called Pigford v. Glickman which was settled out for 500 million dollars. It was the largest civil rights settlement in history.
Another big topic for this chapter was agroforestry and soil. Watkins had worked in other agroforestry systems before but the alley cropped agroforestry was noticed to provide wind barriers and prevented soil erosion itself instead of needing help. Deforestation is the cause of 10-15 percent of global carbon emissions. The other point is soil and mycelium. They help other plants absorb and exchange nutrients! It’s honestly very interesting to read about agroforestry and the benefits that come from it.
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