A documentary shown at the Anderson D26 Career Center this week trained a spotlight on Black farmers making inroads in an industry where many of their ancestors’ oppression began.
“A lot of Blacks, their heritage started off with slavery and having to do the farming for free, so that is why I selected this profession” for a documentary to screen locally, said Treva Bostic, director of student and employee support at Anderson Community Schools.
Bostic organized the showing of “Farming While Black: Reclaiming Land and Agricultural Heritage.”
According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, Blacks make up 1.4% of the nation’s 3.4 million farmers. Their stories often go untold, according to Mark Decena, who wrote and directed the documentary.
After reading a book about solutions to help mitigate the climate crisis, he hit upon the idea to share the story of three farmers: Leah and Naima Penniman and Karen Washington in New York and Blain Snipstal in Maryland, as well as the Federation of Southern Cooperatives in Georgia.
“It just so happened that I heard a podcast that Leah was on about her book,” Decena said. “That inspired me to talk to her. Three and a half years later, we are following her around.”
After the documentary screening Tuesday in Anderson, Decena and Washington participated by Zoom in a 30-minute question-and-answer session with those who attended.
“Farming While Black” was released in 2023 and has won awards at film festivals nationwide. Decena said the feedback from audiences has been humbling.
“I am honored to tell this story,” he said. “I am not Black. I am not a farmer. I am a storyteller. From what we have seen, the film has resonated with audiences across the country, and now we are getting international requests as well.”
Darlisha Averitte was at Tuesday’s event representing her Anderson business, Jane’s Jam and Jelly, which was named after her late mother. Averitte said she hopes to have a farm of her own one day.
“I have always done some form of gardening for the last 20 years,” Averitte said. “I just felt I was being called to have a farm and to grow food and feed people, especially people who may not be able to afford fresh produce.
“I am a nature girl,” she continued. “There is nothing better to me than getting out in nature and actually putting my hands in the soil. That is where I commune and meditate and get creative ideas. It’s my peace. Some people may go shopping; I go out into my garden.”
Averitte said the documentary pushed her to keep trying to become a farm owner.
“I thought it was a wonderful documentary,” Averitte said. “It motivated me. I have been looking for land, and it can become daunting after you look at property after property and it does not work out for whatever reason. This ignited me to continue to follow my dream and my vision.”
Decena said he wants the documentary to help people change how they think about food.
“I am hoping it inspires the next generation of Black and brown farmers to reclaim their heritage and land that was lost,” Decena said. “I also hope it propels regenerative agriculture as a major solution to climate change by changing the way we grow food — not only to help the planet, but it can help heal ourselves.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.