Black Farmers Market
Noon–4 p.m., Sun., June 23
The Tower at Mutual Plaza
411 West Chapel Hill Street, Durham
Black-owned farms represent less than 2 percent of all farms in the nation, and that percentage is declining. What’s more, black farmers generate less income than their white counterparts, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture.
It hasn’t always been this way. A number of initiatives following the Civil War successfully promoted independent farming by black tenants, and in 1920, about 14 percent of America’s farms were black-owned. But due to discriminatory land lending, a lack of access to loans, and increased industrialization, millions of black farmers were pushed off their land during the twentieth century.
Derrick Beasley, co-founder and creative director of Black August in the Park and the Black Market—two local organizations working to advance black-owned businesses—says that “black farmers may go extinct” if the current trajectory continues.
“Small farms are disappearing anyway, in terms of the larger industrial food landscape,” Beasley says. “But black folks experience that disproportionately, as we disproportionately experience most social justice issues.”
Beasley says the displacement of black communities is a major factor harming black farmers, referencing Complete 540—the proposed extension of the Triangle Expressway—which will displace more than two hundred homes. The project, Beasley says, will uproot a historically black community in Holly Springs that has contributed to the local food scene.
“Displacement isn’t just an urban issue. It’s happening in rural communities as well,” he says. “The land we own is shrinking faster than most.”
The best way to combat the problem, he says, is to support black farmers—which Black August in the Park and the Black Market will be doing this Saturday with their second Black Farmers Market. Vendors will include Pine Knot Farms, Williams Produce, Off Grid in Color, and Turtle Mist Farm, as well as several local black-owned retailers. The market aims to create a space that fosters connections between black farmers, local and regional food systems, and food and land justice organizations.
“Black folks have a complicated relationship to growing, and to land, and to farming,” Beasley says. “There’s a cultural resistance. The Black Farmers Market is trying to give these people access.”
This weekend’s market will also provide opportunities for the public to learn about the obstacles black farmers face, featuring informational booths and a panel discussion on black land ownership and agriculture. Panelists include Undreya Hudson, director of Communities in Partnership Food Co-op and the N.C. Community Bail Fund of Durham; ancestral historian Georie Bryant; and Gabrielle Eitienne, a writer and cultural preservationist.
“Durham has such an affinity for local businesses, so there’s an opportunity to connect local restaurants with farmers and build our own infrastructure that prioritizes strongly disenfranchised groups,” Beasley says. “As Durham puts itself in conversations with cities around the country in terms of development, it will be fascinating to see how we can set the tone within this food context as well.”
Several thousand people attended the inaugural Black Farmers Market last November, and Beasley expects a similar crowd this weekend. He hopes that Black August in the Park and the Black Market will occur more frequently in coming years—even if black farmers begin to get more recognition by mainstream farmers markets.
“As long as there’s a disproportionate amount [of black farmers], there needs to be an equally disproportionate response to ensure that black farmers have access,” he says.
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