Black Farmers in Mississippi, Past and Present
In the field of sustainability, agriculture is regularly examined through the lens of its physical and ecological impact on the natural environment. Agriculture accounts for around 24 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, not including its culpability in the clear cutting of millions of acres of forest cover. Furthermore, the specific practices of most modern-day agricultural production–large scale monoculture which relies on pesticides and genetically modified strains of plants–have been linked to topsoil erosion and pollution of waterways through runoff.
However, as much as agriculture exists as a space of physical environmental degradation, it also exists as a space of social environmental degradation. Who can farm which crops, what is farmed where, and who has access to which agricultural products, are all inextricably intertwined in social and economic structures of power. The history of Mississippi, therefore, cannot be told without an understanding of the complexities of agriculture, particularly the ways in which Black people have, over time, interacted with agriculture and the food system.
The Past
Mississippi was a sparsely populated territory during the earliest days of United States history. As settlers flocked to eastern states of New York, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas, Mississippi’s interior position sheltered it from all but the most daring of new arrivals. However, this situation shifted dramatically following the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. The cotton gin allowed for cotton to be harvested in massive quantities, opening the figurative (and literal) door to the plantation economy which would emerge in Mississippi.
Between 1798 and 1820, Mississippi’s population increased from 9,000 to 220,000, with a large percentage of these arrivals being enslaved Africans brought by settlers or slave traders. During the period leading up to the civil war and until the passage of the 13th amendment, Mississippi was nearly entirely reliant on the labor of enslaved people. Between 1820 and 1833, and especially following the exile of indigenous communities, Mississippi’s cotton production increased from 20 million to 70 million pounds. By 1839, Mississippi was the nation’s top producer of cotton, even boasting a per capita income above the US average. These numbers, however, were built entirely upon the forced labor of enslaved African Americans.
Slaves in Mississippi during this time were barred from receiving an education or leading lives independent of their owners and labor obligations. It goes without saying that they were, as a result of this denial of basic human rights, unable to accumulate wealth which could have been handed down to their children. This situation made it all too easy for wealthy landowners to continue de facto enslavement through sharecropping even after the passage of the 13th amendment. For those Black individuals who were, despite all odds, able to eventually acquire land, a number of political and economic obstacles emerged to curtail their ability to succeed, an issue which was reported in depth in the Atlantic article “The Great Land Robbery: The Shameful Story of How 1 Million Black Families Have Been Ripped From Their Farms.” Available via this link.
It is likely the case that none of the preceding information is new or shocking. As painful of a history as it is, Mississippi’s reliance on slavery and subsequent reliance on sharecropping are well established facts. However, these points are important in contextualizing the current state of farming and food access in today’s black communities, and the resilience that Black communities have shown in overcoming such circumstances.
The Present
In order to shed light on the individual narratives of present-day black farmers in Mississippi, as well as sustainable farming practices, I spoke with Dria Price and Halima Salazar of Brown’s Farm in Water Valley, Mississippi. Dria moved to Mississippi from Chicago at seven years old, while Halima found herself in Mississippi just three years ago after a lifetime in Nigeria. Both women had only minimal experience with agriculture, but became passionate about the work that Leonard Brown was doing at Brown’s Farm.
Brown’s Farm sits on around 360 acres of farmland in Water Valley, Mississippi. There, Mr. Brown, Dria, and Halima care for cows, goats, and most recently, chickens. Of all the products they produce, Brown’s Farm is most famous for its shiitake mushrooms. “Our goal last year” says Halima, “was to inoculate one thousand mushrooms so that we could have a steady supply to send to restaurants and the community market.” In addition to live animals and mushrooms, Brown’s Farm is home to an extensive herb farm which represents the primary work of Dria and Halima. Here, they cultivate rosemary, thyme, and basil, as well as about ten types of mint, with the long term goal of being able to package and sell these herbs in local grocery stores.
Recently, given the large quantity of herbs that Dria and Halima were producing and selling, they decided to expand their production into teas. “Since we are growing all the herbs anyway and it won’t take up too much extra time,” said Halima “we thought, why don’t we start a tea company, and that’s what we did in creating Justevia.” Dria and Halima, as avid tea lovers themselves, believed that there would be a market for locally-sourced, organically-grown, and hand processed teas in the Oxford area. They hope that Justevia’s teas (which are available naturally sweetened or unsweetened) “can provide an alternative to sugary beverages,” says Dria. “We wanted to create something healthy for our community. In Mississippi, you see a lot of Black people plagued by diseases that can be avoided through a healthier diet.”
What sets Brown’s Farm’s operations apart from traditional agriculture is not only its small scale or organic farming methods, but also the dedication and love which surrounds the entire production process. Halima proudly states, “We actually have a radio that plays in our greenhouse, because Mr. Brown says that the plants will be sad if they don’t have music.” Although Halima and Dria laugh at this quirky practice, it is clear that both women hold the farm–its commitment to sustainability and its people–with deep regard. The purposes behind the work they do at Brown’s Farm and through Justevia have allowed Dria and Halima to reclaim what it means to be a Black person working in agriculture. Rather than seeing themselves as reverting back to an oppressive, ecologically exploitative system, they believe that they are creating something new and beautiful. They are proud of the work they do and they are deeply connected with both the Earth and the delicate balance between our bodies and the foods with which sustain them.
It is not the goal of this essay to take Dria and Halima’s positive experiences as representations of the experiences of all Black people in farming today, however, it is the goal of this essay to highlight them as beacons of hope. Although we may not find in Dria and Halima’s stories the end of an unjust system enacted on Black people in Mississippi, we are able to celebrate victories where they do occur, in the hope that Dria and Halima will become one among many of such stories of redemption.
If you are looking for ways to support Justevia, their products are available here.
Written by Lennis Barlow, Green Student Intern
Lennis is a senior at the University of Mississippi double majoring in International Studies and Chinese with a minor in Environmental Studies. This semester, Lennis will serve as the Outreach and Communication Intern, but she has previously worked as the Sustainability Data Intern. Through her time at the Office of Sustainability, Lennis has become passionate about amplifying the voices of campus and community sustainability leaders, and is thus excited about creating innovative ways for connectivity despite the continuing pandemic.
by Lindsey Abernathy | January 21, 2016