Nurturing Community and Healing the Land

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, architect of the  Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill (HF1332/SF1580), Marita Bujold interviews community and food justice organizer, Zoe Holloman to learn about the leadership role that the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective (MFCC) is playing to shape the just, responsive, and sustainable food and farming system we need as a foundation for resilient regional economies. 

The Midwest Farmers of Color Collective emerged in early 2020 from conversations beginning in 2018 when a group of BIPOC famers gathered to discern their needs and the role they could play together. During their brief existence, Zoe and her colleagues at MFCC have organized many social, economic, and political opportunities for BIPOC farmers to meet the challenges of the time. 

In this conversation it becomes clear that the Collective’s work of nurturing community and healing the land is grounded in the understanding that our path forward must be defined by racial, economic, and environmental justice. Listeners will find themselves accepting Zoe’s gracious invitation to share the work to make that future possible. 

Find the full transcript here.

Transcript

Sarah Riedl  00:36

Hello and welcome back to Nourish by MN350. I'm your host Sarah Riedl, Communications Manager at MN350 and MN350 Action, where we're working towards a just transition to a climate resilient future across Minnesota, the homeland of the Anishinaabe, Dakota, and Ho-Chunk people. Today we'll be sharing an interview with Zoe Holloman, one of the co-founders of the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective. And joining me to bring us the story is Marita Bujold, artist, activist and creator of the Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill. Marita, it's good to see you again. Thanks for being here.

Marita Bujold  01:14

Thanks for having me.

Sarah Riedl  01:16

So Marita, let's start with a little bit of background. Can you tell us a little bit about the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective and what drew you to the work of this organization?

Marita Bujold  01:27

I learned about the collective early in their organizing separately from my friends, Michael Chaney, and Hindolo Pokowa. Zoe was facilitating their gatherings and they had just begun to meet. And then many months later, Michael invited me to an event they were hosting. And that really was an opportunity to listen to their stories, learn about the collective, eat delicious food, of course, and meet wonderful farmers. I remember thinking that what they'd achieved in such a short time was impressive, and exciting. I know how hard it can be to organize effectively, the time and energy and care it takes to map a path forward together and all the challenges you face. It takes courage and grace. When I'd spoken to Zoe before one of their first meetings, she told me that the purpose of gathering was to learn together and to define what they wanted and needed as farmers of color. And from those conversations they created, as their website says, "a place for farmers of color." It was really about having a safe space to define who they were and what they wanted the future to be.

Sarah Riedl  02:46

All right. Well, let's dive in and hear a little bit more about what that space looks like.

Marita Bujold  02:52

So we thank you so much for sitting down and sharing your story with us. 

Zoe Hollomon  02:56

Thank you for having me, Marita. 

Marita Bujold  02:59

Well, let's start with the basics. Please tell us about yourself and your background.

Zoe Hollomon  03:04

So I'm Zoe Holloman, she and they pronouns. I am one of the co-founders of Midwest Farmers of Color Collective. I also work at the Pesticide Action Network. I'm the statewide organizer for Minnesota. I am also a co-op member-owner of Red Springs Farm and Retreat Cooperative. We have a 36-acre space in Annandale, Minnesota. It's a beautiful place for health and healing, for respite for BIPOC and LGBT communities. So those are the the main things that I work on now. 

Zoe Hollomon  03:41

But I'm from Buffalo, New York, which is another city by lake and river, right? the Niagara River. I got involved in food justice work in 2003. But with the youth and food justice organization there, the Massachusetts Avenue Project. And that was working with mostly young people, but also adults who were interested in starting their own food-based businesses, immigrant communities who were, had agrarian backgrounds, but were learning how to farm in a different climate. Primarily folks in low income and communities of color who were rightly upset at the lack of access to food, the decisions that were made about what neighborhoods get invested in, in terms of access to food. 

Zoe Hollomon  04:28

And so we were doing some wonderful organizing with teenagers primarily living in these communities to talk about the food system and how it works to have an analysis of the way that the foods the industrial food system has impacted urban folk as well as farmers and to build relationships between people in cities who want the food and farmers who are growing it. So that was really my step into food justice work. then over the years, I've had just a lot of different opportunities to work with other communities, both in New York, but also in Minnesota, and then some national groups as well. I'm also an artist, a visual artist, and a synchronized swimmer. I'm part of Minnesota-based, organized swimming team, Subversive Sirens. We do routines that are about black liberation and queer visibility, radical body acceptance, and equity in swimming in the aquatic art.

Marita Bujold  05:33

I love that I'd forgotten you were part of a synchronized swimming team. You told me that a few years ago, I think. I love synchronized swimming. It is the most amazing collaborative art.

Zoe Hollomon  05:48

It really is. And I have to say, it's been an incredible way for me to invest in an embodied practice of liberation. Many of us organizers are very much in our head, a lot of our work is in our head. And synchronized swimming has just become one of these incredible ways for me to be in community with the other swimmers to have a new sort of language almost of expression. Yeah, just share some political views and things through our routines. And through campaigns, which has been awesome, because we hear from other people like, wow, this is practicing in the water has been like amazing for me, too.

Marita Bujold  06:33

So speaking of collaboration, let's talk about the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective. What moved you to help create this collaborative organization?

Zoe Hollomon  06:45

Well, I'd say first, that said, it's a challenge to farm. Right? I mean, it is labor some task you are in this relationship with the weather, which certainly nowadays with climate change, that can be fickle, and unpredictable. Most of the farmers of color that are part of our network, they struggle, they haven't had the privileges of some of the mainstream or European descended farmers of having land passed down through their family, or growing up with people who were connected to the Farm Service Agency and knew about all the programs and things to help farmers. And so it's a challenging thing. They may have additional jobs, or be helping parents and things like many of us. And so honestly, we started Midwest Farmers of Color Collective, at the original convening. And I think there's just a very practical nature of when you're doing something that's really hard. You need the community and advice and the brains of other people to help you. We have farmers of color, who are African immigrants, for example, who come to Minnesota and they have farming in their backgrounds, but they're new to farming in Minnesota, new to farming in a different climate, new to dealing with a different systems of markets and food and safety handling requirements. And it's a bit more and so I think for anybody that is a huge endeavor, but especially for farmers of color, who face a tremendous amount of barriers with accessing land and accessing technical assistance, accessing resources, and capital, you know, access to loans and the financial information and education, access to tax planning, all of these things that have really been invested in white farmers for decades, really have not been for farmers of color. 

Zoe Hollomon  08:49

So us getting together at the original convening and saying, "Hey, we love having a space that's just for us", where urban and rural and suburban farmers can come together and meet each other, and share what they're learning what their share about things that they figured out is a very practical thing, right. And then, in addition, and I'll talk about this later, I think the fact that farmers of color often have to do many things have a side job take care of their families and things like that. In addition to farming I think the not always having the ability or the time to organize has almost kind of been this, like an atrophy, sometimes I describe it where you have a an arm if you've broken an arm and you had to have it in a cast. When you get the cast cut off, that arm compared to your other arm is thinner, the muscles have atrophied a little bit, and it's not as strong. So if you expect, somebody expects you to pick up a big, heavy rock or something with that arm, it's much harder because you haven't had the person practice of really strengthening those muscles to be able to do this job. And I think that that's a bit similar with farmers of color, just having to deal with so many other things, and not having as much of the political power, the room and resources to be able to organize collectively for what we want that we have to do that work. 

Zoe Hollomon  10:22

So and it's not to say, I mean, organizers, farmers of color have been organizing for a very long time. But I will say it's a challenge to make space for it, when we often are doing so many other things in our communities to to help us get the things that we need, you know, whether that's like fighting for fair education, our kids schools, or fighting for our lives, in the streets with the police, or there's a lot of things going on for folks of color. So I think that Midwest Farmers of Color is, it's critical for us to be able to have a community, to have a community of people to share their knowledge to have a community of moral support. Sometimes farming can be an isolating kind of thing. Oh, some of our farmers are out in rural towns or suburban towns, and they are a super minority. So we, when we came together, we said we really want to focus on bringing farmers of color together to organize socially, to network with each other to say, "Hey, I've got community up here." "Oh, I didn't know you're only 20 minutes from my farm." You know, and have that kind of moral support, like, oh, okay, we can do things. There's, there's quite a few of us, and also organize economically and politically. 

Zoe Hollomon  11:47

So those are the kind of three main areas that we focus on. And it is really important. And I think we'll have time to talk a little bit more about why it's, it's important with respect to climate change, and some of the other public health crises and some of the other things that are going on.

Marita Bujold  12:04

Can you tell us more about the projects that you're working on how you see those as helping us move forward, to have a really resilient and just food economy?

Zoe Hollomon  12:16

So we have a Farmer Social Zoom. It is a monthly meeting of farmers and gardeners of color in the Midwest, mostly in Minnesota, but also in Illinois, and Wisconsin. And it feels like we're kind of expanding every month. We get other groups of farmers from other states that are just curious as to how we organized and to talk to about what we've learned and what we would recommend for similar organizing. The Farmer Social Zoom is not yet on the website, where that's one of the things I think we're really figuring out is how to show more of what we're doing. So that's a really great way to help farmers meet each other and build community and especially in the time of COVID, and social distancing. It's just been really important. We started we kind of established ourselves in February of 2020. And that was right before COVID hit. And I think it's been pretty amazing the way that we've built community within the pandemic using Zoom technology, across generations and geography.

Zoe Hollomon  13:27

Certainly, we started a couple of projects in 20, like early 2021. And so some of those are our Grow Connect project, which is an opportunity for farmers of color to get into pairs or in small groups, and figure out some challenges that they want to address or troubleshoot. Or maybe it's learning how to grow specific kinds of crops could be dealing with under resourced soil or soil that needs inputs and needs to be built back. It could be a labor project, you know, maybe they want to build something or something like that. But it's really we supply some resources for a small group of farmers to get together and do a project that would help them during the growing season. 

Zoe Hollomon  14:17

And then along with that they offer something they develop something that can be used and shared with the larger Midwest Farmers of Color Collective. So, the first year we worked with some urban farmers and they said they worked with each other, and we helped them with volunteers. But they also were interested in starting a seed library. So we gave them some resources and they purchased a seed vault, and that's being slowly added to an a sort of archive for farmers and gardeners of color, what they grow the food that they're interested in, and to have our own supply I have seeds for future use. So that's one project that we have. 

Zoe Hollomon  15:05

We also have some emergent ones that are just kind of that have come up due to the pandemic and some of our needs. So we started a COVID Buyback Fund and a Cultivators' Fund, which are funds that helps support farmers due to when they're struggling with a lack of sales due to COVID. Some of the farmers market sales or sales to restaurants or other places where there they have sold their food in the past, were also hit with COVID. And so they're in some cases weren't able to buy as much. So we started those funds to help purchase produce from farmers of color. And they can either figure out where they want that produce to go. So sometimes it's in their own communities. Or sometimes we're hosting a community event. And we'd like to have nice supply of local food from farmers of color. And so we can purchase it from them to either give away to the community or get to people. So that's another project that we have. 

Zoe Hollomon  16:10

We also have a mapping project, which is one of the things that most all of the farmers in the collective said, we really want to know where we all are. So for example, if I'm a farmer, and I'm looking for land, I would love to know where other farmers of color are, so that I can locate myself near them and have a community that I can trust. We also want to know where farmers of color are for organizing purposes, to know which counties how many of us are there that will be really helpful in organizing. Also, just building socially, I think some farmers are interested in doing tours of each other's farms and learning about the different practices and things. And so I think those things can all be done when we have a good directory and a good like geographic map. So that's a project that's been in the works for several months and continue through. We should have some things to share in the end of this year. And we're really excited about it. 

Zoe Hollomon  17:16

We also have a burgeoning podcast, where we're kind of making a series of episodes and to a block, and then we'll see if we can do some outreach with that block and maybe get a sponsor or something to help us fund that. But that's the Girl Liberation podcast. And that's run by another one of our former leaders. And we have a series called Advancing Us, which is a virtual, it's on Zoom. It's a series of doing important conversations and political education with farmers of color. So we had one before the presidential elections, and really just talked to farmers and with farmers about their concerns about how safe do they feel voting going to the polls, in different counties and different small towns and different areas. I mean, I don't know if you remember, but people were really embrazened and threatening. And it was a pretty unsafe environment in a lot of ways right around that time and since. And so it was really important for farmers to talk about how can we help make ourselves safe when we know we need to go to the polls. 

Zoe Hollomon  18:36

We also had conversations about certainly the federal elections are really important. And there are also state and local elections happening that have, that are important for farmers as well in terms of county elections, commissioners, other races that are those people will be making decisions that impact us. So we talked a little bit about that. 

Zoe Hollomon  18:58

And then we also had a conversation about the Justice for Black Farmers Act and what that presented, some of the solutions, also some of the challenges that it presented for, for some farmers for indigenous farmers, for example. And so we had this really wonderful couple of conversations actually, about what does it mean to be in solidarity together when we're faced with many people have been oppressed, right? And many people have lost land and how do we build solidarity together when indigenous people have their ancestors are buried on the land, right? And so, we just talked through some of that and talked about, okay, so black farmers certainly want land, Hmong farmers want land so that they can have the security. And what are some things that they can do, some questions that they can ask so that they can also be cognizant of our indigenous colleagues and farmers to say, "Do I know indigenous folks in my county?" "Are there sacred sites on my land that they would like access to?" "Are there things that I can figure out so that I can help make some of that happen, you know, ways to be in solidarity with each other?"

Zoe Hollomon  20:13

We also had an information session on conversation about the obstruction to the BIPOC Farmer Debt Relief that was passed in the American Recovery Act, and was obstructed by white farmers in Texas and Florida, and Minnesota; as well as just conservative political powers, who did not want to see policy get passed, and any precedents for people of color, specifically getting resources, even though it's clear to, I think, most people that we deserve them. 

Zoe Hollomon  20:45

So we've got several projects. And then we've really just figured out different ways to engage with our local electeds, with the Minnesota Department of Ag with Patrice Bailey, the assistant commissioner and first black person in leadership at the MDA as well as others. We've brought farmers together to give input on the American Recovery Act, first of all, on COVID, emergency response funds, as well as drought, emergency response funds, and just funding in general. So yeah, we've done certain projects that kind of speak to the different areas, the kind of social connections, the organizing politically, and then the organizing economically.

Marita Bujold  21:29

So listening to you, Zoe, I'm thinking you created some really practical tools and managed some challenges unique to BIPOC farmers. Perhaps you could tell us more about working with Patrice Bailey and how this might help.

Zoe Hollomon  21:46

Assistant Commissioner Bailey has been good is really trying to connect with us on a personal level, and say, you know, "Hey, okay, I'm in this position. I'd really like to know what you want." And just being willing to to meet with us. And also, I think that he understands that legislators need to be educated about this world of food and the food systems and really understand some of the shifts that are happening right now. So for example, the Baby Boomers are retiring, right? And they were a group that received the majority of investment from the USDA and access to land. And they're leaving. I mean, it's a pretty big exodus, right, of our food growers. And so I think because of that, more people are asking like, "Whoa, who are going to be the next farmers who take their place?" 

Zoe Hollomon  22:41

And meanwhile, you know, you have farmers of color who have been fighting to farm and farming. So Emerging Farmer Report of 2020 is one of the things that Commissioner Bailey did to help educate our legislators. I think a lot of people assume that the legislators like know everything, and that they know all the information. I think you can probably attest to this, Marita, they don't. You know, they maybe get paid 40-45,000 a year, and they have to read all of this information. And if they have staff, and they have help, but a lot of them don't, it's a lot. And so, I think educating them to say, "Hey, we have this big generational shift that's happening right now, we have a lot of farmers who've had a lot of investment to be able to farm are leaving and their kids, they're not as interested in farming. So we have this hole that we need to fill in our food system. And farmers of color would love to step into that." But they really lack the resources and the investment to be able to do that. It's a very heavy lift. So we all need to help them get there. And if we do, it will help all of us. So I think that's a bigger picture. 

Zoe Hollomon  23:54

Minnesota is one of those states, that's a big ag state were heavily invested in agro-chemical food production, in monocropping, in corn and soy and non edible foods mostly, and that is the really the wrong type of agriculture for a sustainable future. So these farmers who are growing food, who most of whom started growing food for their families, and their communities, they are practicing a different type of agriculture. That is the type of agriculture that we need. And that is the type that we need to invest in in order to have this more sustainable future. So I think that that's another reason that it's critical to invest in farmers of color and why we're organizing.

Marita Bujold  24:43

What you've described is really about the moment we're in. It's that shift as the demographics change, where you have this retiring generation of farmers. But at the same time, we're in this moment where we need to say we simply can't continue to invest our public dollars in a system that's unsustainable, that isn't producing food for our communities, and is depleting our water sources to an extent, where we will be without water across the Midwest in 20 years if we don't stop draining the Ogallala Aquifer, right? Millions of acres in Minnesota are cultivated with pesticides and fertilizers. And you know, from your work that anywhere that industrial operations are conducted, the land is polluted, the waters are polluted, and the air is polluted by pesticides. This is a moment of opportunity to really shift. We need to be clear about this. How can we shift those dollars now and also help the farmers to be part of an economy that stewards the land and restores vital biodiversity? This is where Midwest Farmers of Color who want to do the work of feeding people could play a pivotal role.

Zoe Hollomon  26:14

Yeah, and I mean, I certainly think there are a wonderful examples of farmer of color led organizations and co-op associations. Certainly, HAFA, the Hmong American Farmers Association, is amazing organizing, both, you know, amongst farmers and politically And there are other clusters of farmers of color who, you know, have been doing this work before Midwest Farmers of Color came along, obviously. But I think there are also a lot of individual farmers who are not part of those co-ops or collectives and need a community of sorts. So, yeah, I think that's what what we are. 

Zoe Hollomon  26:51

And it's very important to understand this as a critical moment. I think COVID has helped that a little bit. So really, like, showing more people who didn't really see the problems in our food systems before. COVID exposed issues with labor rights and health protections that were not their, that are not their issues, with the supply chain that can happen when you have a pandemic. And we are used to getting food from around the globe and transportation gets held up for so many reasons. It's important to build these regional food systems. And it's better for our carbon footprint. And this is conventional wisdom for farmers of color and indigenous communities. Like they have been saying these things for a long time. Those of us forever, right, right? Like those of us in labor justice and other movements, we've been saying these things for a long time. They're not new but I think COVID really kind of created a bit of transparency with these food shortages and things people for the first time were like, "Oh, my God, I can't get my pork, or I can't get these things, I can't get these fruits and vegetables that I'm used to having." So it's there's more people paying attention. So it feels very important that we kind of try to harness that attention and make some big changes, because we certainly have big changes to make.

Marita Bujold  28:15

Yes, and you've highlighted what we've been paying attention to at MN350 the last, in our conversations too, because if we're going to have a sustainable future, then you have to have the infrastructure in place to make sure that it's possible. And like you say, the more we can have a robust local system that operates regionally, that's sharing, that creates real connections between communities, it makes it so much simpler to be able to manage, especially during these extreme weather events. There's a lot of talk now about how do we handle these emergencies. And if you have planned for them in your food system, if you actually have a food supply that's readily available, or that you can share with the nearest county where there is an emergency when your county isn't experiencing it, if you have those relationships, now you're in a much better position than as you say, to rely on something that's coming from, you know, 1000s of miles away, in some cases. 

Marita Bujold  29:28

So I know you're aware that MN350 is supporting the Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill. And the purpose of that bill really is to create those ecological and economic conditions so that we can live sustainably and it specifically addresses the issue of environmental, racial and economic justice. So in so many ways, I feel like the leadership that's coming from communities, like the BIPOC communities, we're saying, "This is the moment to shift. We're here, we want to do this work. It's time to invest in us." We have this great opportunity to really make that shift possible.

Sarah Riedl  30:25

So, Marita, you and Zoe covered a lot of ground, talking about all the different projects that the Midwest farmers of color collective have initiated to create this community. You know, there's the Farmer Socials, the Girl Connect project, the funds they've created to support farmers during COVID, the mapping project, the Girl Liberation podcast, Advancing Us conversation series, and, of course, the political organizing work. But Zoe mentioned at the very beginning that she is also the Minnesota statewide organizer for the Pesticide Action Network of North America or PANNA. Did the two of you have a chance to talk about that work?

Marita Bujold  31:04

We did.

Sarah Riedl  31:05

Great. Let's take a listen. 

Marita Bujold  31:07

I thought I might even get you to comment if you would about how what you're doing with the Midwest Farmers of Color intersects with your work with PANNA. Because clearly, the reason PANNA exists, is because we are all tethered to this system of a publicly funded food system that is unsustainable, and generates this air pollution, landscape pollution, water pollution everywhere it operates. And so we've had organizations that are trying to fight against this, and highlight the stories of people who are directly impacted by it, as well as pointing a finger at the system itself.

Zoe Hollomon  31:58

It is really that the farmers and the type of farming that we are going to have in the future depends on who we find and who we support financially in this country. And we talked to farmers all across the country. And I think even a lot of the farmers who are conventional farmers and growing the commodity crops, so they understand that that kind of farming is not good for the planet, and is helping to support ethanol production and things like that are not good for us as well. But there's not systems to help farmers address risk, and things that are equally supportive as the toxic treadmill cycle. So we really do have to fight on a couple of different fronts. And I think we we need to fight the narrative that a lot of those corporations are claiming that they're doing all of this on behalf of the small family farmers, to protect them to protect them against risk to protect their economic investment.

Zoe Hollomon  33:04

But I think a lot of farmers are being harmed by that system. And so what we try to focus on is lifting up the voices of those farmers, and largely BIPOC farmers, small scale farmers, who are carrying the brunt of the damage and destruction, whether it's to human health, our water system, damage to their own crops and livestock from industrial agriculture. They have, they actually have like a pretty powerful voice in legislative hearing, for example, to stand up and say, "Actually, you don't speak for me CropLife." So that's some of the organizing, as well as just trying to build up the grassroots organizations that we know need to have a voice need to be at decision making tables, need to be engaged in state and federal policy. So yeah, that's some of the work that is happening in Minnesota with PANNA and our partners, and in other states that we work in in Hawaii and California and in Iowa as well.

Marita Bujold  34:13

And really that effort to bring people together with common issues, I think, could help us say, very clearly, you know, let's look at how this system works. Where are we going to be in 10 years in 20 years, if we continue to fund this? I listened to a testimony from farmer who's doing what's termed regenerative farming now on 3000 acres, and it's about adding cover crops in between planting the corn and soybeans. And he has been observing that his soil is changing because of the cover crops. But he said, "But of course, we're still being paid to grow the corn and soybeans." We pay farmers to do that. I'm guessing that if they weren't paid to do that, they wouldn't be growing corn and soybeans, they wouldn't be producing on an industrial scale. If the government wasn't paying them to do that. What if we pay them to do the right thing? You know, what if we paid them to actually grow food to put on our tables in a regional system, right?

Zoe Hollomon  35:27

I think it's so true that we recently had a just some conversations with farmers of color about how their work is healing work, by the food that they grow. Many of the farmers of color started growing because they were growing to feed themselves, their families, and their communities. And so they're not using the toxic treadmill type farming implements or chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They are growing without those, and they are exactly the kind of farmers that we need to promote. The type of agriculture that they're doing is killing the land. And then their work in the larger movement is really critical to making this shift in the type of agriculture that we are invested in and engaged in. 

Zoe Hollomon  36:19

I think we have this kind of critical moment, right now, as we're seeing generational shifts of Baby Booming farmers retiring to really help bring in farmers of color and other marginalized farmers who are very invested in growing food for our region. There's all sorts of other benefits that come with that capital retention and a smaller environmental footprint and just better food, a more resilient regional food system. All of those things, if we support them, that can happen. So that's the heart of all of our work, not just farming organizations, but a food justice organizations, environmental organizations, other social organizations. We can all speak to the benefits and some of the risks that we'll share if we don't make changes.

Marita Bujold  37:16

Yes, I would agree to all of that list. But I would, I would just add that I just don't see how we really truly address this without making this a public investment. You know, because we already have a publicly-funded system, we just have the wrong one. And isn't this really about making sure that as you said earlier, we use proven strategies, proven leadership, and that absolutely is growing in a sustainable way. There's no question that we actually know what we need to do. It's a case of, can we actually get out of this mess that's been created, and put ourselves on the right track? There's so many reports now. There was one that came out, just today, about the aquifers in California and other places in the West, where, of course, they're experiencing drought on a scale that hasn't been seen for literally 1000s of years. And aquifers are not being replenished. They're just being used in a way it's unsustainable. So what you're talking about is actually helping us move in the right direction.

Zoe Hollomon  38:35

Think about the history of this country, and how at certain times federal government was able to make huge shifts. You know, the New Deal did that, right? Like, I mean, they use tons of resources and made huge shifts and created a gigantic projects and put a lot of people to work and course corrected. And so I think it is possible. It's just more about I think whether or not we can build the political will and confront the powerful forces. 

Zoe Hollomon  39:13

Unfortunately, I think that their narrative has confused people, has misled a lot of people. And that's another reason why I think narrative shift work is so important now, really talking to people about the real history of our food system. We have a food justice timeline that we created, which you know about. And so we're continuing to do trainings with a lot of food and farming organizations, with food policy councils, with elected officials, with groups of community members, allies and accomplices, to arm them with information and with knowledge that can help can help us all just understand what has happened, what has gotten us to this point and say, "You know, we're not going to fall for those same methods and those same tactics moving forward." We know that they've been used for hundreds of years to put so much power into the hands of a very small group of corporate interests. And that data does not lead us to any of the outcomes that we wanted. And so we need something different, and we have to organize for it. That's the most fast work. But it's really important. 

Zoe Hollomon  40:34

I think another piece is really talking about what racism has done to this country, how it has polarized us purposefully, to kind of as a divide and conquer strategy. And how and why it's so important to be doing anti-racist work for a lot of the white led food and farming organizations who have membership bases of a lot of white farmers who live in rural areas. It's very important to understand that white supremacy has been something that has hurt all of us, and that we have lost, I think we touched on this a little bit in the first the first time we spoke, but that we lost the benefit of a lot of the agro-ecological practices. Imagine what farming would be like if we had supported indigenous cultures in farming, right? As opposed to genocide and culture erasure. And so I think the important piece is to learn from the past that that has happened in the past, and we don't want to continue to do that. But the reality, I think, is that racial equity work starts with a personal, to really understand. And that is, it's not super fast. Even though we're in this time where it feels very urgent.

Zoe Hollomon  41:57

So the answer is, we just we have a lot of work on a lot of different levels to do. And yeah, Midwest Farmers of Color are happy to do that. We're creating more spaces to be able to talk about how to access land, how to make a demand for that, and our upcoming Farm Bill, how to connect with environmental justice organizations, to really work together to resist some of the problematic narratives, to do education with our elected officials, and to come up with the solutions that will actually help us get the outcomes that we want environmentally, respect to public health, and economically.

Marita Bujold  42:41

There's a lot to unpack there. As I listened to you, I couldn't help thinking about how, in so many ways, on a personal level, there is a real opportunity for people to, like, do their homework. But I think there's a need to, for us, to do that collectively, you know. To say these are the key things that have supported racist structures. So that we understand how economically that really has been at the heart of our economy: the racism that has divided us that has set people of color on one path, and people who are white on another path. And that when we understand that as a foundation, I think it makes a huge difference. And it stops being about a "What can I do about it as an individual?" and it starts being about pay. 

Marita Bujold  43:43

This is a problem that is endemic to our economy to our culture. It's been created deliberately, intentionally. So like you said, we can do other things, right? We can actually choose to create a different path. And there's such urgency here that as much as I love the idea of everybody learning all of the history, I feel like well, we need to make a decision that we're going to actually win the battle with climate and do it with all the proven strategies that are out there. Your comments made me think about a testimony that was given in a recent interview that I heard of a woman who works for Grassroots International, no GRAIN, excuse me, she works for GRAIN. And she's in Africa. And she talked about all these women farmers that are the heart of it was like 35 million small-scale farmers and we're talking, you know, 5, 10, maybe 15 acres, growing real food for their communities. They are the leaders, right? And she said, after talking about all the ways in which they are threatened by the industry, our federal policies, she said, "But we are still united in saying to the rest of the world, 'Hands off our food system.'" Right? And I thought, "Yes! These women." You know? So I think maybe that's what we need to be doing here is talking about how do we really support globally? Women are, in many cases, the primary producers. 

Zoe Hollomon  45:41

Yeah, I think that's true globally. And I think that it's important to challenge the narratives out there that would have you believe that farmers are white men, because worldwide, they're largely women and children of color. And I think that's one of the other things too, that bringing together farmers of color from different places, helps you feel that more as possible that more change is possible, right? It's another one of the things that we're trying to do with Midwest Farmers of Color,  to create community, both like within our region, but then also reaching out to farmers and in other states and other countries in solidarity to say, "Hey, we're on the inside, like in the belly of the beast here." And let's talk about what we're doing and what we can do to help each other.

Sarah Riedl  46:30

The last thing Zoe said there was "What can we do to help each other?" Marita, you know we like to end these episodes with a call to action, something listeners can do to support our guests. So I know you and Zoe talked about this right? Let's listen in.

Marita Bujold  46:47

So we were just about at the end of our interview. Before we go, can you share with our audience some of the ways that they might support the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective?

Zoe Hollomon  46:58

Well, certainly folks can support us financially. We have our website. There's a donation page, so that folks can give through our fiscal sponsor, which is the Land Stewardship Project. So that's an important way to support our programs, our Building Farmer Leaders for this movement, and all the things that we're working on. Folks can also volunteer for some of our projects. And that can be done through our website. We have a sign up so that you can people can get connected and tell us how they think they'd like to volunteer or contribute, engage with us. 

Zoe Hollomon  47:33

I think in larger, broader ways, we're really trying to address issues around race and racism in our systems. And I often tell white allies, "Hey, we really need you to stand up." When it's people of color who are doing the majority of speaking out about the injustice, other white people who are in positions of power, ignore us. And they say, "Oh, well, there bias there. So just like they have a chip on their shoulder." They're just like, against our whole policy and this and that, and they say things about us. But I think for our white allies and accomplices, we really need you to stand up and say, "Hey, this obstruction of this BIPOC Farmer Debt Relief that's happening right now, this is racism. You are being racist right now. And if you don't want that title, then you need to change your behavior to really stand up for for farmers of color." And we've found some who do and who are and it's wonderful to have that. 

Zoe Hollomon  48:35

But that is another way, you know, encouraging people to really understand the history of our food system. We have never had a just system, at least not in the modern age. And and so we we want people to learn about the real history of land seizure, of forced labor, of genocide, of broken treaties, and things like that, so that they can be sort of armed in order to help us fight today and moving forward. So there are a lot of things that people can do. 

Zoe Hollomon  49:09

You can also ask your schools ask your park programs, "Hey, are you supporting BIPOC produce? Are you supporting farmers of color with your dollars with your food dollars?" That's certainly a way to support us and support a better kind of agriculture, shopping from places that you know buy from farmers of color.

Marita Bujold  49:30

Yeah, there's many ways.

Sarah Riedl  49:33

Many ways indeed. For the folks listening, you can get more information about the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective, at midwestfarmersofcolor.org or by following @midwestfarmersofcolor on Instagram. You can also check out the Pesticide Action Network at panna with.org. That's P A N N A.org. And look for Pesticide Action Network on Facebook or @pesticideaction on Twitter and Instagram. We'll include links to these websites in our episode description. 

Sarah Riedl  50:06

And that's our show for today. Marita, thank you so much for sharing this conversation with us. 

Marita Bujold  50:11

It was real pleasure. Thank you. 

Sarah Riedl  50:14

And thank you especially to Zoe Holloman for telling us her story. For everybody listening. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time. 

Sarah Riedl  50:23

Nourish by MN350 is a production of MN350's Food Systems Team. We are changing the way people think about food production, distribution and consumption practices in the context of rapid climate change. This series is made possible by the hard work and passion of a group of dedicated volunteers. This episode was produced by Ben Herrera and written by Marita Bujold. Our audio editor was Paul Philpott. Our logo was designed by Fizz Design Collective. Our music is by Ecuador Manta and you can learn more at MN350Action.org/podcasts.