Agricultural producers and advocates join to offer their thoughts on land, money and control
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
With interpretation provided by Daniel Gonzalez, the Rev. Elmer Zavala speaks during a workshop at the People’s Summit on Food Systems and Urban Agriculture. (Photo by Rich Copley)
LOUISVILLE — One of six workshops offered during Friday’s People’s Summit on Food Systems and Urban Agriculture carried a title reflecting what many agricultural producers have wrestled with: “We Need Land, Money and Control.”
The Presbyterian Hunger Program was a sponsor of the summit, which was hosted by Food in Neighborhoods. Read a report by Presbyterian News Service on another workshop held as part of the summit here.
Panelists in the “We Need Land, Money and Control” workshop were Mariel Gardner of the West Louisville Women’s Collaborative; the Rev. Elmer Zavala, who works on La Minga Farm in Prospect, Kentucky, and is the organizing pastor of Preston Highway Hispanic Ministries in Mid-Kentucky Presbytery; and Rita Lewis Sims of Kentucky Agriculture Advocacy. Kelsey Voit, a Louisville farmer, and Theresa Zawacki of the Greater Louisville Food Council moderated the 90-minute workshop, held at the Louisville Central Community Center.
With interpretation provided by Daniel Gonzalez, Zavala said he spoke in his native Spanish “because people need to hear this in my voice. Bringing culture from different lands makes the experience richer.”
“You can farm on a quarter-acre. It’s as simple as putting in a greenhouse to grow things year-round,” Sims said. “You can be an urban farmer within city limits.” If you’re in a rural area, “ask to lease the land, or become the manager of it,” Sims suggested.
Zavala noted that La Minga Farm grows pesticide-free crops to feed families in and around Prospect, about 30 minutes northeast of Louisville. In a pesticide-free operation, “It’s a little bit harder, but in the end we get better results.”
One downside is that “every year we hear the land is going to be sold. We’re trying to find steady land we can grow on and feed people.”
Sims began farming 10 years ago on a budget of $20. Her husband, who had been a farmer, was involved in an auto accident. “I grew up in the city. I knew nothing about farming,” Sims said. “I put seeds in the ground and watched them grow” while a volunteer would sit with her husband for a few hours each day.
“I fell in love with farming,” Sims said. “It doesn’t take hundreds of thousands of dollars to farm, but it takes a lot of muscle. You can feed your family and your neighbors three or four times over.”
Arranging financing for La Minga Farm has proven difficult, Zavala said. An annual grant has helped the operation, but it’s coming to an end this year. “We need to start knocking on doors and figuring out where we’re going to get funding from,” he said, with an important goal of owning a tractor. This year the operation rented one, but it wasn’t available until later in the planting season, and that late start has affected production, he said.
Asked about what policies are needed to support gardeners and urban farmers, Gardner said it’s high time a commission on Black land dispossession was established. One hundred years ago, “my people’s land was burned by a white supremacist. How do I get that land back? Power is organized people and organized money.”
“Are we as organized?” Gardner asked. “If we are too scared to do that, find some people to surround you to make you less afraid.”
Rita Lewis Sims, at left, and Mariel Gardner were panelists in the “We Need Land, Money and Control” workshop. (Photo by Rich Copley)
“We can come together and have the power the large farms have. It’s small farmers” who comprise the majority of agricultural operations, Sims said. In addition, “small farmers have farmers markets where they’re feeding their neighbors.”
“Get out and vote,” she urged those in attendance. “Talk to local politicians. Start with your Extension office or land grant schools. The squeaky wheel gets greased, so be squeaky.”
Zavala asked those in attendance to seek creative solutions, including those out of the box, such as securing an agreement with local or state government “to use land that’s not being taken advantage of. Try to grow on that land so communities can sustain themselves by using the land they’re able to use.”
“If we don’t change our mindsets, we aren’t going to get different results,” he said. “Instead, we bring in lettuce from Australia and avocadoes from Mexico.”
“In the end, the people are the ones who will save the people,” Zavala said. “Sometimes we don’t know where to get the help we need.” When we seek help educating ourselves on political issues, “some might save us from the monster, and some might lead us to the monster.”
“We need to come together to educate the ones coming behind us about our rights,” Zavala said. “We’re not working as a community, and we need to change that mindset.”
“I think many of us are afraid to activate our personal power,” Gardner said. “Getting power back from these people is done only when we are organized. When we organize, we are sharing space and building community. Leaders are dumbfounded because they cannot respond to people en masse.”
“When people see each other and talk, that’s what people in power fear,” Zavala said. “When we grow our own, we get better produce for less money.”
The Presbyterian Hunger Program is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
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