Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program

Racial Justice & Equity Resources

I. Education:

Some resources to begin, below:

Agriculture & Land Access:
- How Racism Has Shaped the American Farming Landscape (Eater)
- One Million Black Families in the South Have Lost Their Farms (Equal Justice Initiative)
- How a Black Commons Could Help Build Communal Wealth (Yes! Magazine)
- A New Generation of Black Farmers Is Returning to the Land (Yes! Magazine)
- Farming While Black, by farmer author Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm
  - 4 Not-So-Easy Ways to Dismantle Racism in the Food System (Leah Penniman)
  - 3-minute Interview with Penniman about the three pillars of anti-racism: education, reparations, and centering voices of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
  - Leah Penniman's presentation,"Farming While Black: African Diasporic Wisdom for Farming and Food Justice" at the NOFA-VT 2019 Winter Conference.
- Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by author and Black farmer historian Monica M. White
- The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming by farmer author Natasha Bowens.
- Farm Groups See Racism in Agriculture and Promise to Seek Change (Bloomberg Government)
- Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors, by Carolyn Finney.
- Leveling the Fields: Policy Brief (Union of Concerned Scientists)
- Progressive Governance Can Turn the Tide for Black Farmers (Center for American Progress)
- New York Times podcast “1619” tracing black land loss and discrimination from the USDA.
  - Episodes: The Land of Our Fathers: Part 1 and The Land of Our Fathers: Part 2
- The Great Land Robbery: the shameful story of how 1 million Black families have been ripped from their farm (The Atlantic)
- How USDA distorted data to conceal decades of discrimination against black farmers (The Counter)
- Abenaki History in Vermont:
  - Learn about the history of the Abenaki community’s experience being forced off their homeland, as well as their contemporary reality and some inspiring work they’re doing to grow and share native crops.
  - Abenaki calendar of events
- Environmentalism’s Racist History (The New Yorker)
- An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism Present in the U.S. Food System (Michigan State University)
Disparities: Wealth, Opportunity, Health:
- The Case for Reparations, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Farming Groups Fear Coronavirus Aid Won’t Reach Hardest Hit Farmers (Modern Farmer)
- A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America (NPR)
- How Redlining’s Racist Effects Lasted for Decades (NY Times)
- Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America (Urban Institute)
- Black workers face two of the most lethal preexisting conditions for coronavirus—racism and economic inequality (Economic Policy Institute)
- Community Declaration of Racism as a Public Health Emergency (Jul. 2020, Chittenden Co.)
- VT Digger series on racial health disparities with COVID-19 cases
- Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System (The Sentencing Project)
- We Need to Talk About Injustice (Brian Stevenson, TED Talk)
- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
Racial Equity Resources:
- Vermont Farm to Plate Racial Justice & Equity Resource Collection
- National Young Farmers Coalition – Racial Equity Toolkit
- Smithsonian Magazine -158 Resources to Understand Race in America
- Food & Land Sovereignty Resource List for COVID-19 (Compiled by Soul Fire Farm, Black Farmer Fund, and Northeast Farmers of Color)
- Vermont Dept. of Libraries Racial & Social Justice Resources
- MSU Center for Regional Food Systems - An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism Present in the U.S. Food System
- Racial Equity Challenge (Food Solutions New England)
- Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Resource Collection
- National Museum of African American History and Culture Talking About Race portal - more than 100 multimedia tools to help have productive conversations about race.
- Recursos Antirracistas en Español por Dra. Gabriela Kovats Sánchez
- Peace & Justice Center Vermont
- Anti-Racism Resource Compilation: Intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work
- Anti-Racism Resource Continuum: Intended for those who would like to reflect on their biases, and identify resources that might be most helpful based on their stage of acknowledgement of privilege
- Find teaching materials for both adults and youth through the Zinn Education Project focused on teaching people’s history.
II. Supporting & Amplifying BIPOC Organizations/Businesses in the Working Lands Sector:

You can donate, purchase products, attend events, or offer support in other ways. *This local/regional list is by no means exhaustive, and we invite you to share others by emailing @email.
- Clemmons Family Farm, Charlotte, VT
- Pine Island Farm, Colchester, VT
- Strafford Organic Creamery, Strafford, VT
- New Farms for New Americans, VT
- Zafa Wine s, Burlington, VT
- Migrant Justice, VT
- Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki Nation, Northeast Kingdom, VT
- Elnu Abenkai Tribe, Southern VT
- Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation, VT
- Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, VT
- Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs
- The Susu Healing Collective and their BIPOC Land and Food Sovereignty Fund, Vermont
- Soul Fire Farm, Grafton, NY
  - Soul Fire Farm’s Get Involved page
- Vermont Releaf Collective
- Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust
III. Getting Involved:
- Vermont Releaf Collective
- Vermont Racial Justice Alliance
- ACLU Vermont
- AALV - Association for Africans Living in VT
- Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust
- Soul Fire Farm
- Peace & Justice Center: Racial Justice Work in VT
- Rutland Area NAACP
- Justice for All VT
- Leveling the Fields: Policy Brief (Union of Concerned Scientists)
- Progressive Governance Can Turn the Tide for Black Farmers (Center for American Progress)
- Vermont Farm to Plate Racial Justice & Equity Resource Collection
  - Identifies many initiatives and organizations to collaborate with.
- Show up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
- Color of Change Campaigns
IV. Partners in this Work:

Our partners in this work and their efforts to dismantle racism and inequality in our food system continually inspire us. Statements on racial justice and resources from some of our partners can be found below (List not exhaustive).

Vermont:
Regional & National:
*Please reach out to our team with any additional resources, organizations, feedback and/or questions by contacting @email.