Updated Thursday March 7th.
Please note: The morning session is full. The afternoon has very limited space. To stay up to date about land access & reparations follow up events and efforts, Please Fill out the form HERE.
Access to land has been named as the #1 barrier for farmers of color to advance their work to feed the community and for Indigenous people to maintain their culture and sovereignty. White landowners currently control between 95-98% of the farmland in the United States and nearly 100% in the northeast. This is not an accident of history. The food system is build on the stolen land of Indigenous people and the forced labor and forced displacement of Black & Brown people from our ancestral territories. The settler colonial projects of genocide, slavery, war, lynching, forced migration, broken treaties, exploitative trade agreements, and capitalism stand in the way of the restoration of that relationship with earth.
There is a way forward. In the northeast, we are seeing a “groundswell” of efforts toward land reparations and rematriation. The Native Land Conservancy is reclaiming territory for the Wampanoag through cultural respect agreements. The Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust is preparing to hold lands collectively for dozens of BIPOC* farmers across the region. We are building on the legacy of New Communities Land Trust, Freedom Farms, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and other BIPOC led land stewardship projects to reinvision land ownership in the region.
On March 8, we bring together farmers, community organizations, extension, local businesses, schools, funders, lawmakers, lenders, and the faith community to create an action plan for land access and reparations in the Finger Lakes. The workshop will be 10% theory and 90% action, so come prepared to roll up your sleeves and collaborate with community members to rethink land distribution in the region. We will create a plan to advance land sovereignty in the Finger Lakes through permanent and secure land tenure for those currently without access.
*Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
This day of ACTION PLANNING includes engaging presentations, interactive workshops & discussions.
Morning Session: 10am – 1pm , Open to All: Understand land access challenges historically and today. Explore the role every sector can play to support land access and reparations issues, challenges and opportunities for equity.
Afternoon Session: 2pm – 5pm , BIPOC – only: Land based reparations and action steps for making farming and land ownership a reality in the Finger Lakes (BIPOC representatives from organizations and agencies from the morning are encouraged to join this afternoon session.)
Please note: The morning session is full. The afternoon has very limited space. To stay up to date about land access & reparations follow up events and efforts, Please Fill out the form HERE.
The workshop is free, donations welcome. Snacks provided, lunch will be on your own. Childcare available.
This workshop directly follows Leah Penniman’s Farming While Black book tour event on March 7th. See the details…
Thank you to our event sponsors: Glynwood, Full Plate Farm Collective, Home Green Home, Food Forest Farm and collaborators Rootworks Herbals, Youth Farm Project.
Interested in sponsoring this event? Click here for more info.
