{"id":46450,"date":"2024-01-26T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/?p=46450"},"modified":"2026-09-15T00:51:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T07:51:00","slug":"young-farmers-of-color-and-regenerative-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/blog\/young-farmers-of-color-and-regenerative-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Regenerative Farming in Urban America: From Food Deserts to Farms"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Britny Cordera \u2022 This article originally appeared in <\/i>YES! Magazine<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

At Sanctuary Farms<\/a> on Detroit\u2019s East Side, J\u00f8n Kent and a team of volunteers use cardboard and paper bags to starve invasive weedy plants instead of using herbicides; they plant marigolds and lavender amid squash, melons, and collards instead of using pesticides; and they turn food scraps<\/a> into lush, clean compost<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kent and his business partner, Jean Parker, wanted to grow fresh produce for their working-class community, which Kent describes as a \u201cfood desert<\/a>.\u201d They also wanted to make sure their farming practices didn\u2019t contribute to the area\u2019s water pollution crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Michigan, we have been left with polluted waters in Black neighborhoods from Benton Harbor to Flint,\u201d he said. So Kent and Parker, who launched Sanctuary Farms in 2020, turned to regenerative agriculture<\/a> practices, like alternating flowers with crops to attract pollinators<\/a> and repel pests, to have a positive impact on the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal here is to really create a food-sovereign, energy efficient, zero-waste place, so our community knows it\u2019s possible to live off the land,\u201d said Kent.<\/p>\n

Young Farmers Lead the Way in Regenerative Farming<\/h2>\n
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Volunteers at Sanctuary Farms. Photo by Britny Cordera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many young farmers share Kent\u2019s commitment to sustainability, according to a new report<\/a> from the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC). In a survey of over 10,000 farmers across the country, 86% of respondents under 40 said they used regenerative farming practices,<\/strong> which the survey defined as \u201can approach to farming and ranching that builds healthy soils and ecosystems, supports climate-resilient farms and communities, and addresses inequity in agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, as the survey notes, regenerative farming practices aren\u2019t new. Indigenous communities \u2014 many of whom were pushed off the land they stewarded for millennia \u2014 innovated and practiced these farming techniques<\/a> for thousands of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung farmers today find motivation to farm in environmental conservation; anti-racism; and creating healthy, food-secure, and climate-resilient communities,\u201d said Vanessa Garc\u00eda Polanco, NYFC\u2019s policy campaign director.<\/p>\n

Overhauling the United States\u2019 agriculture system will be crucial to meeting its climate goals. Farms cover about 40%<\/a> of all US land, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture, and agriculture accounts for about 11%<\/a> of the country\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some regenerative farming practices, such as no-till farming, cover cropping, and rotational grazing, can help the US reduce those emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But young farmers \u2014 particularly young farmers of color \u2014 need more support.<\/p>\n

Supporting Young BIPOC Farmers<\/h2>\n

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said finding affordable land to buy was \u201cvery or extremely challenging.\u201d Among those who identified as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), that figure was 65%. Respondents also reported difficulty accessing capital, affording health care, and paying off student loans. In all cases, BIPOC respondents reported greater difficulties than their white counterparts.<\/p>\n

These challenges may explain why more young people aren\u2019t taking up the profession. The average age of a US farmer is over 57<\/a> and is steadily increasing, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture. According to that report, less than 8% of farmers are under age 35.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kent, 29, spent his early childhood in Detroit. \u201cMy community is often hit with the reality that the government doesn\u2019t always come through for us,\u201d said Kent, who is Black. Kent, who only recently paid off his student loans, said accessing capital to finance Sanctuary Farms was a challenge, but added, \u201cIn spite of our lack of finances, we have faith. We just gotta keep puttin\u2019 in that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adapting to Climate Change<\/h2>\n
\"Tractors
iStock.com\/fotokostic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Climate change poses another challenge. More than 73% of respondents said they experienced at least one \u201cclimate impact\u201d in the form of extreme weather, hotter temperatures, or excess precipitation on their farm in the past year.<\/strong> That figure is up from 66% in 2017, the last time NYFC released a survey.<\/p>\n

For some, climate change has wrought devastation.<\/p>\n

Carolina Mueller, a farmer from Austin, Texas, and coalition manager with NYFC, said she suffered over $30,000 in losses when a winter storm in February 2021 froze much of the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinter Storm Uri last year was incredibly traumatic and damaging,\u201d Mueller said. \u201cTemperatures plummeted quickly, and we lost a lot of our livestock and produce.\u201d All three members of the Texas NYFC chapter decided to stop farming after Uri.<\/p>\n

For those young farmers across the country who continue to farm, there is an increased awareness of the need to adapt to the changing climate, said Debi Kelly, a field specialist and horticulturist with the University of Missouri\u2019s extension program.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of those old ways of agriculture can\u2019t continue anymore,\u201d said Kelly. \u201cWith all these weather events and with population growth, we have to learn how to do things a little bit differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking Risks to Meet Climate Goals<\/h2>\n

Kelly said younger farmers she works with tend to be more willing to take risks and change their practices than older farmers. She said she also noticed younger farmers tend to be more concerned with how their operations affect their surrounding communities. According to the NYFC survey, 83% of young farmers reported that \u201cone of their farm\u2019s primary purposes for existing is engaging in conservation or regeneration.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NYFC report comes out as lawmakers are debating the 2023 Farm Bill, a massive omnibus bill that goes before Congress roughly every five years and includes farm subsidies, climate resilience initiatives, and food assistance programs.<\/p>\n

If the US is to meet its climate goal<\/a> by 2030, which requires a 50\u201352% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels, Polanco said she believes it will need a transformative farm bill, one that addresses the climate crisis and the rising costs of land.<\/p>\n

A New Inclusive Farm Bill<\/h2>\n
\"Farmers
iStock.com\/Daria Nipot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLand is climate infrastructure<\/a> for our young farmers,\u201d Polanco said. But land costs are soaring. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), farmland values increased by $420 per acre<\/a>, or more than 12%, in 2021.<\/strong> The report, which notes that \u201cland ownership is rooted in the dispossession of Indigenous land,\u201d calls on the USDA to support Indigenous communities in securing greater land sovereignty and for the agency to seat the Tribal Advisory Committee<\/a>, a body created in 2018 to facilitate coordination between Native groups and the federal government.<\/p>\n

Polanco said she\u2019d like to see a farm bill that invests in community-led projects, prioritizing projects led by and benefiting socially disadvantaged<\/a> and economically distressed farmers and ranchers. She said a successful bill would also invest in climate-smart farming adaptations.<\/p>\n

These adaptations would look like an expansion of programs like the USDA\u2019s recently launched Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities<\/a> initiative, which supports the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities, increases funding for first-time farmers and ranchers<\/a>, and improves access to crop insurance programs. The Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $20 billion for USDA conservation programs<\/a>, presents an important opportunity for young farmers as well.<\/p>\n

Getting young, climate-conscious farmers on the land \u201cis the best way we can fight climate change,\u201d<\/strong> Polanco said. \u201cBut we desperately need climate investments that are part of a safety net for farmers, so they can continue stewarding the land when a disaster strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014–<\/p>\n

This article appeared in <\/i>Nexus Media News<\/i><\/a> on October 17, 2022, with editing help from <\/i>YES! Magazine<\/i><\/a> and was made possible by a grant from the Open Society Foundations. <\/i>Nexus Media News<\/i><\/a> is an editorially independent, nonprofit news service covering climate change.<\/i><\/p>\n

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