Silence is consent. Black lives matter.

Silence is consent. Black lives matter.

We are part of the collective outrage and fear for the safety of all people of color. I am heartbroken, yet buoyed by my staff members who have expressed the need for us, as an organization, to speak up.

Garden City Harvest works to connect everyone to healthy local food. Our core values – collaboration, trust, stewardship, sustainability, and most importantly compassion and respect – are our guiding principles. We strive to live these values and to continually create this culture each and every day.

Food and agriculture are not immune from the legacy of bigotry and inequality. Part of the history of farming in our country is directly linked to slavery. Leah Penniman, program manager of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York, said in an article for Yes Magazine, “—the memories of chattel slavery, sharecropping, convict leasing, and lynching were bound up with our relationship to the earth. For many of our ancestors, freedom from terror and separation from the soil were synonymous.” -- see link below. . .

President Obama has called on all of us to “work together to create a ‘new normal’ in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts.” Like him, we believe that change must begin at the local level. Right here. The change starts here.

Stories are powerful tools. They give us vision, empathy, inspiration. Even hope.

There are stories, like Leah Penniman’s, that give us perspective, create awareness. We have prioritized telling our own story for years. Now it’s time to widen our scope and address some of the challenges, history, and bigotry right here in our industry. Look for us to share more of these stories and insights as we move forward into our “new normal.”

Now let’s dig in.

-Jean Zosel, Garden City Harvest’s Executive Director