A Community Way of Doing Things

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, our host Terry Hokenson talks with Collie Graddick of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, and Naima Dhore, the founder of the recently launched Somali American Farmers Association. Collie Graddick discusses the history of black farming and his own family’s ties to the formation of the Co-operative movement. Naima shares how growing microgreens in her apartment eventually led her to studying the agroecology of Cuba and buying her own farm. Collie and Naima highlight the importance of community - of creating and maintaining strong communities through food and access to land - while warning of the potential of BigAg to co-opt language around sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Find out more about our guest and their amazing work: 

Collie Graddick is a founding member of Minneapolis food justice groups such as Afro Eco, Northside Fresh, Project Sweetie Pie, and Cooperative Table - North.

You can find out more about Naima’s farm at her website https://naimasfarm.com/about/ .

Full episode transcript available here.

Transcript

Ep. 04 "A Community Way of Doing Things"

Tue, 12/29 8:00AM • 56:49

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

land, farmers, federation, people, food, farm, regenerative agriculture, community, cooperative, co-ops, minnesota, agriculture, growing, acres, small farmers, vegetables, cooperatives, produce

SPEAKERS

Naima Dhore, Collie Graddick, Terry Hokenson

Naima Dhore  00:00

These terms they do ring a bell in my native tongue, but it doesn't translate well. And I think ultimately what we're talking about is the same thing. You know, it's a community- based, moral and ethical way of producing food and how do you handle livestock and all of that. So, for me when I said earlier, you know, social and environmental and economic, I was referencing to all of that, as far as you know, the community way of doing things.

Terry Hokenson  01:15

Hello, friends and neighbors. Welcome to our fourth show in the Nourish series on regenerative agriculture, where we're asking what is regenerative agriculture? What does it mean to center agriculture on living soil and soil health? And what does it mean to do this out of a racial justice perspective? Why do we need to transform our way of getting food and fiber from the land and making sure land is available to willing farmers in an equitable way across the traditional barriers of race and gender? And how do we get there from here? I'm Terry Hokenson, a climate activist with Minnesota 350 and Minnesota interfaith Power and Light. The focus of today's show is Africana agriculture in America, its history and its future. To help us answer our questions we have with us in our virtual studio, two visionary community organizers and farmers, Collie Graddick and Naima Dhore. Collie Graddick works at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture in education and outreach where he works with minority and limited resource farmers. He also teaches cooperative economics Collie grew up in Georgia on a 200 acre farm that was established by his family in 1914. In 1967, collies father was a founding member of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, and the West Georgia farmers cooperative. So Collie has been familiar with farmers cooperatives from childhood, and is actively engaged with the Federation today. Besides being on staff at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Callie is a founding member of numerous local food justice initiatives, including AfroEco, Northside Fresh, Project Sweetie Pie, and Cooperative Table North. Collie, welcome and thank you for taking time to be with us today.

Collie Graddick  03:18

Thank you for inviting me to be here. It's a pleasure to be here.

Terry Hokenson  03:23

Naima Dhore is a passionate emerging farmer from Somalia and founder of the recently launched Somali American Farmers Association. She's currently closing a deal on a farm for her family, while also finishing her master's degree at Metro State University. She has participated in some of the local programs that support emerging farmers such as the Big River Farms, formerly known as the Minnesota Farmers Association. Naima took the opportunity through a fellowship, to travel to Cuba to study their system of agroecology and is grounding her orientation to the way she organizes futures for Somali farmers and others from the Horn of Africa to contribute to the future of farming in Minnesota and the Midwest. Welcome, Naima. And thank you for taking time to be with us.

04:17

Thank you for having me.

Terry Hokenson  04:20

I'd like to do an acknowledgement here that's very important to our purpose in doing this series, built on the seeds to stay to the indigenous people Minnesota is built up over the territory of the Anishinaabeg and Dakota people and we honor them as custodians past and present. We acknowledge the deep inequity in power relationships, indigenous interests and other planning bodies. We recognize indigenous interests and indigenous determination over the land upon which our homesteads cities and suburbs have been built. Under these conditions, we defend treaties and support the sovereignty of tribal nations and their citizens. We recognize that our survival depends on creating climate solutions that benefit all people on building connections and healthy relationships between our movements, and restoring healthy connections to the land on which we depend. Collie would you tell us about the Federation of Southern Cooperatives? I know it started in 1967, but how widespread is its reach and what impact is it having on farmers in that region?

Collie Graddick  05:40

Well, as you mentioned, the Federation was started in 1967/68, right around that time. My dad was instrumental in starting the West Georgia Farmers Cooperative. And so the West Georgia Farmers Cooperative was one of, I believe, 23 different coops that came together to form the Federation. So the cooperative movement had already started in the south, before the Federation was established. But there were coops all over the South. And so those coops got together to start an organization that will be multi-state, or regional, and could help with doing a lot of the training, outreach work, and really help black farmers retain their land and and make a profit off of their land. It was also this was during the civil rights movement as well, and from my understanding, a lot of the coops came together because black people were being put in jail, and land could be something that could be used to get them out of jail, to post bond. And so to limit or reduce the liability on your personal landholdings, then the people get together and purchase land, collectively, to be able to use that land to bond their members out of jail. And so that was a little bit of the reason why I think coops were started: to help with  bonding during the Civil Rights Movement.

Terry Hokenson  07:24

Fascinating. Sounds like the subject for an entire book.

Collie Graddick  07:29

Yes, and you know, from there, the Federation went on to start marketing. And it was when, in our little community, I would go around with my dad,- my dad was a school bus driver. And we were in a segregated school, I went to segregated school to the fifth grade. And then we integrated in 1970, or so. But during that time, we were segregated. My dad was one of the first black school bus drivers in the county. And he knew a lot of the people that had land, and he saw that people had land, but you know, the land was costing them money rather than generating money for them. And my dad was somewhat of an entrepreneur, but he had muscular dystrophy, so he was crippled, but he always was kind of an independent person. He grew up on the farm my grandfather purchased which was 250 acres of land, and he grew cotton. He was a sharecropper. But he was able to buy his land and pay it off in a couple of years, and then go on to help other people in the area to purchase land as well. So with my father and grandfather, we grew up farming, and we saw that there was success in farming and agriculture because we also had a lot of stocks as well. So we used that as an opportunity to go around and help people in the community, generate income. We had a military base here, called Fort Benning, and at Fort Benning, the soldiers had to eat. And so they were buying from local markets. My dad had set up an opportunity to sell everything that he grew to the broker who serviced Fort Benning, and he had an agreement with them to buy everything that was on his truck, no matter what we brought. They bought everything on the truck. So my dad went and bought a larger truck and went around through the community and said told others, "I can sell a truckload, what can you grow to help put on this truck?" And so from that, he started the West Georgia Farmers Cooperative. There was a cooperative movement already going on across the south and he caught on to it working with several people. There's a gentleman, I think he was with the Catholic Church named Father McKnight, who traveled all around the southeast to help set up coops,and he helped set up the Federation. And so they contacted my dad, partly, I could say, because he knew a lot of people just because he was a school bus driver. And that's the way he recruited people for the coop - by going around on the school bus.

Terry Hokenson  10:13

That's fascinating. Let's dig into that a little more in a few minutes. I want to ask Naima a similar question about how she got involved in agriculture. What got you started?

Naima Dhore  10:28

What really sparked my, and my family's interest in agriculture, specifically farming, was really having control of, our food stores. So my husband and I asked each other, how much of our food and what we're buying could we eliminate and do ourselves? So we were growing microgreens inside our tiny apartment, back in 2000s I think we started 2009/10 right after our first child was born., We were able to grow, like I said, microgreens and have it as a meal every night, which is, as you know, a superfood. And so immediately after that we were interested in growing more, and so we started growing at a community garden in Eden Prairie where we lived at the time. And while we were able to grow again, we didn't like the environment and the soil was rocky. And for those of you who know Eden Prairie, there's a small airport there, and we just,didn't think that it fit our needs as far as producing clean, healthy, nutritious food. So we discovered Minnesota Food Association, and one of the questions they ask when you want to be part of their program is, "do you want to be a farmer, and are you serious?" And we looked each other, and we said, Yeah, why not? And so in 2016, we started our first year of farming, and, you know, there's a lot to learn. And there are a lot of challenges that comes with it, and, and we were commuting from Eden Prairie to St. Croix. So, yeah, that's a really long drive. But you know, it was a journey for our family to really, like I said, have close to 100%, of control of what we were consuming, and to also provide to our extended family. So once we were done with our first year, we decided to go back again for the second year. We were more knowledgeable but still commuting that long distance. And, you know, a lot of it just made sense to me, as far as our food source. And I thought everything was just organic in this country until I realized, that no, the the fruits and vegetables come from different sources. And, you know, they're imported from elsewhere outside of the country. And I was just really confused and puzzled by the way our food system is in this country. So I said to myself, I could eliminate my vegetable production, and I don't have to go and buy it from somewhere else. I don't even know what they put in that food. And immediately after that, I realized I could do so much more, like making our own detergent and our own soap. I haven't purchased a detergent or soap for like, 10 years now. You know, so everything just made sense to me. How do we become self-sufficient and have some control, not just of our food, but of our everyday basic needs?

Terry Hokenson  13:43

So how did your experience traveling to Cuba influence you?

Naima Dhore  13:48

Yeah, I went there, I believe the second year of farming with Big River Farms which was called the Minnesota Food Association at the time. Prior to joining the program, my husband, I were watching a lot of YouTube videos, mainly of Cuba and seeing their resilience and how they were able to organize themselves and produce quality food and nutritious food. So I said to myself, well, I'm able to feed my family - we were able to do this ourselves. But I want to extend this to the community. So one of the techniques that I learned that made sense to me, was how to organize the community to really invest in each other and have some control. So one of the techniques that I learned from them is that there are one or two farmers for a specific community who are growing for that community. So that  means they're producing food for the people who live in that area, for the schools. And I when I came back, I was able to apply similar techniques to try to get folks in my neighborhood to come to me at the farm, and really learn from me about how to apply it in their own apartment living. For example, telling them stories similar to how we started and growing very, very minimal things that they could have control over, like growing microgreens and stuff like that. And then it kind of sparked a lot of people to really look into community gardening, and helped them figure out where to find a plot and how to utilize their space. There are more immigrants, purchasing houses now, and we're trying to encourage them to really look into their backyard and watch YouTube videos or,get books from the library and really invest in their family's health. Another awesome technique that I gained from Cuba is how to  reduce the pests, because our goal growing at Big River Farms is to really focus on organic and sustainable ways. So the technique that I learned from Cuba was how to you use what you have as far as what nature offers. So I noticed that they had herbs in between their crops to reduce pests. And so when I came back, I was growing herbs in between my crops. And one of the farm managers was like, "What are you doing? What is this? This is not part of your map plot" and I'm like, well, I just made a little adjustment. And I noticed the Chinese Beatles were reduced our second season. And so I was growing really beautiful chard, and cabbage and many other different varieties of produce. And it was because of that method, or technique, that I applied from Cuba. So there are amazing things that you can learn from other cultures and other people's...

Terry Hokenson  16:55

Am I prying to ask you about your effort to organize your farm? How's that going, and have you actually closed on your land?

Naima Dhore  17:04

It's still in progress. I actually mailed the application trying to get a loan through the local Farm Service Agency. So still waitingm but I hope good things will come out of that. Not only would I be a first time homebuyer, but it's in addition to the 20 acres. This is a great opportunity for my family, to start generational wealth, which is something that we don't have access to right now. But hopefully, like Mr. Collie was saying, we can utilize the space where we're already doing the production so that it generates income, a sustainable income, with all of the ideas that are in place.

Terry Hokenson  17:49

Collie, do you have any observations to offer here?

Collie Graddick  17:53

I'm very familiar with the Minnesota Food Association. They were farms we did training together and partnered with them on several grants and different things. And so I commend that organization for the work that it's doing. That's one of the biggest challenges because in the past, you know, you have a lot of minority farmers who are farming, but they're renting land. Some of the land is old land that was corn and soybean before. A few years back, just the Twin City suburban ring had lots of small farmers before all of the development came. And so now those farmers are being pushed out: either out of business or further out into the suburbs. I'm not sure how far out Naima's farm is, but,once she acquired that farm, she won't have to travel from I think she was saying Eden Prairie, all the way out to St. Croix, where the Minnesota Food Association is. That's an hour to an hour and a half of traffic time that is not spent on the farm making improvements, or progress, or generating income. And so I'm glad to hear what she's doing, and it can be an example for other farmers to do the same. And I know several farmers who have gone through that program and have gone on to purchase their own land, but not as many as there should be. I'm hoping that things are being put in place through the USDA, like the program that Naima is applying for, which will help more farmers in Minnesota acquire the land that they need. But, you know, with her 20 acres she can even train others.You can also do agro-tourism, and things of that nature. So I'm really impressed and glad that she's doing those 20 acres.

Terry Hokenson  19:46

I'd like to ask both of our guests in turn Collie first: What does the term regenerative agriculture mean to you and what role does it play in your work either with the Department of Agriculture Culture or The Federation.

Collie Graddick  20:02

Well, regenerative agriculture is fairly new to me, but I know is it's been out there. And That's an area I need to brush up my own knowledge. I do know that we are going to be moving in that direction - into regenerative agriculture. Right now. I'll be honest, my knowledge on it is somewhat limited.

Terry Hokenson  20:24

Thank you. Naima,.can you tell us how it plays a role in your work? Regenerative agriculture?

Naima Dhore  20:35

Well, I'm similar to Collie, and I feel like the term is a trend term that's being used a lot. And to me, when I hear that and think about what it really means, it's talking about the social, and the environmental, and the economic aspects, as far as how we're growing or producing food. So to me, it just really means how do we come together collectively, and have a sustainable practice that is culturally appropriate? So that we're really addressing the issues around food insecurity, and more. These terms, they do ring a bell in my native tongue, but it doesn't translate well, and I think ultimately, what we're talking about is the same thing. You know, it's a community-based, moral, and ethical way of producing food, and how do you handle livestock and all of that. So, for me, when I said earlier about the social and environmental and economic, I was referencing to all of that, as far as the community way of doing things. Obviously, there's more to it, from what I've been reading about what regenerative means, but who's asking that question? And, generally, that question is really driven, I feel, by white-led organizations that do food, similar to the work that we're doing. So I'm always confused by that term.

Collie Graddick  22:08

I think somewhere along those same lines.I think it's something that we're all working toward, but is, like Naima said "another term." And I don't want to minimize the importance of it. I think I've heard that some of the large, multinational food companies are trying to do like 1000 acres, or a million acres of regenerative agriculture somewhere in the Midwest or whatever. You know, it's almost like when organics came about, it was set up, supposedly, to help the small farmers. At the time, big corporations said that organic is not going to go anywhere. And then it became 10% of the shelf of the grocery stores. And now we even have organic stores that are totally organic, followed by larger companies and all of a sudden there's a National Organic Standard where a lot of larger companies are getting on board with it. So we'll probably see regenerative agriculture, going in that same direction; not that it's a bad thing, it's improving our health and the environment. And those are all good things. And,for the multinationals to move in that direction is good. It's just look at the economics of it. And when you get at that level, trickle down doesn't always trickle down to the people that are doing most of the work. And so if multinationals are going to do regenerative agriculture, and they still have day labor, then the system hasn't improved. 

Terry Hokenson  23:44

What I'm hearing and processing is that we are not really talking about just the things that big corporations can replicate. We're also talking about community values, and human values, and I totally share your concern about the corporate appropriation of some, you know, techniques, and we had the same concern from our indigenous guests, in previous interviews. Very same. So I think we may need to reconsider the way we use this language, but you are talking about the values that we are interested in. So wonderful, wonderful. Well, this may be a good time to take one of our three station breaks and we'll be right back.

Terry Hokenson  24:43

Welcome back. We have been talking with Collie Graddick and Naima Dhore about their concepts of farming and the values that they are seeking to realize through their efforts: Collie, with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and his work with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Naima with the Somali Farmers Association and her own family farm that she's just in the process of getting started, I'd like to ask Collie, would you give us some history on African and African American agriculture in this country? Give us some context for what we're talking about right now?

Collie Graddick  25:33

Well, it goes far back in history - slavery. Africans were brought here, at least to the southeast where I grew up, to do the farming; to be farm labor. And they were the farm laborers for years. And then the civil war came, freed the slaves, and supposedly was going to give 'forty acres and a mule.' But it's interesting that the land that we are on now was supposed to be part of that 40 acres and a mule. But that was never honored. A lot of free slaves came back and, staked claim on this land, where we are now, I believe, back in the early 1900s, or so, or right after slavery, blacks owned over 15 million acres of land. And that was just farmland, There was another 15 to 20 million acres of land that was owned by blacks that wasn't farmed. Today, we only own about 8 million. That includes the farming and all the other land that we have. That was one of the reasons why the Federation got started. And it was interesting that right after the Civil War, I don't think people valued the land that much. But as things progressed, especially in the south, where the land became valuable again, during the Civil Rights Movement, and the southern states started changing laws to where land could be taken or sold or swindled to the point where blacks lost land. People moved away, or didn't pay their taxes because they didn't value the land. And by the time they realized the value of the land, a lot of it was gone. And even today, what we're doing at the Federation is still trying to deal with heirs property, land that was left but without a Will. And there are so many family members out there who have land that can't be utilized - you can't get USDA loans because there's no direct ownership of the land because the land is still in your grandfather's name. And you have so many cousins and relatives who have to give an okay on the use of that land, or the USDA won't give you a loan, or you can't borrow money from the bank. So, that's kind of where I see the history, and now we're coming back, I'm working with a new coop in Alabama, where these families have over 1000 acres of land, but they're paying for the land rather than the land paying for them. And so now we've set up this coop in order to generate income for that land. So that land can be really beneficial. And the coop has an heirs property program which helps families set up a family business with that land, instead of saying, okay, $15, $20 bucks, family members, we're just gonna sell the land and take the money and run. Well, now it can be set up so that you can keep all the land together, if you don't want to be a part of it, we'll buy you out, but now it's still in the family. And it doesn't get bought out by the outside.

Terry Hokenson  29:08

Is it done by means of the cooperative structure? that the land is sold to a cooperative that's owned by the family members?

Collie Graddick  29:19

So in the past that's what we did; we bought land as a cooperative. Like the Federation of Southern Cooperatives we have rent costs for over 1200-1400 acres of land at our rural Training Center. That land was bought way back in the 60s in order for us to have a rural Training Center, but also, like I said, it was probably used to help bond people out of jail as well. You know, now it's our rural training center where we go to do demonstrations, and we're teaching farmers all different types of techniques that we're hoping they can use, but it's just a struggle in itself. Even for the Federation to try to run a nonprofit organization over several states. You know, when the Federation first started, it was investigated as a communist organization. The Federation was almost put out of business, and we had to go to court just to save ourselves. But it set us back some years on just trying to recover from that legal battle.

Terry Hokenson  30:22

Well, it sounds to me like there's been progress and setbacks, progress and setbacks. Overall, in the 50 plus years of the Federation, do you see a kind of net progress? has the cause been advanced?

Collie Graddick  30:41

Yeah, the net progress is still here, it's still in existence. There aren't very many organizations that can last 50 years - we're one of the few. Even our little small coop, in Georgia, is 52 years old, we're two years older than the Federation. And we're still here, and we still have our land, and our property. And we're back rebuilding our cooperative. But we were able to retain what we were able to acquire. And so just as laws are passed, to make progress, there are other laws that are passed to create challenges, I'll just use something that we're dealing with just today: I'm working with the Federation on the Farm-to-Food Box program, where we buy local vegetables which we put it into a food box, and then we donate it to the community. So the Federation was able to get one of those contracts for about a half a million dollars to take local food bought from small farmers and put it into the food box. We then distribute it to low income communities, where now they are in the middle of the game, they've changed us. And now you put not only fresh local vegetables in the food box, you have to put dairy products, you have to put cooked meat products in. In the Federation, very few of our farmers are in a position to produce cheese and milk and those types of things. And so for the Federation to participate in the program, we now have to go and find a cheese and milk company that's going to do business with us. And they're going to be applying for the same contracts that we are.

Terry Hokenson  32:19

Let me see if I can tie this back to Naima;s situation here. You're talking about a situation where there's, I don't know how many 1000s of farmers on millions of acres and I understand there are only 39 black farmers in Minnesota. So we're a long ways behind the kind of organizing that you're talking about. Or are we? I don't know. Naima, how does this all sound to you? In your situation?

Naima Dhore  32:49

You know, obviously, the immigrant communities, including my community are not facing what the African American community has endured for many years. We understand the systemic racism, like I mentioned, with the setbacks and the challenges. We have our own setbacks and challenges as well. Like you said, there's only a few African and African American farmers in the state of Minnesota. The community was in shock, when they discovered my story and my family's story; I'm an immigrant, I'm a black, Muslim woman farming in a rural area, getting ready for farmers market the next day in,the center of a forest at  11 o'clock at night by herself. You know, my worry was the bear, not so much of humans. And that really got folks excited about farming and the idea of, wow, is it possible to farm here in Minnesota, first of all, and I'm like, yeah, it's possible. We have a short season compared to other areas, but still it's possible. And for me, personally, I didn't even think it was feasible for me to own the land. So just to hear stories of the African American communities and indigenous people about their land being stolen and taken from them, and still maintain what they have. For me, it was just like, I can own some land in one day? that's inspiring. And I think it's really encouraging for a lot of people to look into that and really invest in what their community needs. But my focus really is to repair and protect our culture. So what I mean by that is, I went to Somalia in 2018 after I think it's been something like 28 years. And so, in going back home, I made an instant connection to how our food system has changed even in Somalia. A lot of the farmers I connected with are importing seeds, they're not preserving seeds. So for me, when I look at that, it's like our culture is dying. So what I did when I came back was to find seeds, but obviously, you have to go through a certification, or get some kind of permit through the USDA to import or export seeds. Since I didn't have that in place, what I did was, I asked someone else to order seeds for me through the USDA Food Bank. So now I have at my home 18 different varieties that are native to Somalia, or East Africa. There are one or two maybe from South Africa, but my goal is with this land, this future land of mine, is to grow these leafy vegetables, and have the elders come out. There are a lot of elders in the community with a great deal of knowledge, and I want to make sure that they have something to connect with. And I'm hoping these seeds and these leafy greens will give them some connection to back home. We preserve our culture because, like I said, once our culture dies, it dies through the food, and food is power. And so for me, it's really getting the young people involved, through all of the youth programs that I've been doing over the years, or having communities come out to the farm. And, obviously, this year with COVID has been a challenge. One of my goals was to really have the elders and the youth come together this season and just learn - learn about our history, and our food, and, what we can grow here in the state.

Terry Hokenson  36:40

And there's all this activity taking place through the Somali American Farmers Association.

Naima Dhore  36:46

Yeah, so that's our primary focus: to do the awareness and education while asking 'how do we utilize the space and the resources that we have within ourselves?' because we're communal people, we make things happen. In crisis time, we know how to survive. But I think this is beyond survival. This is a fight for us to have access to green space. It hasn't existed in our community, which is a shame. And it's just wrong. I think, you know, one of the things that really disappointed me was when I was going to the farmers market for three years, I didn't see a lot of people that looked like me, that really upset me, and so I started to question like, why is that? Why is that? All of the work that we're doing through Somali American Farmers Association, is really to challenge those questions. Why isn't a farmers market available to these communities? How do we get more fruits and vegetables, instead of just consuming those packaged, fast food  or corner store foods, which exist in a lot of our communities. How do we have more Halal meats, which is our main source of food, but also fresh produce? And so yeah, I have a lot of questions. And the community has a lot of questions. But we're coming together, and were trying to figure out how to resolve these issues.

Terry Hokenson  38:26

Collie. I'm always wondering what's going on in your head now. How do you see the use of cooperatives, and the Federation at a higher level, playing a role in the development of immigrant farmers, and farming here in the north? You do work in the north here, right?

Collie Graddick  38:53

Yes, and I'm looking forward to connecting with Naima after this to see whatever assistance I can provide her organization in getting started. Like I say, with Niama's organization, I think it's a good step in the right direction, because it's bringing farmers together to start working together, rather than competing against each other. When I look at some of the large corn and soybean farmers as I travel around Greater Minnesota, they all come together at the coffee shop and talk about how many bushels they harvested and every soybean seed that they grew, every corn kernel that they grew was sold. And it was sold ahead of time. They can sell their crops six months down the road whereas with our vegetables, we're harvesting today and may not know where it's gonna go tomorrow. And so these are the things that we really need to look at because there's no opportunity to consume everything that we grow. I think one of the things that came out of the work that we were doing in trying to bring farmers together is a place called The Good Acre. And, to me, The Good Acre is like an aggregation center for small farmers. Because one of the things that I saw when I started working with small farmers is that, even what Naima is talking about, going to the farmers market..But, unfortunately, the farmers market is a competitive situation, rather than a cooperative situation. You go to the farmers market, and you're competing with all these other farmers. And some of the farmers are growing on the same rented land that  you're growing on and growing some of the same vegetables. And so those are some of the challenges that I saw when I got involved in the local food movement. We had to develop something that would enable these farmers to aggregate their vegetables. And that's what The Good Acre is doing: aggregating vegetables and finding larger institutions as buyers, I think we were the first immigrant farmers to sell vegetables, to the Minneapolis Public School System; we were the pilot group that sold vegetables to get their small farm or program done with Minneapolis Public Schools. And so there are a couple of things that has evolved in the Twin Cities that came out of the work that we've been doing with bringing farmers together, I think there will always be a place for farmers markets, but farmers markets are a place where a limited number of people go, and there's a kind of atmosphere that they're looking for. But, you know, as a farmer, it's disappointing to see farmers leave the farmers market with vegetables still on their truck. That's disappointing to me because, as a cooperative, what we want to set up is when you go to market, you come home with an empty truck. That's one of the things I want to see at the farmers market: we should be going somewhere where the produce is aggregated and with added value, I think that's another area within the small farming  community in Minneapolis with the farmers is that The Good Acre has a commercial kitchen there for processing, but there's not a cooperative effort to do that, or come up with its own brand, and its own label to say that this is what we put together as a community. And this is how we cooperate together, rather than competing against each other. And so that is one of the things that I want to continue doing in the Twin Cities.

Terry Hokenson  42:56

Okay, welcome back, folks. I want to ask Naima about what listeners can do, or how can they respond to all this incredible news and information. But I'd like to know what your vision is for the future. Where do you see yourself going with what you've got started? And how do you hope to see it grow?

Naima Dhore  43:23

So my goal, and the organization's goal, ultimately, is to have a space where the community comes together. Like I said, we're communal people. And that's what we know: we sit down together, we eat together, we support one another, we share stories, we exchange information. And this is a space for everyone, anyone who's interested in participating, and learning from my community, and really learning about our food and our history. But more importantly, anyone interested in tackling this food insecurity that, I think Collie said it beautifully earlier, about how do we make sure that farmers who sell at a farmers market, don't have any produce to take back to their farm, because I experienced that for three years. And the bottom line is the logistics. So how do we connect to those individuals who really need the food? We just need to connect the dots and figure out a way to get our food to those people. I used to offer all the time, through the farmers market and through social media: I would say come up, please pick up the food because it doesn't make sense for me to go all the way back to the farm, knowing that I will have to go back to my home after that, which is another hour and a half. So, in total that's like four hours of wasted time for me and I'm wasting food. So it's still logistics and really getting those organizations, such as The Good Acre, that are in a position where they can be the ones to distribute, and connect the dots as far as making sure there's no food waste, and reaching organizations that are connected to the communities that do need help. But, you know, help is one thing, but providing these foods is another. For me, it's really getting the community involved in a community garden. And so I say, check you're surroundings to see what lots are available.How do you create that movement? You know, we're all in this movement now, so, with COVID, I feel like a lot of people are more cautious, and they really want to invest in their health. Why not? Why not, check out your community gardens, see how much you can grow for yourself and your family and come together. But the end goal would be to preserve our culture. And that's through food and protecting and repairing our culture. Because there is a lot of damage that has happened to my people. I mean, we experienced the Civil War and the aftermath, and we're spread out in different places that are not familiar to us in the world. And so a lot has taken a toll on us, and we haven't healed and repaired from the aftermath of the Civil War. And so I think the best way to really connect with our cultures is through the land, So I'm hoping that with this future land of mine, I'll able to bring the community together,

Terry Hokenson  46:49

Collie, what are your reflections on how listeners, the rest of us, a lot of us, out here are interested, we wouldn't be listening to a an hour's broadcast on agriculture, if we weren't interested in some way, in the system that we can all see is falling down, it's not working.

Collie Graddick  47:09

The food system has to be financially transparent. Because it's hard to, you know, there is a lot of free food, but there's no such thing as free food. That food was paid for somewhere; someone had to grow it and their time and energy is worth something. And that's what I want to do through the cooperative movement, is to put some financial transparency into the food system. As a farmer, I don't mind showing what it costs for me to produce this tomato. And this is why I have to sell this tomato at this price. And you as a consumer, need to understand what it costs me to produce this tomato, and for me to make a sustainable living. A lot of people, even in corporate America, don't realize that the corporate decisions they make have an individual impact on an individual somewhere. And we have to, like I said, make those things somewhat transparent and be responsible for the choices we make, the decisions, the things we do. And so transparency, I think, in our food system, is one of the main things that's needed, especially from the financial standpoint. And, you know, you got people go out and pay $100 for a steak dinner that they could probably get somewhere else for $20. But it's because the choice they made was because it's something with that label that they want to pay the $100 for. So what can we do with our system that will help people to make the choice to pick up our label, and to support the efforts that we're doing? You know, to be honest, it all boils down to choices, the choices that we can make, but it also involves making those choices available. You know, it's interesting for Minnesota to have as many food coops as we have in the Twin Cities, and not have very many farmers cooperatives to supply those food coops; it's an interesting concept.That's an area where I think we can make a lot of progress. When you go into our food costs, you see a lot of value added products on the shelf. But how many of those products came from Minnesota farmers, and how many of those were put together by Minnesota companies that do added value to their products? That was always something interesting to me as far as working with farmers: to have so many food coops which do very well in Minnesota, and they support the local farmers, but not to the extent that we could be supporting the local farm economy. Because as Naima was saying, she shouldn't have to take her vegetables back to her farm. You know, we should have something in place.

Terry Hokenson  50:16

Are you aware of other states that have more of this farmers cooperative?

Collie Graddick  50:23

Unfortunately, not. The Federation has their, coops, and you have other, larger coops like Ocean Spray with their cranberry coop for cranberry juice and different things. But yes, I don't know very many farmers coops that have their own brand as a group of small farmers. The transparency needs to be there so that people will know that if this is a coop,, and they're transparent in what they do, and they're developing a sustainable food system, and they have a labell, or a brand, then I have a choice - I can make a choice to pick up that brand and say yes, I'll support this movement. And especially if it's dealing with regenerative agriculture, rebuilding the Earth, the soil and those types of things. I believe the good conscious people will make that choice.

Terry Hokenson  51:36

Welcome back friends. Collie and Naima, you have shared some exhilarating and inspiring stories with us today. We recognize the prodigious amount of effort and patience this work takes. I am struck by the way your observations and stories harmonize with the messages we've heard from our previous indigenous guests, who like you politely question the meaning and intention of the term regenerative agriculture. I am personally among those members of the EuroAmerican culture who have been dazzled by the principles of regenerative agriculture, the focus on healthy living soil, and its potential to sequester huge amounts of carbon from the air and put it in the ground where it belongs. But that is not what I hear being questioned. What I'm beginning to see here, thanks to you, Collie and Naima, and our previous guests is that as a matter of priorities, our focus in pursuing the transformation of American agriculture needs to be on the role of the people, the communities of people who are working with the land to grow the food and fiber. The people who are distributing the food, and marketing the food, the people who are consuming the food. In short, the people who are actually creating the entire food economy. Naima, you have repeated several times that as Somalis, you are a communal culture. And you said that your goal is to repair and protect your culture, and that acquiring land to assure a supply of healthy and familiar foods for your people is necessary for cultural survival. We understand that many in the Somali community have been traumatized by civil war and have experienced food insecurity. And that is why you're speaking of repairing and protecting which is true to the communal nature of your culture. You have started the Somali American Farmers Association to enable the community to realize this goal in a cooperative way. Collie you have been promoting cooperative approaches in the service of black farm communities for decades. And you pointed out that when it comes to regenerative agriculture, multinational ag corporations have picked up on the term and it's fair to ask whether they, like the plantation owners of old, will be doing regenerative agriculture with underpaid daily labor. The element of cooperative control, building community wealth, would be entirely missing in that scenario. Collie, you also pointed out that one of the key social benefits of cooperative systems is that they encourage financial transparency and that with financial transparency, shoppers are more willing to pay the true price of healthy food instead of turning to the cheaper substitutes, leading to a race to the bottom in food quality. I would like to close by offering an African proverb inspired by what our guests today have revealed to us. If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together. Thank you, Collie Graddick, for being with us and talking about the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and your life, really, working with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Federation. Thank you so much for being with us today. And Naima, it was fascinating to hear your story. I know there's much more to be told. And we wish you the best with the Somali American Farmers Association. Thank you so much for being with us.

Naima Dhore  55:36

Likewise, thank you.

Collie Graddick  55:38

Thank you for having me.

Sarah Riedl  55:42

Nourish by MN350 is a production of MN350's Food Systems team. We are changing the way people think about food production, distribution, and consumption practices in the context of rapid climate change. This series is made possible by the hard work and passion of a group of dedicated volunteers. This episode was created by Terry Hokenson and recorded for the Wave Project. Our executive producer for Nourish by MN350 is Sarah Riedl. Our sound editor for this episode is Ben Herrera. Our logo was designed by Fizz Design Collective and our music is by Ecuador Manta. You can learn more at MN350action.org/podcasts.