Black Farmers

Leah Lee is the founder of Growing Food Growing People

Leah Lee has a mission: To reconnect Black women to farming

Miya Norfleet

Leah Lee founded Growing Food Growing People to fill a void of representation in the farming community. She’ll be instructing an eight-week class called Gardening 101.

The American Rescue Plan Act promised to relieve farmers of color of $4 billion in debt. One year later, farmers are still waiting.

Health, Science, Environment

One year later, farmers of color are still waiting on billions of federal relief dollars

Dana Cronin

The American Rescue Plan promised $4 billion in debt relief to “socially disadvantaged farmers.” But a swarm of lawsuits from banks and white farmers alleging discrimination has put the aid on hold.

Brendalyn King and Osei Doyle, partners and co-founders of the Salem Hemp Kings, pose in front of 244 acres of land they purchased last year around Lake Placid in central Missouri. They plan to grow hemp and process the fibers into materials that serve as wood alternatives. For instance, hemp stalks can be ground up into hemp hurd and pressed together into floor boards.

Health, Science, Environment

Black farmers see new opportunities in the budding industrial hemp industry

Corinne Ruff

There’s a glaring disparity issue in industrial hemp production — just 6% of producers are Black. A couple in Missouri hopes to create the state’s first Black-owned hemp processing site.