LGBTQIA staff and allies at Poughkeepsie Farm Project!
Queer and Trans farmers are on the emergent edge of farming. We are leaning into restorative and sustainable practices, shifting narratives toward collective ownership and leading in food justice work. When we step on to the land alongside straight, cisgendered folks, we have barriers of understanding to aerate, not just soil.
This past January, I helped facilitate an online gathering for queer farmers at the Northeast Organic Farming Association's Annual Conference with Jamie Levato, Education Director of Poughkeepsie Farm Project and Maggie Cheney of Rock Steady Farm and Flowers in Millerton, NY. In a small breakout group, folks from across our region showed up in vulnerable conversation. We shared about surviving multiple levels of social isolation during COVID; navigating deep waters of complexity as we work and live with friends and significant others; and leaning in to queer ecology as a resource for whole-systems farming. These magnificent, thoughtful humans reminded me why I think being queer is a superpower that unleashes empathy on the world.
Empathy in farming looks like us!
Chris Bolden-Newsome at Sankofa Community Farm in Philly, centering African Diasporic crops and culture for Black American and West African residents
Naima Penniman of Soul Fire Farm, transforming injustice in the food system through relational, healing community centering Black, Indigenous and Latinx leaders
Maggie Cheney and D Rooney of Rock Steady Farm and Flowers in Millerton, NY who feed LGBTQ folx through a partnership with the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
Pat Lang and Jamie Levato at Poughkeepsie Farm Project inspire staff, members and neighbors to collaborate together in building a resilient and just food system
K Greene of Hudson Valley Seed Company is all about deep commitment to local seed security and preservation of crop diversity
Owen Taylor, part of the dynamic team that shares the love of seeds, rich in their cultural stories and close to the hearts of people we can name, at True Love Seeds
Jayne Henson of Transgenerational Farm holds a vision for re-imagining rural land as a safe haven for queer and trans people
Take heart! Get out there and march, protest, party, and celebrate the beauty of our community. Take time to focus on who has been silenced, dismissed and alienated. Unearth and untangle where homophobia and transphobia pervading popular culture exists inside of you. Step into the possibility that joy arises from cherishing diversity and celebrating what is real.
Show a queer farmer some love this summer!
SonyaJoy Key