Small farms servicing city customers, known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), isn’t a recent phenomenon. Let hipsters tell it, the business model started with the Japanese or Europeans and spread in popularity in the 80s. But the credit actually belongs elsewhere.
In the 1960s, deep in the heart of Alabama, the real father of the small and sustainable farming movement, Booker T. Whatley, was preaching a message of community care. What was his mission?
According to Mother Earth News, his strategic message was that you could make $100,000 on 25 acres using regenerative farming techniques and by following his direct-marketing plan – where 1,000 Black households would join a membership club that provided a consistent customer base for small farms.
The model fought against common challenges faced by Black farmers, like land loss, discrimination, and poverty!
To be certain, Black farm laborers have had a complicated history with working the land, from forced enslavement on up to today’s challenges acquiring financing and equitable business treatment.
But in Whatley’s prime, there were over 1 MILLION growers that served their goods to Black communities across the nation.
Whatley’s business model shows that when the racist mainstream locks us out, we can get creative and make a better system that works for us and our communities – and aligns with our values.