More and more, I feel like a matchmaker as I do the work to bring churches and farmers together in covenant relationship. It's not just about buying from Black farmers (though that's very important); it's about restoring the relationship between the Black church and Black farmers.
This was the scene this past Saturday. I curated and facilitated a meeting on the land between members of a church and the Black farmers that grow food literally right across the street from their sanctuary. Despite desperately needing each other, the church and farm did not know one another. This is not a rare dynamic.
Many Black churches are closer to Black farmers than they know, but we've been conditioned to not see or hear each other; we've been made ignorant about how to come into rhythm together in a sustained way.
Curating and facilitating experiences that bring farmers and churches together is my passion, skill and gift. Through the work of The Black Church Food Security Network, I'm "matchmaking" churches and farmers across the country; working at a crockpot's pace to stitch us back together so that we might co-create sustainable solutions for food apartheid in Black America.