Black Farmers and Changing Times

October 2, 2017 11:35 AM

The African American farmers of Covert, MI Shifting market forces, immigration reform, and a lack of interest from younger generations mean that black farmers in the small town of Covert, Michigan, are at a crossroads.
posted by OmieWise (2 comments total)

some blueberry farmers in the region have gone to "pick your own blueberries" farms - farming's always been tough there and although the weather's good for berry and orchard farming it can also screw you over badly with a late frost ...

for a lot of people in the area, farming's something you do in your spare time when you're not at your job in kalamazoo, benton harbor/st joe, holland or s bend

some towns in the area are doing ok and some aren't - one of covert's problems is that it's on the main route between niles and south haven and yeah, that's not real significant

still see pickers out there (last year near decatur) but there's not as many as there used to be
posted by pyramid termite at 4:34 PM on October 2, 2017

From TFA: In the popular imagination, the farmer is also white

The dude who owns the farm is usually white. The people doing the harvesting, not so usually.

We were reminded of agrarian POC in the US several times during the godforsaken election season, interesting to get a little more detail.
posted by aspersioncast at 5:09 AM on October 3, 2017