Racial Equity in the Berkshire Food System
Berkshire Grown stands in solidarity with those who fight for racial equity and racial justice.
To support local agriculture as a vital part of the Berkshire community, we need to be accountable to the history that created this economy and landscape, and that history includes slavery on a very local level. Black people turned these prime soils into farmland three centuries ago, but to this day they have little or no equity in farmland in the Northeast.
We acknowledge our debt to the Berkshires’ agricultural history that includes slavery and stolen lands. We acknowledge our responsibility to address inequity in the local food system, and we commit to working to build a just and fair food system in the Berkshires and across the nation.
“Understanding the lessons of history allows us to create a more humane future."
– People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
Food Solutions New England hosts an annual 21 Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge. Find past challenge materials and register for the next challenge!
Soul Fire Farm offers an intensive guide to taking action around food justice
The Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust provides opportunities to give to BIPOC farmers.
Housatonic Heritage offers self-guided tours and walks following the trails and stories of Black and Indigenous Peoples of the Berkshires.
Land Acknowledgment
We acknowledge that we work and live on the traditional land of the Muh-he-con-ne-ok (Mohican) peoples, past and present. After the tremendous hardship of being forced from this homeland, today their community thrives in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
With gratitude, we honor the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout generations. We commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit and to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.
To learn about the history of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, visit the link below.
