Introduction

Supporting Healthy Black Agriculture (SHBA) is a Supporting Healthy Black Families (SHBF) workgroup where Black families reconnect with the land, reclaim our agricultural legacy, and build pathways to healing, nourishment, and economic self-determination. Rooted in Black lived experience, this workgroup restores what systemic racism and generational trauma have worked to sever—our relationship to soil, food, and land-based power.

This is not just farming. This is applied, embodied SHBF learning that strengthens leadership, restores cultural memory, and supports families to move from survival toward stability, ownership, and collective care.

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Why This Work Matters

For generations, Black communities have been intentionally pushed away from land ownership, agricultural careers, and food sovereignty—despite agriculture being foundational to our survival and cultural identity. This disconnection has contributed to health disparities, economic instability, and intergenerational trauma.

Through the SHBF framework, SHBA addresses these realities directly. Participants gain tools to build emotional regulation, challenge internalized narratives about land and labor, and reclaim agriculture as a source of healing, liberation, and family stability. By growing food and agricultural enterprises, families strengthen their health, generate income, and create rooted spaces for restoration across generations.

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Our Proven Approach

SHBA integrates SHBF’s trauma-informed, Black-centered curriculum with hands-on agricultural education and collective learning. Participants engage in experiential training that includes food cultivation, land stewardship, and pathways to agricultural entrepreneurship—paired with culturally grounded teachings, reflection, and facilitated dialogue.

The workgroup intentionally addresses real barriers, including access to land and culturally relevant training, while creating healing spaces to explore the impact of Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) and generational disconnection from land. Learning happens through doing—planting, harvesting, problem-solving, and building together—while strengthening leadership, communication, and shared accountability within families.

This program is designed for individuals and families alike, including single adults, grandparents raising grandchildren, and multi-generational households. Participants are encouraged to learn and work alongside their children and loved ones, reinforcing SHBF’s belief that transformation happens within family systems, not in isolation.

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Results That Speak for Themselves

• Families increase access to fresh, chemical-free food grown by their own hands
• Participants report stronger family bonds, improved wellness, and renewed cultural pride
• Graduates explore pathways to land stewardship, food sovereignty, and agricultural income
• Participants reclaim agriculture as a source of joy, power, and generational healing

Supporting Healthy Black Agriculture produces outcomes that are personal, practical, and generational—strengthening families, restoring cultural connection, and building resilient Black communities rooted in land, legacy, and collective well-being.

Weekly Workgroup Sessions
A twelve-week curriculum rooted in Supporting Healthy Black Families (SHBF) that integrates land-based learning with leadership development and mindset shifting—supporting participants in building clarity, confidence, and long-term vision.

Hands-On Agricultural Training
Practical experience in food cultivation, soil health, planting, harvesting, and land stewardship. Learning is experiential and grounded, restoring agricultural knowledge while strengthening consistency, patience, and responsibility.

Healing-Centered Reflection
Facilitated dialogue that addresses generational trauma, scarcity thinking, and inherited beliefs around land and labor. Participants gain tools to disrupt harmful patterns and build healthier relationships to work, food, and self.

Culturally Rooted Support

• $50 monthly stipend for active participation
• Healthy meals provided
• Transportation support as needed
• Peer learning in a culturally affirming space
• Staff support and referrals to land access and food systems resources
• Free garden bed built at your apartment or home 
• Free produce for the entire growing season 

Ongoing Connection
Participants remain connected to community, shared resources, and continued learning opportunities—reflecting SHBF’s belief that transformation is sustained through relationships.