The number of farms in the United States continues to shrink because of the industrialization of farming. These days when you think of a foreclosure it brings visions of shuttered vacant homes. The crisis is spreading as black farmers and their families struggle to hold on to their land.
Land ownership by blacks has declined by more than fifty percent since the 1920's.According to USAToday, Blacks in the USA are losing farmland at a faster rate than whites. In 1910, blacks owned about 15.7 million acres; that had fallen to 2.2 million acres in 2002, the most recent statistics available from the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. White-owned farm acreage declined from 580 million acres to 534 million acres.
Could this be a tragedy in the making as the families of black farmers who migrated away to the cities lose ownership as a result of unpaid property taxes or outstanding liens?
According to Henry Louis Gates' ancestral study of twenty prominent Black Americans, like Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Jackee Joyner Kersey -- a majority had ancestors who owned land.
However, one group, led by state Rep. Joe Neal in South Carolina, wants to change that and teach people to pool resources in traditional farming cooperatives. Farmers would grow crops that tap two national trends: the demand for locally grown organic food and the shift toward alternative fuel production.
1. There was a time when we led the charge of innovative agricultural techniques. Come to the Genius Federation this summer and find out how we can "Cultivate" our products.
Robert G.L. Newkirk at 9:30PM on Mar 17th 2008