Karen's Motto: If you come to market hungry, you won't leave market hungry

Market manager and community gardener Karen Washington has been a driving force behind healthy food access in the Bronx for decades. She has championed community gardens, advocated for underserved neighborhoods throughout New York City, and inspired countless people to think differently about who grows our food and who has access to it.

“I don’t like to take credit,” Karen told me. “Just write me up as a little birdy that puts things in people’s ears. It’s not one person that makes things happen, it is a collective. I just want to be part of a group that dreamed big, and had a big vision.”

The market accepts all forms of food assistance payment options.

That philosophy is woven through everything she does.

In 1998, when New York City began auctioning off community gardens, Karen co-founded La Familia Verde Garden Coalition. As a member of the Garden of Happiness, she recognized that gardeners would have a far better chance of protecting their spaces if they worked together instead of fighting for individual gardens.

That same spirit continues through La Familia Verde’s Farmers’ Market.

Many of these women grow the vegetables in small plots throughout the South Bronx.

For Karen, the market’s greatest success isn’t simply the food it provides—it’s the community it strengthens.

To support this work, please consider these organizations:

La Familia Verde - La Familia Verde is a part of a community gardening tradition in New York City that dates back over 25 years, when city residents first began taking control of abandoned lots left by the economic and social devastation of the inner cities. Since that time, community gardens have played an important role in helping to revitalize some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. The gardens are not only pleasing to look at; they serve as education, cultural and social resource centers in traditionally underserved communities.

Black Farmer Fund - The mission of Black Farmer Fund is to nurture black community wealth & health by investing in black agricultural systems in the Northeast.

Today, I’m excited to share the first result of that investment: we’ve completed a Spanish translation of the film’s closed captions.

That means we’re now able to make the Spanish-captioned version available free of charge to organizations hosting screenings for Spanish-speaking audiences.

To everyone who licensed the film this past year: thank you! You didn’t just bring these stories to your own communities; you helped make them accessible to many more.

If you work with Spanish-speaking agricultural communities, rural organizations, students, or community groups, we’d love to partner with you. Our hope has always been that the stories of women in agriculture reach the widest possible audience. Language or funding shouldn’t determine who gets to see themselves reflected in these stories.

If you know an organization that could benefit, please share this post or reach out. Every new audience strengthens the conversation, and we’d love your help connecting these stories with the people who haven’t had a chance to see them yet.

womensworkdoc at gmail dot com

Our film, 'Women's Work: The Untold Story of America's Female Farmers', was nominated for an Emmy. While we didn't take the statue home, I still consider us winners.

One of the first things I noticed when I began documenting women through The Female Farmer Project® was that they had redefined what success looks like. Many had left careers in corporate America- careers with titles, salaries, bonuses, and health insurance - to build lives that, on paper, might look less successful. They traded quarterly earnings for seasonal harvests, performance reviews for full CSA boxes and grateful customers, and certainty for risk.

Yet I've rarely met a group of people who feel more accomplished.

Success, for these women, isn't measured by applause or accolades. It's measured in healthy soil, thriving communities that know where their food comes from, and the satisfaction of building something that will outlast them. They understand that the most important work is often the least celebrated.

So as I sat in the audience waiting for the winner to be announced, I realized the women in our film had already given me the framework for interpreting the outcome. Awards are wonderful. Recognition matters. But they are not the measure of whether the work mattered. If Women's Work has helped even one person see the women growing our food in a new light, if it has sparked conversations around dinner tables, in classrooms, or among policymakers, then it has accomplished exactly what we set out to do.

The women I documented taught me that success isn't always something you hold in your hands.

Sometimes it's something you set in motion

In the photo: Kara Rowe, Greta Hardin, and me! Audra Mulkern. Missing our team members, Debbie Weingarten, Jo Arlow, Ryan Rowe and Tomás Guzman. Thank you to all who supported the film in their many ways.

Women’s Work: The Untold Stories of America’s Female Farmers is a film built with grit, grace, and the stories women farmers have carried for generations.

We’re so grateful. To have work recognized at this level is meaningful in ways that are hard to put into words. But there is no way to hold this moment for ourselves alone.

It belongs to the farmers who trusted us with their stories and also to the ones whose names may never appear in credits, headlines, or acceptance speeches, but whose labor has always been here, and has so often gone unseen.

This recognition exists because people allowed us to listen, to witness, and to help carry their stories forward.

These stories matter. They always have.

Today, we’re holding deep gratitude for everyone who believed in this film, and thinking especially of every woman whose work continues, whether or not anyone is watching.

Thank you to the women who shared their stories: Abby, Althea, Amy J, Amy S, Ardis, Brandy, Carolyn, Cha Mee, Cherisse, Effie Mae, Elisa, Jamie, Jessica, Kristi, Mai, Marge, Olivia, Phyllis, Ramona, Ruby, Ryanne, Sua, and Xee.

International Women’s Day: Flowers for the Women in Your Life.

I stood there for a moment thinking about the women I photograph through The Female Farmer Project. Women whose hands are stained with soil, who wake before dawn to move irrigation lines, check on lambs, seed trays, repair fences. Women who are farmers, ranchers, land stewards, women whose labor feeds us every day. I thought, too, about the women who likely grew and harvested those very flowers, and I wondered how many bouquets they’d receive that day. More importantly, I wondered how many people buying those flowers knew that the women who grow much of the food on their tables are still fighting for visibility, land access, fair credit, and representation.

International Women’s Day was never meant to be a holiday, much less one with flowers.

Its roots are in labor movements, in marches and protests, in women demanding better wages, safer working conditions, and political voice. Yet somewhere along the way, it has been warped, wrapped in cellophane and slick advertising campaigns. It has become another retail occasion, one that celebrates women symbolically while leaving the conditions of their labor untouched.

Agriculture offers a stark example. Across the United States, women represent one of the fastest-growing demographics in farming, yet they remain underrepresented in land ownership and leadership roles. Many of the women I’ve documented speak about being mistaken for the farmer’s wife rather than the farmer herself. Their stories rarely make it into the polished narratives of “women’s empowerment.”

That flower display has stayed with me all month. Because flowers, of course, come from somewhere. They come from soil and labor, from fields tended by people whose names we rarely know. Some of those growers are women working long hours for low pay in global supply chains. Others are small-scale farmers navigating volatile markets and climate pressures.

And lately, I’ve been thinking about what gets sanitized in the telling. Not just of holidays, but of movements.

This month, as International Women’s Day was being repackaged into bouquets and social media content, new reporting surfaced allegations of sexual abuse tied to one of the most revered figures in American farmworker history. For many, the story was shocking. For others, especially women who have spent their lives working inside male-led institutions, it was painfully familiar.

We know how to make icons. We know how to flatten movements into a single face, a single name, a single uncomplicated story. And once we do that, the women around those movements and their labor, their sacrifices, their silence, their harm, too often become secondary to protecting the legacy.

That is not an exception. It is part of the structure.

Women in agriculture know what it means to be visible only when it is convenient. They are often welcomed as symbols while still being shut out of decision-making and authority. Included in the branding, excluded from the power. Praised for resilience, but left to navigate the same inequities, dismissals, and vulnerabilities that have always shaped this work.

So I keep thinking about that sign: Flowers for the Women in Your Life.

Maybe a better tribute would be this: learn the names of the women who grow your food. Support farms led by women. Advocate for policies that make land, capital, and training accessible to them. Tell their stories. Listen to their experiences. And when women speak about what power has cost them, believe that those stories belong to history too.

Bring them visibility, not just flowers.

International Women’s Day should not be a moment when we simply celebrate women with bouquets. It should be a moment when we ask why the women feeding our communities are still so often invisible and why the systems built on their labor remain so invested in symbolism over truth.

The women farmers I know don’t need flowers.

They need visibility, equity, and a seat at the table.

Just a reminder that our film, Women’s Work: The Untold Story of America’s Female Farmers is on PBS Nationwide(!!), and we’d love for you to learn some of those stories.

All photographs by Audra Mulkern for The Female Farmer Project®

I’m thrilled to announce that Women’s Work: The Untold Story of America’s Female Farmers is officially part of the familes of Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) as our Presenting Station, and American Public Television (APT), our distributor — and 90% of PBS stations have already voted YES to bring the film to their communities! 🌾🎉

This is a huge milestone — one that means Women’s Work will be available to stream nationwide through PBS platforms on October 1st.

But here’s the important part: the broadcast isn’t automatic.

Each PBS station now has the opportunity to put Women’s Work on their local fall schedule. And we’re hoping they’ll all choose to air it on Sunday, October 12th — National Farmers Day — a perfect time to honor the women who grow and raise the food that feeds America.

Here’s where you come in.

Want to see Women’s Work on your local PBS station? Help us make some noise!

• Reach out to your local station on social media. A simple comment or message asking them to air the film can go a long way.

• If you’d like to go the extra mile and start a mini campaign in your community — I’d love to send you a stack of postcards to mail to your station! Just reply to this post or comment on the substack platform and I will reach out!

Having national distribution means this story — the real story of who farms in America — can reach every corner of the country. It’s a chance to rewrite the narrative and give long-overdue recognition to the women who have always been at the heart of agriculture.

To everyone who stood by this project — the women who let us into their lives, the folks who backed us from the start, and every person who believed this story mattered — thank you.

Let the countdown begin. Women’s Work is coming to PBS this fall!

When I set out to tell the stories of America’s female farmers, I hoped the road would lead to PBS. For more than a decade, my sights were set on PBS. There is no more fitting home for a documentary like Women’s Work—a quiet revolution told in soil and sweat, in rows of squash and fields of wheat, in voices too often ignored by mainstream media.

PBS understood it immediately. And I am so grateful they did.

In an era of clickbait headlines and diminishing attention spans, PBS remains one of the few places where nuance is not only allowed—but expected. Where quiet stories can still be heard. Where a woman planting ancestral seed on sovereign land carries as much weight as breaking news. Where rural America isn't reduced to a stereotype, but treated with respect, depth, and complexity.

That matters. Especially now.

The attacks on public media are louder than ever, fueled by a persistent misunderstanding of what PBS does. Public broadcasting is not about partisanship. It's about access. It's about community. It’s about the child who learns to read from Sesame Street. The isolated elder who finds connection through Antiques Roadshow or Finding Your Roots. The classroom that turns to NOVA when textbooks fall short.

And yes, it’s about farmers. It’s about people like Ramona Button, whose story might never be told on commercial networks chasing ad dollars and market shares. But on PBS, her work to revive traditional foods that have cultural and ecological significance can become a national conversation. A teaching moment. A mirror held up to our food system, our history, and our future.

As someone who has spent her days with the rural women whose labor feeds the nation and goes unseen, I’ve learned that visibility is a kind of justice. And PBS delivers that justice without spectacle, without sensationalism—just the truth, told with care.

Defunding public media isn’t just shortsighted. It’s dangerous. It further erodes the shared spaces where we can meet not as voters or consumers, but as citizens. It strips communities—especially rural ones—of the tools they need to tell their own stories, in their own voices.

I believe in storytelling to make change. Telling stories that matter and celebrating the women growing our future I believe in PBS as one of the last places where those stories can thrive on the public stage.

So yes, I’ll say it plainly: I stand in defense of PBS. I stand in defense of rural stories, of women’s voices, of truth that takes its time. And I hope you will too.

So here’s what you can do:

Call your member of Congress. Email them. Tweet them. Show up at their town halls. Tell them that public media matters—to your community, your kids, your farmers, your future. Urge them to protect federal funding for PBS and NPR. Remind them that a democracy without public access to education, storytelling, and local journalism is a weakened one.

Use this tool from Protect My Public Media to find your representative and send a message today:

👉 https://protectmypublicmedia.org/

Exciting News!
We are thrilled to announce that Women's Work: The Untold Story of America's Female Farmers will be broadcast on KBTC PBS in November!

November 19th at 9 PM
November 21st at 8AM!

We are also thrilled that the film graces the KBTC’s November Viewer Guide cover! (see page 10 for more info on the film)

New Press Mentions!
Thank you to 425 Magazine and South Sound Magazine for featuring Women’s Work in their November issues!

This documentary unearths the inspiring stories of women transforming agriculture across America. From the fields of Southern Arizona and Coastal Georgia to the rugged frontiers of Alaska, Women's Work showcases the vital role of female farmers who are shaping the future of our food systems.

Tune in and witness the untold stories of resilience, innovation, and the deep-rooted connection between women and the land.

Mark your calendars!
Don't miss this opportunity to watch Women's Work on KBTC (channel 28 in Western WA).

Please help us spread the word by sharing with friends, family, and your community.

Share

Thank you for being so supportive, and we can’t wait to hear what you think!

Harvest Season 2024: Essential Reading for Farmers, Food Enthusiasts, and Environmental Advocates

As the harvest season unfolds, there’s no better time to turn to thoughtful reading that deepens our connection to the land, food, and community. Whether you're looking for recipes, growing techniques, or stories that inspire, this curated list of books published in 2024 will provide insight and inspiration for the season. From regenerative farming to mindful cooking, these works celebrate the bounty of nature and the efforts of those who cultivate it.

Featured Reading List

Cooking Mindfully: Make Food Your Ally with Sustainable, Low Waste Recipes for Every Season
This book offers a treasure trove of recipes that help you reconnect with your kitchen in a sustainable way. It’s a guide to reducing waste while creating delicious meals, focusing on mindful cooking for each season’s harvest. Perfect for those who want to align their kitchen practices with their values.

Flower Farming for Profit: The Complete Guide to Growing a Successful Cut Flower Business
Interested in turning your love for flowers into a thriving business? This comprehensive guide provides all the know-how needed to grow a profitable cut flower operation. With practical advice from soil preparation to marketing, it’s a must-read for aspiring flower farmers looking to scale their craft.

From the Ground Up: The Women Revolutionizing Regenerative Agriculture
This powerful collection highlights women at the forefront of regenerative agriculture, transforming the way we farm by prioritizing the health of the soil, ecosystems, and communities. It’s a celebration of the female innovators who are changing the face of farming to heal the earth.

On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family, from Punjab to California
This memoir weaves together stories of migration, agriculture, and family legacy. Spanning continents and generations, the author reflects on the challenges and triumphs of wheat farming, blending a personal narrative with the larger story of cultural and agricultural transformation.

A Call to Farms: Reconnecting to Nature, Food, and Community in a Modern World
In a world increasingly disconnected from its roots, this book calls for a return to the land. By exploring the power of farms to nurture not only food but also community, this read serves as a reminder of the deep ties we all have to nature and the sustenance it provides.

Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks
Step into the kitchens of five generations of Black country cooks, where recipes are interwoven with family stories and cultural heritage. This book is more than a cookbook—it’s a heartfelt tribute to the foodways and traditions that have been passed down through generations of Black women.

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera - A book for all ages!
For anyone fascinated by pollinators, this beautifully illustrated book offers an in-depth look at the life of the honeybee. It’s both a celebration of these vital creatures and an educational resource on their role in agriculture and the environment.

The Preserving Garden: Bottle, Pickle, Ferment, and Cook Homegrown Food All Year Round
This guide to preserving homegrown produce is perfect for those who want to extend the life of their harvest. With techniques for bottling, pickling, fermenting, and more, you’ll learn how to savor the flavors of the season throughout the year.

The Winter Market Gardener: A Successful Grower's Handbook for Year-Round Harvests
Market gardening doesn’t have to end when the temperatures drop. This handbook shares essential tips for extending your growing season, offering practical advice for achieving success even in the depths of winter.

Leftovers: A History of Food Waste and Preservation
Delve into the history of food waste and the efforts made throughout time to prevent it. This book explores the cultural, environmental, and economic impacts of food preservation and waste, offering a thought-provoking perspective on how we can be more mindful stewards of our food resources.

Whether you’re a farmer, home gardener, or simply someone who loves food and nature, these books are bound to inspire and inform. Enjoy the bounty of this harvest season, and let these reads guide you in nurturing both your land and your community.

Happy reading! 🌾📚

These links are to The Female Farmer Project Bookshop. We may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links. Any commission helps to offset the cost of The FFP. Please take a moment to check out our previous reading lists, so many great books! As always, thank you for your support.
- Team FFP

A look back to my 2015 visit to Refuge Gardens in Portland, OR

Guman’s journey to a small patch of land in Southeast Portland is one of resilience and survival. His story begins on a subsistence farm in the Southwestern Bhutan Samste region, where he was born in 1969 to an ethnic Nepali family. 

Born in 1969, he was one of six children raised by his father after his mother passed away during his early childhood. By the age of ten, Guman had already begun working outside the home in domestic roles to support his family. Later, he found work on a Bhutanese government-run poultry farm.

In his mid-twenties, Guman married Jumuna, and their life together should have marked the beginning of something new. Instead, ethnic tensions in Bhutan forced the Nepali minority, including the Bharatis, to flee their homeland. They resettled in the Beldangi 2 refugee camp in Eastern Nepal, where they lived in uncertainty for years.

In the spring of 2009, after years of displacement, Guman and his family were granted refugee status in the U.S. They resettled in Portland, Oregon, and like so many refugees, Guman faced the immense challenge of starting over in a foreign country. But it was through Mercy Corps’ Refuge Gardens program that Guman began to rebuild his life. The program offered him not just land and supplies, but a connection back to the soil and the work he had known for so long. Farming became more than a livelihood—it became a source of healing.

Today, Guman is not only growing food for his family but also building a new future. He supplements his income from the garden with janitorial work, giving his children the opportunity to pursue their education. For Guman, fresh produce and extra income are important, but it’s the chance to work the land with his family that has truly helped him adjust to life in the United States. Through the Refuge Gardens, he has found a way to plant roots once again.

To learn more and support Mercy Corps work: mercycorpsnw.org

We are pleased to announce that Women’s Work will have its broadcast debut on Thursday, September 26th. We are scheduled for the primetime slot of 7 pm in one of the largest designated market areas in the nation!

Thank you to KSPS for believing in this story, the WW team for all their hard work in getting us here and thank you to Capital Press for their coverage: 'Women's work': Female farmer documentary set to premiere

We hope to have more broadcast announcements for you soon in your region.

In 2015, I visited the Chicago chapter of Growing Power. Erika Allen led this offshoot of the Milwaukee-based organization founded by Will Allen. Housed in a former warehouse, the urban farm grew vegetables in hoop houses, raised beds, and even towers made from tires. Goats were enjoying their obstacle course made from stumps and scrap wood. Indoors, aquaponics allowed the farm to raise fish and use the waste in their intensive compost system.

The Fresh Moves Mobile Farmers Market was made from a re-purposed bus. “The “produce aisle on wheels” works toward closing the ‘food access gap’ by bringing produce to schools, community centers, churches, and health clinics — places that folks already frequent — to make good food accessible in Black and Brown neighborhoods that have been historically divested.”

In 2017 Erika Allen and Laurell Sims reorganized the Chicago Chapter of Growing Power as Urban Growers Collective. They now operate 9 urban farms on 11 acres of land, most located on Chicago’s South Side.

”These farms are production-oriented but also offer opportunities for staff-led education, training, leadership development, and food distribution.  Each farm utilizes organic growing methods, intensive growing practices, and year-round production strategies to best maximize growing space.”

“Urban Growers Collective is a Black- and women-led non-profit farm in Chicago, Illinois working to build a more just and equitable local food system. We aim to address the inequities and structural racism that exist in the food system and in communities of color. Rooted in growing food, our mission is to cultivate nourishing environments which support health, economic development, healing, and creativity through urban agriculture.

We provide hands-on job training and create economic opportunity for youth, and beginner BIPOC farmers. Our aim is to provide jobs while working to mitigate food insecurity and limited access to affordable, culturally-affirming, and nutritionally-dense food.”

To support Urban Growers Collective - donations, volunteer opportunities or how to buy their produce.

We are thrilled to announce that "Women's Work: The Untold Story of America's Female Farmers" is complete! This labor of love has been an incredible journey, and we are deeply grateful for the support and encouragement from all of you and our presenting sponsors Central Life Sciences and U.S. Sugar, who believed in the power of these stories.

Unearthing the Untold Stories

"Women's Work" dives deep into the often-overlooked narratives of the women who have been the backbone of American agriculture. From the women who cultivated the first fields to those who inherited these legacies, this documentary illuminates the vital roles women have played—and continue to play—in feeding our nation.

Why This Documentary Film Matters

Women in agriculture face unique challenges and are often overlooked in the broader farming narrative, yet their contributions are indispensable. "Women's Work" brings their voices to the forefront, highlighting their resilience, creativity, and unyielding determination. This film is not just a tribute and celebration of the women who have shaped and continue to shape our agricultural landscape, it’s also a call to action to recognize and support the women who nourish our communities.

Next Steps

We are building a grassroots campaign to create awareness for this important film. Here are our goals:

• Awareness: Increase awareness of the documentary among target audiences

• Engagement: Foster community engagement and conversations around the film's themes

• Screenings: Public and private screenings as well as various film festivals

• Distribution: Drive interest in licensing the film for broadcast/streaming as well as educational and community use

Whether you are an educational institution, community organization, or broadcaster, we will be offering various licensing options to suit your needs. To learn more about how you can bring this important film to your audience, please visit our website or contact us at womensworkdoc at gmail dot com.

Premiere Public Screening

We are thrilled to announce the premiere public screening of our documentary! Join us as we proudly participate in Coastal Roots Farm's renowned Farm Film and Music Series. If you're in the San Diego/Encinitas area, please come celebrate with us on July 18th at 6:30pm. The evening will begin with live music and the opportunity to connect with community partners. Don't miss the panel discussion featuring our Executive Producer, Audra Mulkern, alongside the inspiring female farmers of Coastal Roots. Tickets are available here. Keep an eye out for a ticket giveaway on our Instagram next week! We can’t wait to see you there!

Meet the featured farmers in the film here!
Meet our esteemed experts!
Thank you to our incredible sponsors and supporters!

Through partnerships with local farms, orchards, farmers markets, community gardens, and individual home growers, Snoqualmie Valley’s Hopelink Harvest program collects donations of produce that is either too small or past prime for market viability but is still incredibly nutritious food. In 2022, the program harvested and distributed over 118,700 lbs of fresh produce, expanding yearly. 

Hopelink supports families as they “navigate some of life’s biggest challenges. Some are refugees in need of shelter, some are trying to pay their energy bills, some need a ride to their doctors’ appointments, and many are facing other obstacles. The harvest and foodbank programs seek to put culturally relevant, local, and nutritious produce in the hands of Hopelink clients.

“Hopelink’s food bank clients receive access to the bounty of fresh produce being grown in Snoqualmie Valley through volunteer harvesters. Increased access to farm-fresh foods in our community is satisfying for volunteers and recipients alike.”

-- Lindsey Robinson, Hopelink Harvest Program Coordinator (Lindsey is now the Food Assistance Specialist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture)

Want to take action? Support Hopelink here

Growing Home, Chicago, IL

In 2015, I had the privilege of exhibiting a collection of photographs from my travels called The Faces of Food Justice.

Each portrait tells the story of someone whose work often goes unnoticed—people using agriculture as a tool for change. They are addressing food insecurity, challenging systemic inequities in our food system, welcoming immigrants and refugees into their communities, creating economic opportunity, and empowering the next generation of leaders.

These are not the stories that usually make headlines, but they have shaped the way I understand food, farming, and community.

More than a decade later, I’m delighted to share this collection here on Substack. Their stories remain as relevant today as they were when I first met them.

In the heart of Chicago’s South Side lies Englewood, a community spanning three square miles where nearly 47% of its residents live below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate hovers at 28%. This landscape, dotted with vacant lots and corner food marts, there is a beacon of hope: Growing Home. Situated on 1.5 acres, this non-profit is home to two flourishing urban farms.

Growing Home runs a 12-week paid job-training program aimed at individuals facing significant barriers to employment, such as housing instability, childcare challenges, and criminal records. Participants receive hands-on training in urban agriculture, complemented by classroom instruction and access to essential resources, including legal aid for record sealing and expungement. The program also provides a dedicated case manager to assist with housing, healthcare, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and childcare needs.

The mission of Growing Home is to equip its trainees with the skills and confidence needed for sustainable employment. This is achieved through a curriculum that marries practical urban farming techniques with lessons in work readiness, environmental awareness, and psychological resilience.

The program is split evenly between six weeks of classroom education and six weeks of practical experience on the farm. Growing Home boasts a high completion rate and an impressive 67% job placement rate. As the first and only USDA organic-certified, high-production urban farm in the area, Growing Home sells its produce to local markets, restaurants, and directly to the community through local farmer markets, making a tangible impact in Englewood.

growinghomeinc.org

You can support Growing Home and its incredible program with donations here

Counselor and Farmer, Jenny

In 2015, I had the privilege of exhibiting a collection of photographs from my travels called The Faces of Food Justice.

Each portrait tells the story of someone whose work often goes unnoticed—people using agriculture as a tool for change. They are addressing food insecurity, challenging systemic inequities in our food system, welcoming immigrants and refugees into their communities, creating economic opportunity, and empowering the next generation of leaders.

These are not the stories that usually make headlines, but they have shaped the way I understand food, farming, and community.

More than a decade later, I’m delighted to share this collection here on Substack. Their stories remain as relevant today as they were when I first met them.

Transitional Resources
West Seattle, WA

It's often said that getting your hands into the dirt can be the best therapy. Now, science is backing up the claim that gardening can have therapeutic effects on stress levels and that soil microbes positively affect brain chemistry.*

On a bustling street in West Seattle, a resource and transitional living center for low-income adults living with major mental illnesses stands as a beacon of hope. Beyond providing supportive housing, vocational services, and respectful mental health services, the organization offers a variety of wellness groups.

One such group, which began as a modest gardening project, has flourished into the smallest certified organic farm in Washington State. Every week, counselor and farmer Jenny calls the residents, inviting them to join her in the greenhouse or the garden for planting and weeding.

The turnout is always unpredictable, in numbers and duration, but the group has thrived. It has even created a part-time job for one resident to water the plants during the week and introduced many others to the joys of cooking with fresh produce.

Once, the vegetables grown here were sold to local restaurants and at the local Farmers Market. But now, the produce is so popular that it’s all distributed among the residents and sometimes donated to the West Seattle Food Bank.

This little farm, born from a simple gardening group, has become a cornerstone of the community, offering more than just food; it offers healing, purpose, and connection.

“Garden Group allows us to get out of our heads and tap into fascination- a state of being that has us hooked on the incredible natural stimuli all around. And for my clients, focusing on something other than voices or the uncomfortable side effects of medication is a welcome relief. It’s a kind of therapy that doesn’t have you talking, but has you doing.” -- Jenny

Flowers planted in a cardboard box by one of the residents.

Author/Photographers Note: With respect for the residents’ privacy, I chose not to show their faces in these images.

Want to take action? Support Transitional Resources here.

*Peer-reviewed sources:
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Air, Soil and Water Research

transitionalresources.org

Each portrait tells the story of someone whose work often goes unnoticed—people using agriculture as a tool for change. They are addressing food insecurity, challenging systemic inequities in our food system, welcoming immigrants and refugees into their communities, creating economic opportunity, and empowering the next generation of leaders.

These are not the stories that usually make headlines, but they have shaped the way I understand food, farming, and community.

More than a decade later, I’m delighted to share this collection here on Substack. Their stories remain as relevant today as they were when I first met them.

Farm Incubation Program for New Farmers
Windy City Harvest with chicagobotanic.org
Chicago, IL

In Chicago’s South Side, a place aptly named Legends Farm now sits on the footprint of a former Robert Taylor Homes public housing high-rise. Once known simply as “the projects,” the Robert Taylor Homes represented 11 of the nation’s 15 poorest census tracts and became widely regarded as a failure of architecture, management, and public policy.

The last of the buildings was demolished in 2007. Today, the landscape has been transformed into a vibrant hub of urban agriculture.

Because of soil contamination left behind from decades of construction and urban use, these farms could not be planted directly into the ground. Instead, farmers built raised beds perched atop concrete, creating an innovative model for growing food in places where traditional agriculture was no longer possible. What was once a symbol of disinvestment has become a place of resilience, renewal, and community.

At the center of this transformation is Windy City Harvest, a program of the Chicago Botanic Garden that provides a two-year apprenticeship for aspiring urban farmers. Apprentices gain access to mentors, tools, equipment, and markets while learning the skills needed to build sustainable farming businesses. The program also supports youth education and employment, food-as-medicine initiatives, and transitional employment opportunities.

For Stacey Kimmons, farming became a pathway to a new chapter. He named his farm Return 2 Life—a reflection of the transformation he experienced through the apprenticeship program and his commitment to giving back to his community.

On his small 1/8-acre plot, Stacey produces an astonishing 30 boxes of fresh produce every week for WIC recipients.

“I love this work so much, I even come in on the weekends to take care of my farm.”
— Stacey Kimmons

Want to take action? Support Windy City Harvest here

Elisa Ranck-Fleming of Verdant View Farm - look for her in our upcoming Documentary film, Women’s Work.

Welcome to The Female Farmer Project Substack!

How did you find yourself here, you ask? Well, let's dive into the journey together with this inaugural substack on why we made the move.

Community

Traditional newsletters and blog posts often feel like solitary endeavors, sent out into the vast unknown without much feedback. But here, on this platform, we're fostering a community where you can comment, engage, and share your thoughts. It's reminiscent of the good old days of social media, where interaction was key.

We've grown tired of being at the mercy of algorithms, which often bury our content under a deluge of ads, suggested posts, and clickbait. Substack offers a breath of fresh air, allowing us to connect directly with our audience without the interference of algorithms dictating who sees our work.

Economics and Streamlining

Substack is a versatile platform, encompassing elements of email newsletters, blogs, podcasts, and social media all in one. By consolidating our communications here, we're simplifying the experience for everyone. Whether you're here for the podcast, the film, or any other aspect of FFP, you'll find everything in one convenient hub.

As a self-funded project, we're always mindful of where we allocate our resources. Investing in better podcast equipment this year was a priority, which meant finding ways to cut costs elsewhere. Thankfully, Substack provides a free solution that saves us approximately $1,000 per year—an invaluable resource for a project like ours.

While Substack does offer the option for paid subscriptions, we've chosen to keep all our posts free for everyone. Our mission is to make our content as accessible as possible, and this decision reflects that commitment.

It’s so lovely to have you join us on this journey! We're thrilled to have you along for the ride. Keep your eyes peeled for exciting updates on our films and fresh podcast episodes dropping soon. Can't wait to share more with you!

Audra
Founder, The Female Farmer Project™

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