8/4/2019 Delta Rising

1/3

p 2011 s

The Mississippi Delta is rich in three thing scommunity, and spirituality. The Mightyhas laid down thousands of years of a fecund loam that makes the counties alobanks some of the richest agricultural lan

our country. The rural communities are small, sparseclosely knit. And churches often serve as the cornerstonsocial and spiritual interaction.

Ironically, this fertile farmland has been producommodity cropssoybeans, rice, corn, and cottonmore eciently and abundantly than fresh produce fresidents, who suer from some of the nations highesfactors for diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Fortun

the old adage Necessity is the mother of invention htrue. A burgeoning network of support organizations likDelta Fresh Foods Initiative, the Delta Health All iancethe Department of Health are bringing together indiv

growers, grassroots farming groups, educational institutand, yes, churches. In many Delta backyards and churchynew and renewed farmers are teaching neighbors abouhealth and economic benets of growing food for thems

Farm-to-plate and organic concepts might be old across the nation, but in the Delta where there are no WFoods (none even in the entire state of Mississippi), anfashioned, community-based, grow-it-yourself mentpropels the new food wave. And the deep soils andeeper sense of church and family a re now coming togto bring healthy change, led by individuals and groups

want to revive the self-sucient agrarian tradition oregion. Here are some of those torchbearers.

A grassrts mvement f ackardand curc gardening is ringing fres, ealt

fd t te ele f te Mississii Delta

he church gardencultivated by

members of thet. James issionary

atist Church inIndianola rovidesfresh roduce forthe congregationand surrounding

community. hirty-six similar church

gardens have beenstarted across the

state since .

by vi s phooAph by il s

8/4/2019 Delta Rising

2/3

p 2011 sr

The NetworkerD G D-CG,

,

Igrew up less than 100 yards from here,Dorothy says from her modest ranchhouses backyard in Shelby. We lived on a

plantation as sharecroppers. I picked cottonout the front door of my house. The owner gaveus a place to live and about a football-size plot

where we grew our food.Dorothy is now 55 years old. Shes a soft-

spoken woman, cool as a cuc umber. But despiteher quiet demeanor, she represents the powerof community and the importance of buildinga network of shared knowledge among the

growers in the Delta. Shes a registered nursefor the Coahoma County Schools, so she under-stands the communitys health needs. And shefarms 6 acres, 1 in her backyard and 5 more inthe county, so she knows about cultivating

good food.In 1996, after serving on the board of a

short-term Tufts University program aimedat developing food gardens in backyards,churches, and schools, Dorothy decided toexpand that projects scope into a larger visionfor the greater community. She called her newproject MEGAMississippians Engaged in

Greener Agriculture.The organization now encourages and

supports small-scale, high-yield growingprojects and hosts training sessions inDorothys backyard garden and other countylocations. Through partnerships with AlcornState University and Mississippi State Univer-sity, among others, the group teaches new

farming techniques, such as aqua-ponics (tilapia tanks where sh wastefertilizes plants growing beneath),

vermiculture (high-end organic wormcomposting), and greenhouse garden-ing. And MEGA recently purchased2 acres and seven double-wides inShelby to serve as community kitchen(including cooking classes, canning

sessions, and lessons in produce han-dling for market sales), a facility for

produce storage, and even a smal l tness center.I see MEGA as a tool to grow farmers,

says Dorothy. We have to find out wherethey are and introduce them to some of thenew methods for farming. And they need tomeet other growers, to have mentors, so weconnect them.

The Prodigal FarmerFk WI, k,

In the northern Delta, about two dozenmiles east of Clarksdale, Frank Wilbournspends part of his days below a shade

tree beside the Freds store parking lot. Hisred Ford Ranger truck bed overflows withcabbage, string beans, bundles of kale,bags of okra, and ba skets of tomatoesand peppers.

Frank grows all of the produce

himself on a 5-acre fraction of his100-acre farm thats nearby. On hisproperty, two high tunnels (unheated

greenhouses) stand in stark contrastto the surrounding straight linesof pines and the row crops of areafarms. Frank, in addition to threeother Marks County backyard

growers, recently installed the greenhouses.They are a new t wist in the backyard gardenresurgence, oering potential for year-round

growing and protection from the harmfulpesticides sprayed by crop-duster airplanesonto the large fields of more conventionalcommodity crops.

Frank, 70, knows the soil. He grew upon this same farm that his father bought onborrowed money in 1939. At age 22, Franktook the road north for the promise of betterpaying jobs. After a career in the steel mills ofMilwaukee, Wisconsin, he returned homein 1989. By then, his mother had sold thefamily land to make ends meet, but Frank

wanted to be right back where hed comefromon the farm he worked as ateenager alongside his dad. So, in2001, he found the new owner andbought back his fathers same 100

acres. He paid off the land in fiveyears. Now Frank grows 95% of whathe eats. He does it his way, on hisland. Hes driven by an age-oldspirituality as much as he is by theknowledge he accumulated as a

young man on the farm.I prayed and said, God, if you

let me make some money and be holy, Illcome back and get some land. I grow thisfood for the public, says Frank. I said, Illshow you what Ill do with it. Im going totill this ea rth and Im going to sell some and Im

going to give some. And Ive been doing thatever since.

Dorothy Grady-carbrough is

heling eoleacross ississii

learn how to grow,coo, can, and sell

fresh roduce.

Francame ho

bougfamily

some greand

food

W C psend a checkmade out to

g tog, c/o heBank of Boa

ounty, P.. Box88, sheby,s 38774;

662/398-5161

W C po ean moe

about the hhtunne een-

houe ntateand othe heathyown poject

n the eta,t deltafresh

foods.org

8/4/2019 Delta Rising

3/3

96 sr livig p 2011

The Church Family. J II pI

CC, IDI,

The St. James Missionary Baptist Churchsits humbly in the wide-open landscapeof large-scale agriculture elds. The hot

Sunday stillness outside the church belies thecharismatic song and call to worship th at seepsthrough the brick walls and stained

glass windows. Last year, the spiri-tual energy moved outside the chapel

to a tennis-court-size rectangle ofplowed earth where cucumbers,string beans, okra, corn, tomatoes,

greens, peppers, and peas grow. Thehealthy living wave has moved fromthe pulpit to the churchyard andonto the peoples plates. Its poweredby the notion that healthy food feedsthe body just as faith nurtures the soul.

Planted last year, the St. James gardensproduce is now shared among parish ioners andhome-bound community members. Thechurch is like a family, says Mildred Chance,the gardens chairwoman. We see each otherevery week. Whenever something needs to getdone, we do it. And we needed to eat and livemore healthfully.

Ryan Betz, a Delta Health Allianmanager, spearheaded the St. James

well as the Shiloh Seventh Day Church in Greenwood and 34 otherthe Church Ga rden Project from 200The congregations see the church g

way to add another level of felloshared participation via the developupkeep of the gardens, Ryan says. Tare excited to grow the heritage c

remember from decades a gbeans, squash, okra, fi

greens. And distributin

townspeople becomes yeopportunity to knock on spread the message of th

while delivering healthy foAlthough the Churc

Project has run its courseof the three dozen gardand company helped sta

ourishing. So now the project dirthe Delta Fresh Foods Initiative hGrowing Together, a community-bculture program that continues to fosuccessful gardens, while encourag

groups to start their own with movisits, workshops on growing technleadership training classes for cufuture garden organizers.

tart a Church GardenCngregatinal gardening can engender fellwsi amng curc memers wile grwing fd fr te cmmunit. And a

sared garden lt can rvide valuale fres fruit and vegetales t underserved arisiners, retirement mes, r lcal

fd anks. an betz, f te Curc arden prject (Cp), sares ve tis fr getting started.

1Get at least a quarter-acre ofoen sace with full sun. me

curces farm multile acres at multile

sites. alk t cit cials in te lanning

r arks and recreatin deartment fr

details aut availale lands and ermits.

2ducate the volunteers. prvidegardening ks, infrmatin frm te

lcal Extensin service, r exertise

frm a curc r cmmunit memer.

ee communitygarden.org fr mre.

3Fertilize to build the quality ofthe soil. Find a lcal surce fr natural

cmst (suc as gin tras) and fertilizer

(suc as rse, cicken, r cw manure).

And dnt frget te wers. Nt nl

are te rett, ut te als attract

llinatrs like ees and utteries.

4plan church functions, suc as adinner cked wit rduce frm te

garden, t kee te garden relevant and

demnstrate tat te land and te fd

it rduces ave a real-life lace in t

cngregatins sared fellwsi.

5Get the youth involved! havearent-cild da nce a mnt s ki

can wrk and learn alngside teir

arents. Cnnect te dts arve

and ringing te fd directl t te

kitcen fr a cking lessn and tas

sessin. (At ter times encurage

adults t accman cildren in te

garden, lest u like tramled veggie

W C p

o uppot the

eta chuchaden, donateto Whyune

(whyhunger.orgo800/548-6479)and pecfy the

eta Feh Foodintate.

he congregationof t. Jamesissionaryatist Church hasbeen lantingtogether since .

Doretha Cummings(left) and stella

Farrow in the oraat t. James

lmus Gray ofhiloh eventh Daydventist Churchin Greenwood