I Believe in the Dignity of Farm Work and That I Shall Prosper in Proportion: The New Farmers of America Food Movement in North Carolina, 1927–65

The New Farmers of America (NFA) in North Carolina was an organization for African American young men from 1927 to 1965. The NFA was an organization that directly confronted the issues of food insecurity and food sovereignty in North Carolina. Despite racist agricultural officials and programs that forced many African Americans to abandon farming, the NFA was able to establish food security and food sovereignty. Researching the NFA seeks not only to tell the story of the NFA and their food justice work, but also to examine the methods they used to control their own food systems. Studying these methods can help modern-day African American food justice advocates combat the industrialized food system that disproportionately affects African Americans. Another aspect of researching the NFA is the challenge it poses to the historiography on African American agriculture and Black food Justice scholarship. The NFA is noticeably absent from discussions on Black food justice and agriculture in the South. Yet the NFA was pivotal in agricultural advancements among African Americans in North Carolina and the creation of black food systems in Southern agriculture. Interjecting their history into the historical conversation can unearth new perspectives in Black agricultural studies.

The NFA also challenges narratives surrounding agriculture as an oppressive industry towards African Americans. Despite many African Americans being subject to the institution of sharecropping and tenant farming, NFA members saw farming as providing economic gains and community self-determination. Their use of agriculture as a form of community building opens a new avenue for scholars to interpret agriculture and food systems in the South as a means of uplift.