The 222nd recipient is Taj Ruffin of @blackfarmerscollective in Seattle, WA.
Taj writes, “My experience as a farmer started out when I truly understood liberation. Growing up, food was always a barrier but when I went to the farm for the first time I saw freedom in food and communities being healed by all the growing happening. When I started to attend the volunteer days regularly I found myself planted in a community that taught me how to care for the land, myself and others.
Farming to me means access to more knowledge about yourself and staying connected to the earth. I haven’t been farming for long, but there are a ton of reflections that get revealed to me as I learn to grow the produce. For my community, farming has opened doors for folks in various ways through art, through mediation, through sharing meals, healing etc.
The reason I am here today is because of the support from my community. They offered me consistency, gave me access to tools and showed me how to use them. They provided me with rest that’s never rushed so that I was able to show up as my full self.”
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