New Black-owned freight farm in rural Minnesota to tackle food insecurity, health inequities

"People of color are dramatically and exponentially affected by those metrics," Marcus Carpenter tells the Daily Yonder.

That's why the founder of a Minnesota nonprofit hopes to change that with the launch of the state's first black-owned freight farm.

The freight farm, which will be delivered to the rural community of Loretto at the end of February, is a refurbished shipping container that's been turned into a " hydroponic powerhouse," Carpenter says, allowing farmers to grow up to 1,000 pounds of produce per week.

The idea behind the farm is to make it easier for people of color who don't have access to farmland to grow food.

"We feel by supporting markets and Route 1, it's an innovative business model that will equip farmers with the land and resources that everyone needs for a thriving farming operation," saysyra Jordan of the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, which is funding the project.

"And so we're hoping that we can support economic opportunities and tackle hunger."

In Minnesota, one in 10 households experience food insecurity, per the state's Department of Health.

Carpenter's group, Route 1, also plans to hire three to five people to work the freight farm and distribute its produce to communities of color. Read the Entire Article


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Jeff Denby co-founded PACT, a movement camouflaged as a clothing company. Denby and his team decided to build a business to fund the causes they believe in.