Nin Youngblood tightens a leak coming from the fish fertilizer on a warm Friday afternoon. Despite this being Youngblood’s second week in the Williams Farm Incubator Program, she has already gained invaluable experience on how to operate a farm.
The Incubator Program is an apprenticeship that guides historically marginalized people through the farming process. Participants gain access to education, farming land and existing resources in hopes of one day operating their own farm. Williams Farm is located off North Avenue, less than a 10-minute drive from downtown Athens.
The Incubator Program is two years old, with the most recent cohort beginning this February. Youngblood joined the program after meeting Williams Farm Manager Joy Brown. With a mostly plant-based diet, Youngblood found the opportunity to learn how to grow healthy farm-to-table food appealing.
“I was very much into how our minds bring us into the environment, or the type of career we want to have. I was very curious about how we get to where we want to be,” Youngblood said. “To know that once you learn something, you can’t unlearn it.”
Why It’s Newsworthy: Teaching new farmers brings opportunities for new farms to grow, something that Clarke County has lacked in recent years.
There was a 21% decrease in farms in Clarke County from 2017 to 2022, according to the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture County Profile. There has also been a decrease of Black farmers in Clarke County. In 2017, there were 51 Black producers, while in 2022 there were four Black producers.
Jennifer Jo Johnson, associate research scientist at the University of Georgia and anthropologist by training, describes the barriers that beginning farmers who are historically marginalized people may experience.
“Farmers from historically marginalized communities have been in a situation where they haven’t been able to access all of the necessary resources to build up a farming enterprise, and so they’re starting behind the starting line when it’s compared to a lot of young, white farmers,” Thompson said.
Despite these difficulties, programs like the incubator apprenticeship helps combat these problems and uplifts beginner farmers.
“Programs like Williams Farm that really focus on supporting farmers who have been left behind are really important for trying to level the playing field so that they can become successful entrepreneurs,” Thompson said. “They can become successful farmers.”
Brown, a former incubator herself, oversees incubators such as Youngblood. There are currently four incubators in their first year of the program, with four more in their second year. Brown describes teaching historically marginalized people interested in farming as her passion.
“Black people, minorities, we run away from it. It’s important for me to make sure that we understand, like, ‘no, don’t be spooked off by that,’” Brown said. “That is your birthright, that is your gift. Come back to the land and heal yourself.”
Brown believes the program was started with the intention to teach marginalized people about a potential career in farming. Getting the message out to individuals in the community was essential for Athens Land Trust.
“So they had to kind of go out into the neighborhoods and get more people who have been marginalized to make sure there was an intent, there was an effort to make sure that it is that group of people who are taking advantage of this,” Brown said.
In addition to new and beginning farmers, the Incubator Program also provides an opportunity for existing farmers who may want to get more experience. Brown recalls that last year, there were two incubators who were operating their own farm and gained more knowledge from this apprenticeship.
Besides helping participants who may be new to farming or have their own operations, the food collected at Williams Farm during the duration of the yearly cohorts is donated to Clarke County School District families. For 30 weeks, the Incubator Program delivers food for 48 families.
This aspect of the program originated with Emmanuel Stone, strategic partnership director at Athens Land Trust. He decided to pitch a partnership with CCSD while in the process of completing a grant application. Stone previously had a partnership with CCSD during his time as a culinary arts instructor at the Athens Community Career Academy.
Stone returned to working at Athens Land Trust after previously working there in 2016, and began to partner with CCSD again.
“I was like ‘well, we’ve got this grant application to put in. Let’s pitch it so that we can teach people to farm and then use the produce to go into this food distribution stream,” Stone said.
The Incubator Program has seen success with providing meals for the community and experience for farmers in Athens, but it has come with limitations. Groundskeeping and maintaining acres of land is a challenge that both managers and incubators face throughout the program. In addition, Williams Farm faces challenges with finding enough space to foster new farmers.
Youngblood’s experience in the incubator program has been limited, but the lessons she’s learned are not. She expresses how hesitation to become a part of the program due to a stigma around becoming a farmer is just another reason to join.
“I probably didn’t imagine myself being on a farm, but I did imagine myself planting, seeing a garden, seeing something that I’ve worked on. And if you’re hesitant to start, that’s when you jump, because that’s how you get over anxiety, doing what you’re afraid of,” Youngblood said. “A community can look like it’s nothing, but you can turn it into something beautiful if you’re teaching people how to help themselves.”
Samantha Lichter is a junior majoring in journalism at the University of Georgia.
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