When it comes to fighting against food deserts and seeking food justice, Houston-area Black farmers are literally on the front lines.
Food deserts are urban areas where affordable, good-quality fresh food is hard to find. In Houston, more than 500,000 residents live in food deserts, many in predominantly Black neighborhoods like Acres Homes and Third Ward.
According to a Kinder Institute study, over half (53%) of Black households in Harris County experience food insecurity, and one in five Black residents lack easy access to fresh food.
Some advocates reject the term food desert, preferring food apartheid—a phrase coined by activist Karen Washington to describe the racially and economically driven systems that determine who gets access to healthy food and who doesn’t. Whether one says “desert” or “apartheid,” Black people are catching the short end of the stick when it comes to food access and the illnesses that result.
Though only 1.3% of Americans grow food for the rest, Black farmers are disproportionately few. They make up just 3% of all Texas farmers, yet Texas leads the nation with 11,741 Black producers—nearly a quarter of all Black farmers in the U.S.
The Defender spoke with some local Black farmers to hear what food justice means to them, and how they’re working to achieve it.
Food Justice defined
“For me, food justice is about people knowing where their food comes from, being able to see a farmer who looks like them, and having equitable access to fresh food,” said DeShaun Taylor, a licensed midwife who co-owns Taylor Made Farms with her husband, Jazzyyy. “We shouldn’t have to drive from Acres Homes to The Woodlands for a tomato. That’s injustice.”
Taylor’s understanding of food justice is deeply tied to her profession and scholarship. In her master’s program thesis on the topic, she listed several examples, including the impact of Black male malnourishment…