The Graduate Program and Sustainable Agriculture invites you to join us for:

"Eradicating Food Apartheid in the Black Community"

with 

Ayanna Jones

CEO and Founder of Sankofa Village Community Garden

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Ayanna Jones Is the CEO and founder of Sankofa Village Community Garden and Farms and Sankofa Village Project, Inc in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  Ayanna is a horticulturalist,  and a Master Gardener ( 2016 Penn State Extension) with a focus as a Black Urban Agriculture  specialist and educator. Spanning  over 65 years in the soil, her mission is to Grow  Gardeners and entrepreneurs in the Black community.

She is most importantly the mother of five adult suns and the grandmother of 30 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.  After retiring from the federal government and returning to her neighborhood in Pittsburgh PA, she discovered that there had not been a grocery store in the community for 40 years.

She has taken on the task of assuring fresh quality produce  in her neighborhood through  farming, while developing  intergenerational relationships, promoting self-sufficiency and teaching the community residence about growing quality food.

When developing the curriculum for this  project Ayanna had  to incorporate actual and  factual Black History information  as it relates to our communities and the world, Ayanna states that “removing the myth of enslavement and tiling the soil, while undoing the plantation attitude that is taught in American schools is the first item on the teaching agenda.

With SVCGF moving to a larger property additional programs will be a part of our curriculum: Sankofa‘s WORD IS BOND bike rental,  Keelin’s Place “ a garden design especially for autistic children, and our drive-through farmers market that will feature our organic and locally grown loofahs.  Our farm equipment will included “Farm From a Box” a high technology farming data base shipping container with WiFi, Computer driven data collection, irrigation system, solar energy system, this 21st century on-site teaching lab will enable our students to compete in today farming environment.

She will discuss  Eradicating Food Apartheid in the Black community, food Self-sufficiency, facing gentrification head on and educating Black youth using 21st century technology.

Ayanna requests that attendees read, watch, and listen to the following materials:

First is this article from Civil Eats that discusses urban farming and gentrification in Pittsburgh. (Links to an external site.)

Second is this video that introduces Sankofa Village Community Garden. (Links to an external site.)

Finally, Ayanna was a guest on the "Sustained" podcast this past November.

Wednesday, February 24 - Online Meeting

3:10 - 4:15 p.m. Presentation with Q&A Session

WebEx Link: https://iastate.webex.com/iastate/j.php?MTID=mbcdc8bfe2833dd0705ff1ae84…

Password: SUSAG600

Those not enrolled in SUSAG 600 may request to attend. Please send an RSVP to kellis@iastate.edu

Eradicating Food Apartheid in the Black Community VIdeo (Echo360)