SANKOFA FARMS

CEDAR GROVE, NORTH CAROLINA

While working as a student teacher in 2016, Kamal Bell noticed that some of his middle school students spent a lot of time in the school garden. He proposed starting an agricultural program so that students could work the small plot in summertime, but the principal said no. The idea was too big for Bell to ignore. He decided to buy a 12-acre lot and start his own farm. He named it “Sankofa” (a West African word meaning “to go back and get what might have been lost”—in this case, the students’ African roots and agricultural heritage). The land was rock-hard and covered with trash and trees. Using a rented bulldozer, he cleared 3 acres. Today, radishes, kale, peppers, watermelon, squash, okra, and cowpeas thrive there, as do the five teenagers in the farm’s Agricultural Academy program. “It’s their farm as well. They have a commitment and a

responsibility,” says Bell. “The farm is a great teacher. You learn how to be patient and that you don’t control everything.” It’s a community effort: At first, a local church served as a classroom; now all teaching takes place at the farm. There’s no shortage of volunteers, thanks to social media and news coverage. “Now we’ve built our own brand. People are paying attention,” Bell notes. The farm has diverse revenue sources, including online sales of honey, speaking engagements (mainly at museums and schools), and agritourism: A “Bees in the TRAP” (Teaching Responsible Apiary Practices) experience allows participants to suit up and learn the basics of bee-keeping. Bell dreams of opening a “u-pick” operation to get healthy pro-duce into local people’s hands—and perhaps more: “We now know how to start a farm from a plot of land,” he says. “We can go anywhere now and use this model.” (continued)