Tammy Estwick
Black Farmers Are Dispossessed. How Did We Get Here?
The Biden administration promised Black and other "disadvantaged" farmers $4 billion in federal aid, but it's been held up.
LEARN MOREMay 3, 2023
Cindy Ayers Elliott, CEO of Foot Print Farms had a successful career as an investment banker in New York. She was a worldwide jet-setter who helped to write farm policies and issue million-dollar bonds.
Then she started to question her purpose in life.
"How many diamonds do you really want? You know, pearls are key, but everything else I can let go. But how many of these things is really worth life? What does it really do?" Elliot said.
Before making a career change, she had different plans.
"I planned to be an investment banker. I planned to open a bank. I didn't plan to be a farmer." Elliott said.
Her new uniform is a pink shirt with a matching cowboy hat and pearls on her wrist. And her new mission is educating anyone willing to listen. Elliot says there are a few issues when it comes to farming.
For many American farmers, land is passed down from generation to generation. but for many Black families in agriculture, that can be complicated.
Sometimes having too many owners makes decision making difficult. Or there's no clear will or trust to say how the property will be used or disbursed.
"Black farmers in America is an endangered species. Now it's less than 50,000 of us. Right now, heir property is one of the biggest hurdles for black farmers," Elliott said.
According to the National Black Farmers Association, after slavery Black farms did quite well. The association says at that time Black farmers owned over 16 million acres. Today, it's less than five million.
