“When you’ve got 400 quarts of greens and gumbo soup canned for the winter, nobody can push you around or tell you what to say or do.” ~Fannie Lou Hamer
Our 2020 Soul Fire Farm team is here! These big-hearted, talented, sought-after souls could be doing a lot of other things with their time, and have decided to join our community. We are very grateful and honored. Our newest teammates, Kiani, Justin, and Naima are celebrated below. You can learn more about the whole team here.
Kiani Conley-Wilson, Assistant Program Manager (she/her) is a grower, activist, and organizer based in Troy, NY. She is passionate about environmental justice, anti-racist, pro-feminist organizing, and the power of food across cultures, economies, and environments. Currently she organizes with local organizations to develop people-centered systems and spaces. During her time at RPI (B.S. Sustainability Studies) she discovered her passion for food systems and growing plants, organizations, and movements. With the School for Field Studies she conducted research on eco-tourism, biology, food, and culture in Panama and Costa Rica. After graduating she expanded on her knowledge of growing with the Urban Farming Institute of Boston (UFI), at community gardens, and Soul Fire Farm’s BIPOC immersion. These experiences lead her to start Common Greens Garden in North Central Troy. Her professional experience includes consulting for Ceres, Inc (on global food deforestation, and agricultural human rights issues) and working at the Research Foundation (on the Program Management team)
Justin Butts, Livestock Manager, (he/him) is a farmer, culinarian, artisan, U.S. Navy veteran, and small business owner. After four years serving in the Navy, Justin was given the opportunity to run a 10-acre farm in Saylorsburg, PA. Although he had grown up gardening and had previously worked on a farm, he turned to The Seed Farm for training in farm business ownership and organic vegetable production, learning a wide variety of skills in production, marketing, business planning, and equipment operation. Though already raising 500 chickens and 30 ducks, Justin added KuneKune pigs to his operation while attending the program. With farmer training complete and farm management experience under his belt, Justin recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Food Business Management and a concentration in Farm-to-Table cooking from the Culinary Institute of America. Justin believes that, “Drive and passion for what you do are a must for any farmer. If you don’t love it, you won’t do it.” After subsequent research led him to the art of soap making, Justin mastered hot process soap making and began creating his own soap recipes. He launched Butts Bros Handmade Lard Soap in fall of 2018. Justin continues to raise and breed his KuneKune pigs at Soul Fire.
Naima Penniman, Program Director, (all pronouns) is a multi-dimensional artist, movement builder, healer, grower and educator committed to planetary health and community resilience. As Program Director, she coordinates Afro-Indigenous farming immersions and workshops to equip hundreds of adults and youth annually with the land-based skills needed to reclaim leadership as farmers and food justice organizers in their communities, to heal their relationship with earth, and to imagine bolder futures. She is the Co-Founder of WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village, a Black and Brown-led intentional community focused on ecological collaboration, transformative justice, and intergenerational responsibility. She is also the Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of CLIMBING POETREE, an internationally-acclaimed performance duo that uses art as a tool for popular education, community activism, and personal transformation. Naima is devoted to subverting injustice, igniting imagination, and cultivating collaborations that elevate the healing of our earth, ourselves, our communities, lineages and descendants.
Announcements
- Soul Fire Farming Immersion applications are open! We have 5 sessions of this week long Afro-indigenous farmer training in 2020, including one session in Spanish. Apply and spread the word.
- SAAFON, Southeast African American Farmers Organic Network is hiring an executive director. This is a cornerstone organization in the movement for black food sovereignty. Pass it on to those who would be a good fit for the sacred task.
- This is not your average annual report! A big shout out to damaris for the beautiful compilation of our 2019 stories. We worked with over 15,000 people last year including farmer trainees, farm share CSA members, and youth leaders. Cozy up with some popcorn and take a look.