In just a few years since launching our first commons projects around the country, we’ve seen what LOVE, LAND, and A LOT of community support can do.
As fellow commoners, we’re delighted to amplify the voices of people doing this work. These are stories and possibilities that keep us going and power the movement for food sovereignty and land justice. This summer, we’ll launch several new community-led commons — stay tuned for more!Â
Read on for more updates and a letter from land donor Callie Walker.Â
LETTER FROM A LAND DONOR
This spring, there are cattle grazing the land we donated to Agrarian Trust for the Central Virginia Agrarian Commons (CVAC). The cattle will be followed by Indigenous corn and squash from Guatemala and Mexico. In 2025, CVAC hopes to break ground on a bed & breakfast and provide housing for longer-term farmers. (AT has an ongoing fundraiser for this!)
My husband Dan and I donated 73 acres in 2022, thinking it was an act of justice, and hoping the land would end up in the hands of folks descended from people enslaved here, in Amelia, Virginia. That may happen. Already, though, we have discovered a completely surprising reward. We have begun to believe the land, itself, feels a relief from the past atrocities it has witnessed. Further, we have had this deep spiritual sense that the land appreciates us.Â
Dear landowners, please consider that your land, too, may carry a burden of America’s history of injustices. Donating land to a racial or environmental justice organization may bring you rewards you would never have guessed or imagined. You might work it out so that you retain a lifetime right to live on the donated land. In that case, you would be a firsthand witness to its thriving and service to a larger community. —Callie WalkerÂ
NEW VIDEO: RESTORING THE COMMONS
Our gratitude to Matthew Monahan and Ma Earth for hosting this thoughtful conversation with Severine von Tscharner Welcome, Board Chair of Agrarian Trust. Watch & share!
SAVE THE DATE
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Agrarian Trust is honored to have been invited to serve as a supporting organization for the Summit. We will be in attendance again this year!Â
COMMONS & MORE UPDATES
Give today for the common goodness
As a national land trust, we see it firsthand: Capacity building support, legal assistance, and fundraising campaigns can be transformative in communities that have been divested, exploited, and marginalized.
