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Where are the Black hemp farmers?

FLORIDA COURIER — Although hemp is legal, regulatory risks complicate the crop’s long-term outlook. Some states are positioning themselves to compete, but it’s unlikely the market can sustain hemp production in every state — unless there’s a significant increase in product demand, according to a February 2019 report from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky.

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By April Simpson

COLUMBIA, Md. – Clarenda Stanley-Anderson will be the featured farmer of Hemp History Week, an educational campaign in June focused on a newly legal crop that’s at the center of a risky, potentially billion-dollar industry.

Stanley-Anderson is considered a pioneer in the nascent hemp agricultural community, for educating others and encouraging young farmers to bring hemp back to the U.S. agrarian landscape, according to history week organizers.

It’ll be the first time that the Hemp Industries Association annual initiative, which boasts celebrity endorsements and events across the country, will feature a non-white farmer.

Stanley-Anderson wants to expand the representation of hemp farmers, even if she’s far from the average industry insider. Black farmers are a mere 1.4 percent of the country’s 3.2 million farmers, according to the 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture.

In North Carolina, where Stanley-Anderson and her husband own Green Heffa Farms in the town of Liberty, Black farm operators are nearly 3 percent of farmers.

While Black farmers aren’t as visible, Stanley-Anderson is part of a developing community. As growers, processors and entrepreneurs, Black professionals across the country are working to carve out a space in a trendy industry that’s projected to reach $1.9 billion in U.S. hemp-based product sales by 2022, according to the Hemp Business Journal, an online publication that tracks the industry.

‘BECOMING EXTINCT’

Individuals and organizations are in the early stages of building networks of Black farmers and processors to ensure Black agriculture professionals get their share of hemp riches. But it’s hard for everyone to take on the risk.

Black farmers have long been discriminated against by lending institutions like the USDA. And with a limited population of growers, land, resources and sometimes access to the information networks that enable farmers to move quickly, they could be left behind again with hemp.

“Black farmers are becoming extinct,” said Lamar Wilson, founder of SunJoined, a nationwide network of hemp growers and processors with farmers in Kentucky, Kansas and Colorado. “This is an opportunity to bring them back and to actually provide a profitable resource, but also a resource that can be used for so many different things.”

Not everyone is optimistic hemp is the future for the small and under-resourced farmer, unless there are regulatory efforts to ensure they can be competitive.

“Most minority farms are on the verge of survival,” said Joe Trigg, a farmer and city council member in Glasgow, Kentucky, who’s running as a Democrat for state commissioner of agriculture. “The last thing they need is something else to drag them down.”

Hemp has been touted by Democratic and Republican senators as a lifeline nationwide to farmers, many of whom are struggling under declining commodity prices. Farmers can harvest three types of hemp: fiber; grain or seed; or floral material extracted for plant resin, including cannabidiol, popularly known as CBD. Hemp’s uses span more than 25,000 products, including textiles, biofuel, ropes, cosmetics, food and beverages.

REGULATORY RISKS

Agriculture professionals say the high-value crop can be particularly well-suited to Black landowners, who typically have smaller farms and less overall sales than White farmers.

Black farmland accounts for 0.4 percent of U.S. farmland, and sales account for 0.2 percent of total U.S. agriculture sales, according to the USDA. Hemp can be cultivated in tight spaces, especially when harvested for fiber and seed, which are planted in narrow rows.

“We’re just seeing Black farmers emerge in the market,” said Bonita Money, founder of the Los Angeles-based National Diversity Inclusion and Cannabis Alliance, another group connecting hemp farmers of color.

Although hemp is legal, regulatory risks complicate the crop’s long-term outlook. Some states are positioning themselves to compete, but it’s unlikely the market can sustain hemp production in every state — unless there’s a significant increase in product demand, according to a February 2019 report from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky.

“Technology may dictate that production will ultimately be concentrated in relatively few states where hemp can be grown at the lowest cost of production and transported shorter distances for processing,” the report said.

GOT IN EARLY

Some states, including North Carolina and Kentucky, adopted hemp early and began growing it in research or pilot programs prior to Congress’ passage of the 2018 farm bill, which legalized hemp widely.

Before December, when President Donald Trump signed the bill, federal law treated hemp as a quasi-controlled substance because of its relation to marijuana.

Neither Kentucky nor North Carolina tracks the race of growers or processors, according to spokespeople from the states’ departments of agriculture.

With federal legalization, many states are launching hemp pilot programs, transitioning from pilot to large-scale programs, while some are choosing to keep hemp farming illegal. Regardless, competition is increasing as growing hemp becomes more accessible.

Roscoe M. Moore, Jr., a former assistant U.S. surgeon general who attended a recent hemp workshop in Columbia, Maryland, thinks that as more money enters the hemp market, there will be few minorities involved.

MARIJUANA STIGMA

He pointed to the Maryland state law that called on regulators to reflect racial, ethnic and geographic diversity among those licensed to work in the medical marijuana industry. No Black applicant was awarded a grower’s license, according to news reports, and there were no repercussions, Moore said.

“Business relationships are the gold standard for America,” said Moore, who advises several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. “Business is based on commerce. There’s not any excuse why we’re not involved, we just haven’t had the experience.”

But even when approached, Black farmers sometimes decline the opportunity. Trigg, the Kentucky city council member, said a state official encouraged him to participate early in Kentucky’s pilot program.

Trigg declined because of the crop’s association with marijuana and law enforcement oversight.

Even though marijuana and hemp are separate strains of cannabis, with hemp having a lower level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — the main psychoactive component in the cannabis plant — farmers like Trigg worried about a stigma in being associated with the crop.

“There was still so much skepticism associated with it, and everyone was worried,” said Trigg, who plans to grow his first hemp plant this year. “You start growing marijuana on your farm and you’re Black?”

WHITE MALE COMMISSION

Stanley-Anderson, whose nickname is Farmer Cee, didn’t initially connect hemp to equity until she didn’t see herself reflected among decision makers. The North Carolina Industrial Hemp Commission, for example, whose nine members develop rules and licensing fee structures for the industry, is all male.

Eight members are White. Two are from law enforcement. None are African American.

Members, who serve as volunteers, are appointed by the governor, commissioner of agriculture and General Assembly. Their selection criteria are written into state law.

“I agree. It’s all White. It’s all male. But that’s the way it was set up,” said commission Chairman Tom Melton, also deputy director of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service at North Carolina State University. “Maybe the law needs to change to indicate some sort of representation. That’s beyond the scope of our commission.”

Federal law requires applicants for hemp licenses to not have had a drug felony in the past 10 years. The advocacy groups Vote Hemp, Drug Policy Alliance and others were able to get that decreased from a lifetime ban, but were unsuccessful in getting removed, said Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, in an email to Stateline.

“Our goal is to allow all farmers who want to grow hemp to do so with as limited restrictions as possible,” Steenstra wrote. Vote Hemp, based in Washington, D.C., is a national nonprofit advocacy organization that supports a free market for industrial hemp.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

For some Black farmers, the felony restriction on hemp is a lost opportunity. Blacks and Latinos are far more likely to have marijuana-related drug felonies, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.

People coming out of prison desperately need jobs, said Ashley Smith, co-founder of Black Soil: Our Better Nature, an organization that supports Black farmers, growers and producers in Kentucky.

“There has to be some compromise where we can bring folks who are in need of jobs working land that is in need of labor,” Smith said. In Kentucky, hemp laborers are subject to background checks.

Some places are trying a system to offer some restitution for the disproportionate impact of drug enforcement on Black communities.

Some California cities, for example, have adopted cannabis equity programs that provide business development, loan assistance and mentorships for minority and low-income entrepreneurs. Oakland has permits set aside for people of color.

“No one is doing that with hemp,” said Stanley-Anderson, who grew up on a farm in Alabama.

ORLANDO ADVOCACY GROUP

Jackson Garth, national director for industrial hemp for Minorities for Medical Marijuana, an advocacy group based in Orlando, has been working to get equity goals or requirements written into hemp legislation in Georgia and South Carolina. While the measures never made it into legislation, he’s encouraged South Carolina has awarded licenses to farmers of color he’s worked with.

“We’re going to have to have set-asides for Black and brown farmers, so farmers aren’t forgotten,” Garth said.

Garth’s group, known as M4MM, is in the early stages of setting up a co-op program for hemp. Garth, who’s also an executive of an industrial hemp processing company in Atlanta, is educating farmers on the crop and helping them get licenses.

“A lot of times,” Garth said, “it’s a lack of information that we’re receiving, and even when we get the information, it’s too late.”

FARMER EQUITY ACT

At least two states — Illinois and California — have enacted a Farmer Equity Act in recent years to ensure socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers are included in food and agriculture laws.

States with programs to support minority-owned businesses, new and beginning farmers and other targeted groups, could potentially apply to commercial industrial hemp producers unless there are restrictions in place to exclude hemp production, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Some critics argue that these programs can feel like a Band-Aid.

“There’s a slew of people who fall under minority,” said Kentucky farmer Charles Jones, citing White women, veterans and other farmers of color. “So, they can say they’re doing this for minorities, but the Black farmer still gets left out within this.”

More than 100 people attended the recent daylong hemp informational event organized by Morgan State University, a historically Black university in Baltimore, Maryland. A handful of the attendees were Black. Among them, few were farmers. Instead, most were entrepreneurs or academics connected to Morgan State.

This article originally appeared in the Florida Courier

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

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Business

Chevron Reports Progress in Flaring, Emissions at Community Town Hall

At the first in a series of community town halls on Oct. 16, Chevron Richmond reported a reduction in year-over-year flaring incidents, both in number and duration, and detailed new technologies and processes that will further drive down emissions and heighten community awareness about operations. Chevron employees also answered questions from the community and listened to concerns at the town hall, which was hosted by Ceres Policy Research and held at CoBiz in downtown Richmond.

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Community member Kathleen Sullivan speaks at the Chevron town hall. Photo courtesy Richmond Standard.
Community member Kathleen Sullivan speaks at the Chevron town hall. Photo courtesy Richmond Standard.

By Mike Aldax

The Richmond Standard

At the first in a series of community town halls on Oct. 16, Chevron Richmond reported a reduction in year-over-year flaring incidents, both in number and duration, and detailed new technologies and processes that will further drive down emissions and heighten community awareness about operations.

Chevron employees also answered questions from the community and listened to concerns at the town hall, which was hosted by Ceres Policy Research and held at CoBiz in downtown Richmond.

Similar town halls will be held twice per year over the next five years as part of a settlement agreement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD).

The goal is to increase transparency about flaring and increase opportunities for the community to get answers to their questions about potential impacts to the community.

A key output is the creation of a Community Action Plan, or CAP. The CAP aims to create a two-way dialogue between Chevron and neighbors around flaring and environmental compliance.

“Chevron’s focus in this process is one of learning and engagement,” said Brian Hubinger, public affairs manager at Chevron Richmond. “We felt the most efficient way was to bring together a broad selection of community members rather than just think about what it would take to comply with the settlement agreement.”

The first town hall drew a few dozen members of the community, including Chevron employees, representatives of fence-line neighborhoods and members of local environmental organizations.

During the event, Chevron employees reported that 19 BAAQMD-reportable flaring incidents occurred at the refinery from October 2022 to September 2023 with a total duration of 270 hours. During the same period this year, 18 flaring incidents occurred with a total duration of 159 hours, marking a 41% decrease in duration.

Further gains are expected with the implementation of Flare IQ, set to be installed this year and next on all of the refinery’s flaring systems. Flare IQ is described as a supercomputer with an algorithm that gathers data from operations and enables employees to address potential issues before they occur.

Chevron also reported a 40% decrease in particulate matter emissions since the completion of the refinery modernization project in 2018.

In addition, flare gas volume related to Chevron’s new hydrogen plant project, built as part of the modernization project, decreased by 85% since 2019. The hydrogen plant has also reportedly made the refinery 20% more efficient.

“We’re really proud about that,” said Kris Battleson, manager of health, safety and environment at Chevon Richmond.

Neighborhood council leaders joined the president of the local NAACP in lauding the effort toward transparency and accountability. Among them was Vernon Whitmore, president of the Sante Fe Neighborhood Council and member of the 15-person CAP committee.

“The way we were able to talk openly and freely with Chevron – honestly, bluntly and frankly – while developing this program was very good,” Whitmore said. “And it was something that was well-needed at this time.”

Still, residents are skeptical, including Kathleen Sullivan, a longtime community advocate who also serves on the CAP committee. But she added, “you can’t complain about something and not be involved in the solution.”

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Bay Area

S.F. Mayor London Breed Meets with Black Businesswomen Supporting Her Campaign

San Francisco Mayor London Breed met with 50 supporters at Cafe 22 in San Francisco’s Union Square hosted by cafe owner LaRonda “Sug” Smith, who is also president of the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association. Wearing a royal blue pantsuit, Breed happily greeted the group of seniors, business owners, and longtime community members.

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed addresses her supporters at a Meet and Greet at Cafe 22 on Mason Street in Union Square. Photo By Carla Thomas
San Francisco Mayor London Breed addresses her supporters at a Meet and Greet at Cafe 22 on Mason Street in Union Square. Photo By Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

 San Francisco Mayor London Breed met with 50 supporters at Cafe 22 in San Francisco’s Union Square hosted by cafe owner LaRonda “Sug” Smith, who is also president of the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association.

Wearing a royal blue pantsuit, Breed happily greeted the group of seniors, business owners, and longtime community members.

The mayor stated that the race is a close one competing with wealthy opponents, however she feels confident in her track record of accomplishments, qualifications and being a native San Franciscan.

“My opponents may have the money, but I’ve got the people,” she said .

In response to COVID-19’s impact on Black-owned and serving businesses, in 2020 Mayor Breed launched the African American Revolving Loan Fund, providing zero-interest loans of up to $50,000.

In 2022, Mayor Breed ensured the loans nade to 51 businesses were forgiven. Through her ‘Opportunities for All’ initiative she ensured all 13- 24-year-olds have access to paid internships and a career pathway. Since its launch in 2018, the program has made over 10,000 placements. Ninety-five percent were people of color and 23% were African American.

In 2022, Mayor Breed launched the Black 2 San Francisco initiative hosting HBCU, Historically Black Colleges and Universities for summer programming, a part of her downtown economic recovery and revitalization efforts.

Launched in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Expecting Justice, Breed provided a monthly income of $600-$1000 to expecting mothers of color to reduce the economic stress that leads to racial birth disparities.

The program was the first of its kind in the nation and will expand from 150 recipients to 425.  Breed helped fund a new small business hub at the City’s African American Arts and Cultural District.

In 2021, Mayor Breed proclaimed Juneteenth as an official City holiday, celebrating the Black community’s resilience and emergence from slavery.

Mayor Breed also reinvested $60 million of City funds annually to assist the City’s Black community in breaking a cycle of poverty.

Business training assisted 350 entrepreneurs,

  • Over 50 businesses entered or renewed leases,
  • 1,000 residents completed workforce training,
  • Over 50 families and seniors secured mortgages and 6,000 households were provided nutritional support.
  • 1,000 hours of mental health support and 38,000 young people were provided support
  • Nearly 1,000 youth recieved literacy and mentorship support, and nearly 40 educators were supported.

“A people that are 5% of the population, should not be 40% of the homeless population or condemned to poverty,” said Breed. “It’s not all about the numbers, but the overall disparity.”

Breed says she understands the plight of the underserved and is a mayor for all people but the data shows the African community left behind.

“When you uplift a community, you uplift the City and we invested in the Latino communities and in the Stop Asian Hate movement with resources to address those challenges,” said Breed. “Because ultimately, as mayor, it is my job to serve and protect all of the City.” “I’ve helped over 20,000 exit homelessness and increased our shelter capacity by 70%.”

The attacks Mayor Breed has experienced recently have reminded her that being a Black woman, you have to work twice as hard and yet be unfairly and overly scrutinized. However, Breed says she will continue to fight to lead San Francisco for another term.

“Mayor London Breed is for our people and all people in this city,” said LaRonda Smith who was awarded a proclamation from the mayor’s office. “This city is her community, she cares and has supported so many  communities, organizations, and small businesses to prove it.” The event also served a celebration of Cafe 22’s three years in business at 325 Mason St. in San Francisco.

Attendees included business owners Del Seymour of Code Tenderloin, Velma Landers and Idella Hill of the ABWA, and Julianne Banks.

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