Narrative
In 1969 Fannie Lou Hamer founded the Freedom Farm Cooperative, a grassroots organization that planted crops to benefit poor black families. Cash crops like soy and cotton were grown to pay taxes while other crops such as peas, squash, and collard greens were grown to be given back to the families that worked on the coop. Eventually a “pig bank” was started so that poor families could have pig meat in addition to produce. However, without sufficient institutional backing, the coop could not survive over the long term.
Audio