Freedom Farm Cooperative facts for kids

The Freedom Farm Cooperative was a special farm project in Sunflower County, Mississippi. It was started in 1967 by Fannie Lou Hamer, a famous American civil rights activist. This cooperative was created to help Black families in rural areas. It aimed to improve their lives by providing food, like vegetables and pigs, and by building homes and offering education.

The cooperative helped Black families become self-sufficient. This meant they could rely on themselves for food and housing. The U.S. government often made it hard for Black communities to get these basic needs. By having their own food and homes, people could more easily take part in politics and protests. This project was an early example of today's food security and food justice efforts.

Why the Farm Was Needed

During the Jim Crow era, Black farmers faced a lot of unfair treatment. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had rules that hurt Black farmers. For example, they often couldn't get loans or help that White farmers could. This caused many Black farm owners to lose their land. They also couldn't buy new land.

In the Mississippi Delta, where the Freedom Farm Cooperative was located, Black farmers lost millions of acres of land. This happened especially between 1950 and 1964. Because of these unfair rules, many Black people had to become sharecroppers. This meant they worked on someone else's land and gave a share of their crops to the landowner. Others had to work for very low wages or move north.

Freedom Farm Cooperative founder Fannie Lou Hamer in 1964

Sharecroppers and farm workers were still controlled by White landowners. They were not truly free. Black farm workers could even be kicked off their land or fired for trying to register to vote.

Fannie Lou Hamer was born in Mississippi in 1917. She grew up seeing these unfair conditions. She was the youngest of 20 children in a sharecropping family. She started picking cotton in the fields at age six. Hamer left school at 12 to work full-time. In 1962, she joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She took part in efforts to help people register to vote.

Hamer and her husband moved to Ruleville, Mississippi, with almost nothing. She continued to organize and made big steps in politics. Her speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention helped lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Even with her national work, Hamer saw a big need in her own community. Sunflower County was 67% Black. Many people there didn't have enough food. They also had high rates of health problems like malnutrition and diabetes. The state of Mississippi actually made these conditions worse on purpose. A Mississippi congressman named Jamie Whitten stopped help from reaching the Black community.

Hamer believed that Black people needed to be economically self-sufficient. This would help them gain political power. She felt that Black people had to rely on themselves to achieve true freedom and rights.

Starting and Growing the Farm

Fannie Lou Hamer started planning the Freedom Farm Cooperative to fight poverty and empower Black families. She founded the farm in 1967 on 40 acres of land. Hamer had connections with groups and wealthy people across the country, like Measure for Measure and Harry Belafonte. These connections helped her get the money to start the farm.

The first goals of the Freedom Farm Cooperative (FFC) were three things:

• To improve nutrition for the Black community.
• To provide affordable housing.
• To create business opportunities.

The cooperative grew a lot in 1972. It bought 600 more acres of land. They used this land to grow crops to sell, like 300 acres of cotton, 200 acres of soybeans, 80 acres of wheat, and 10 acres of cucumbers. They also raised cattle and catfish. Selling these crops helped pay for the food programs and community support. It also helped pay off the land.

Providing Food for Families

The farm fed over 1,500 families. It had a large vegetable garden and a pig bank.

Within two years, the vegetable fields produced thousands of pounds of vegetables. These included collard greens, kale, turnips, peas, corn, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Growing food was especially important for Black women. They had always played a key role in food production.

The pig bank started in 1967 with a donation of 55 pigs. After three years, it had 2,000 pigs. The pigs were kept in pens built by women. Families could borrow pigs and raise them. After the pigs had piglets, the families would keep some. The pig farm also got help from Heifer International, an organization that helps with animal care. Hamer believed that owning a pig could prevent starvation.

The farm was open to anyone who needed help. The cooperative had a monthly membership fee of $1, but it wasn't required. Only about 30 families could afford to pay. Instead, families could trade work hours for a bushel of the farm's produce. Also, 10% of the food was given to families who couldn't work at all. The main focus was Sunflower County's Black community. But White families in need were also helped. Extra food was even sent to Black communities in Chicago.

The food programs helped with the big problem of not having enough food in Sunflower County. They also helped Black families become independent. The FFC challenged the old power structures. It freed Black farmers from the harsh control of sharecropping. With Black leaders making their own decisions and growing their own food, simply surviving became a way to fight back.

Fannie Lou Hamer said, "Down where we are, food is used as a political weapon. But if you have a pig in your backyard, if you have some vegetables in your garden, you can feed yourself and your family, and nobody can push you around." The farm cooperative meant that Black farmers no longer had to risk starvation just to vote.

Community Support and Education

The Freedom Farm Cooperative offered many ways to support the community. These included affordable housing, education, job opportunities, and general help.

Most Black people in Sunflower County lived in very poor homes. Many homes didn't have electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. To help with this, FFC created the Delta Housing Development Corporation. This project built 92 new homes with these important utilities. Some of these homes are still standing in Ruleville today. The cooperative also used money from selling crops to help people buy new homes.

Having a safe home was also important for political freedom. White landowners would often kick out their Black tenants if they registered to vote. In 1969, over 100 Black sharecropping families were evicted. So, having their own homes allowed Black families to be politically active without fear.

The cooperative also provided education for children and adults. The state of Mississippi didn't spend much money on Black schools. FFC had a Head Start preschool program. It also helped 25 students go to college and trade schools. Job training was offered in construction, food preservation, and sewing.

The cooperative also created jobs. People could work as secretaries, bookkeepers, farm managers, and farm laborers. The farm also hired young people for summer jobs. A sewing cooperative made and sold clothes. Childcare was provided for employees.

FFC also gave general help to community members. They provided clothes, food, and school supplies to families in need. The "Out Right" grant gave money to families to help them buy food stamps and medicine. The cooperative also offered temporary housing after disasters. It even gave loans to new Black businesses in the county.

Importantly, the cooperative also taught classes on civil rights and voter education. It helped people register to vote and supported activists. The cooperative helped people in two ways:

• Indirectly: It freed Black people from hunger and unfair control. This allowed them to be politically active.
• Directly: It actively supported voter registration and protest efforts.

Closing and Lasting Impact

The Freedom Farm Cooperative closed in 1976 due to several reasons. Floods, droughts, and tornadoes in 1972 and 1973 damaged the crops. This meant the cooperative couldn't make enough money to fund its social programs and pay taxes. Unlike White-owned farms, FFC didn't get financial help from the state government. Instead, local governments made things harder for the cooperative.

There were also disagreements with donors, and the economy slowed down. This caused funders to stop giving money. Fannie Lou Hamer was key to running the cooperative and getting national support. But her health got worse, and she couldn't travel as much. This meant the cooperative lacked strong leadership. The FFC closed in 1976. Hamer passed away the next year at age 59.

Even though the Freedom Farm Cooperative lasted less than ten years, its impact is still felt today. It showed how a Black community could come together to fight for their rights. They fought for healthy food, safe homes, clean water, good education, healthcare, and jobs. Growing food and taking care of the land became a way to work for racial justice, economic power, and community strength.

This project laid the groundwork for modern Black community farming projects. These can be found in both rural and city areas. Examples include the Freedom Farmer’s market in Oakland, California, the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (D-Town), and St. Louis’ Rustic Roots Sanctuary. Fannie Lou Hamer once said, "Give us food and it will be gone tomorrow. Give us land and the tools to work it and we will feed ourselves forever."

Images for kids

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  Freedom Farm Cooperative founder Fannie Lou Hamer in 1964