Black-owned ‘freedom farm,’ community space set to open in Alabama

by Kalyn Dunkins

Guests gather at the Freedom Farm Azul site to share a meal after a volunteer event. The farm and community space opens later this month. (Photo: Jasmyn Story)

Inspired by grandparents and family members in rural Arkansas, Jasmyn Story decided to create something similar in Alabama: A communal space that offers nourishment, education and healing.

Story’s farm and event space, Freedom Farm Azul, opens Sunday in Prattville. It will offer, Story hopes, outdoor space and clean water that make people feel comfortable and safe; access to organic, local-grown (and affordable) produce; and a large space for nourishment, healing and education.

An Alabama native, Story moved back to the state from Georgia in 2019 in order to work with Birmingham’s Mayor Randall Woodfin. They served in two social justice roles in city government, and they had the chance to ponder what legacy they wanted to contribute to their community.

“The pandemic really impacted me heavily as someone who is chronically ill,” Story said. “I really started to think about what I wanted my gift and legacy in this space that I love so much, the communities I love so much—what do I actually want that to look like?”

Story wanted to create a place in Alabama for all of the healers and educators they knew. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, female farmers accounted for 36% of all farmers in data collected by the 2017 U.S. census. Most of them were younger and just starting their own farms.

“I spent time with my grandparents, great aunts and uncles in Arkansas during my childhood,” Story said. “I would wake up at age 10, 11 years old and ride my bike in rural Arkansas from my grandma’s house to my Great Aunt Naomi’s house and just spend time with her as she did her daily tasks. I was impressed with how independently she was able to live—on very little cash because she provided almost everything for herself and her husband.”

“That lifestyle and her traditional knowledge—her ability to take care of animals with really an elementary school education—I not only respect it, but it also seems like a really crucial knowledge to hold in the times we’re in right now,” Story said.

They bought 15 acres to develop nonprofit work, and quickly realized that the rural area needed more options for groceries and gathering spaces. Story now works with Alfonza Greer, his wife, “Mama” Callie Greer (who both contribute to the farming and cultivating aspect of the space) and Jamerly de la Cruz (who provides healing outreach at Honeycomb Justice Consulting as well as at Freedom Farm Azul).

Greer farms in a “traditional” way, using no chemical pesticides to care for the crops. He always pays attention to detail, Story said, and even “triple checks” the compost.

Right now, the team is working to clear the land, and hope to plant a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Guests gather at the Freedom Farm Azul site to share a meal after a volunteer event. The farm and community space opens later this month. (Photo: Jasmyn Story)

De la Cruz shares information such as tea recipes, educational writing prompts and ancestral history on the farm’s Instagram page. Although these activities will take place on the farm later, a virtual experience is important for those who cannot physically interact.

“There’s a lot of historical and structural harm that our communities have experienced in this space,” Story said. “We want to offer them a place to talk about it, reflect on it, to process it and to name it.”

Since the Freedom Farm Azul opening is happening during Black August (a month of recognition started by inmates in California prisons), the theme is “Imagining Liberation.” The opening event on Aug. 21 is catered toward children.

“Imagination to me centers children and joy, so that’s what this event is supposed to feel like,” said Story. “We have music, food, arts and crafts, a live reptile show, storytelling, poetry and free food. We’re really trying to push this communal element—when people ask what it’s supposed to feel like, my response is ‘Your favorite family reunion slash old-school field trip.’ We want people to always feel like they’ve arrived home when they visit Freedom Farm Azul.”

Freedom Farm Azul will sponsor a shuttle bus from Birmingham to Prattville and hope to continue offering this transportation, adding Selma and Montgomery to their list of stops as well. The bus fits about 50 people.

After opening, the farm will be available for group events and programming.

This story was originally written and published for AL.com.