Eco-Stories: April Jones and the Pinehurst Farmers Market

Eco-Stories: April Jones and the Pinehurst Farmers Market

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Eco-Stories: April Jones and the Pinehurst Farmers Market

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. See the full interview below.

In the Pinehurst neighborhood, located in sunny Columbia, South Carolina, April Jones founded the Pinehurst Farmers Market almost two years ago because she saw that the two grocery stores within a mile walking distance in the Pinehurst neighborhood closed suddenly, at the same time. She realized that a food apartheid area had been created in her neighborhood.

April was inspired by legendary farmer Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm to be the change she was looking for in her Pinehurst Community. “If you are looking for someone to save you, no one is coming. You will have to save yourself,” Says Penniman. Those words were a call to action for Jones to create a solution to the issue of food access in the Pinehurst neighborhood. The vision was created to form a self-reliant, self-sustainable plan of action that would create healthy, organic food options for the community that would support the local economy and give residents access to food sovereignty.

This interview was recorded on December 22, 2020.

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Fiona Martin (FM):

April, welcome to The Eco-Interviews. How are you doing today?

April Jones (AJ):

Hi, there. I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me.

FM:

I'm really excited to speak to you because I have admired your work from afar, being a fellow Columbia, South Carolina resident. You are the founder of Pinehurst Farmers Market. So, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the Farmers Market?

AJ:

Sure. So I'm originally from Akron, Ohio, and I came down to sunny South Carolina about 15 years ago. So I came down for a teaching job and I have been here ever since. And the one thing that I love about the South is the low cost of living and the sunny, sunny days and the year-round gardening and growing season. So that's part of the reason why I've stayed in beautiful South Carolina. So yeah, I started the Pinehurst Farmers Market. Two of our local grocery stores closed in our area. So it was a huge devastation to our community and people were really upset. They were clamoring for assistance and for help. So I was at a BUGS conference, which is the Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The fabulous Leah Penniman was there. She is the author of Farming While Black, which is the premier book about agriculture, about sustainability in the country right now.

So this was before her book came out and she was speaking to us in very small groups about our problems. So a lot of people across the country, in African-American neighborhoods, communities of color, the same phenomenon had happened where the grocery stores just suddenly left, no conversation with the community. And there's just a void there. So her words of wisdom which I will forever be grateful for, said, "If you are looking to solve the problem, you're going to have to solve it yourself. No one is coming to save your community. You're going to have to implement strategies, thought processes to get to the solution you want on your own." So that was so empowering. It was a little frightening, but it was empowering because it said, to me, that I could solve this problem for my community in Columbia, South Carolina. So that was the start of the Pinehurst Farmers Market.

FM:

I love it. And Leah Penniman is amazing. I've mentioned Farming While Black on this podcast before. I've learned so much from it myself. So props to Soul Fire Farm and Leah for everything that she's doing. Were you always a gardener farmer or is that something that you picked up later in life?

AJ:

Yeah. So I come from a long legacy of farmers, which I kind of knew, but I didn't know fully. So I did my research recently and I knew my great grandfather on my mother's side came from Milledgeville, Georgia. I knew he was a farmer. So that is where I get my history and I'm sure my great, great grandfather, great, great, great, great grandfather was a farmer as well. So we've always been a part of the land. My grandmother still had that rich connection and history to the land. So she had eight children with her husband in Akron, Ohio, and they had, I think, three fourths of an acre. So she had bees and she had corn crops and tomatoes and squash, zucchini, chickens. So she really was able to supplement their diets with fresh fruits and vegetables.

She was canning the whole thing. My grandfather made wine, they had a little vineyard there. So they were just doing it all, right? And I've seen in my own personal family history on my mother's side is that people still are eating healthy. People are living into their 90s and their 100s. And that's directly correlated and connected to having those rich full experiences with food, living off the land. And you just take that into your life forever. So it really has helped us with our health. And I think as a family, and I think with the COVID-19 and the health impacts that we're seeing, so much of it is related to our health as a nation, our health as a state, our health as a community and relating it directly to our food, our food access, what we're eating, what we're drinking. So it's just all interrelated.

FM:

Yeah, definitely. So I imagine you don't grow all the food for the farmer's market. So tell us about how you run Pinehurst Farmers Market because it's a very urban farmers market that's there to address the need of the food apartheid that your neighborhood is experiencing, correct?

AJ:

Absolutely. So we have new farmers, which are amazing and they're all women. Yay. Though I love men, I think they're wonderful, wonderful little creatures. But I also think it's so amazing to have women farmers because in the food industry, there's so few women, right? It's so male-dominated. So the women, we bring such a unique perspective. They are caring, they are fabulous, and they're doing such great work. So we have a variety of vendors who are just really amazing. They have amazing products that are delicious and tasty and fresh and organically grown, regeneratively grown in South Carolina. They're South Carolina products.

So, we appreciate every single customer that comes and supports our local economy, which is so important. Because when you go to the big-box stores, your dollar only circulates once or twice in your community. When you support local businesses, your dollars circulate between 14 and 20 times in our community. And that's a huge difference. That's money that we're keeping in our community, giving to our fellow Columbian, South Carolinians in solidarity. And that boosts our economy in South Carolina. And that's really what we're looking for, I think, as a state and as a community that we want to invest in our own community so we can be successful and have growth and economic success.

FM:

It's wonderful. Let's talk a little bit more about, we're talking about food apartheid, which is a term that Leah Penniman coined, I believe.

AJ:

Yes.

FM:

What we hear it used otherwise is food deserts. I like Leah's version, food apartheid. It really stresses how difficult this is and the effect it has on the community. I've also seen indigenous writers shy away from food desert because the insinuation is there's no food in a desert, whereas there are desert societies who have thrived and made food. So, when we speak about food apartheid, we're talking about the lack of fresh food in a neighborhood. So, talk to us about the grocery stores just up and left your neighborhood, right? And this is a real problem in Columbia, South Carolina, and the surrounding area. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

AJ:

Yeah. So it was very sudden, I can say that, it was sudden. There was really no warning to the community. There were no community meetings. There was no meeting, the corporations meeting with our state government, County government, city government, to my knowledge, and discussing what is going on. If there was problems, there was no meetings with the community. And I think that's what we're seeing nationally, is that when you have these corporations, they have their interests in mind and not necessarily your local community. But when you're investing in local farmers, such as the farmers at the Pinehurst Farmers Market, they care about you. They see you and they know about your concerns and they want the best for your welfare. So if you like the delicious mustard greens that we have at the market, they're going to bring more for you, right? And they're going to find those mustard greens if they can't grow themselves.

They're going to find the best mustard greens that they can and bring it to the market. So you can be successful or your family can be successful. And I think that's what we really need to go back to in our society and our communities, is that relationship. It's so important to have a relationship with your farmer, to support your local farmer, to bring dollars and income into the farmers' hands so they can feed you and you can be healthy. They've done so many studies that say, "If you eat locally, you get the very, very best that you can for your system and your body." Because your body is ready to take in those beautiful, delicious nutrients from South Carolina because you live in South Carolina. When those things are coming from California, they have a whole different biosphere going on. You can still take in the nutrients, but it's just not readily available, like popping for you to do wonderful things for your system. So, that is the key importance of supporting your local economy.

FM:

I love it. We could talk about biosphere stuff like that, but I don't want to get off track. It's so exciting. Let's talk a little bit more about hunger in the United States. And I pulled some statistics for this to really put it into perspective. So, according to the USDA's latest household food insecurity in the United States report, more than 35 million people in the US struggled with hunger in 2019. And that is more than double the number in 2018, which was 14.3 million. And we hear this statistic a lot, one in six American children may not know where their next meal is coming from, which is shocking. 15% of families living in rural areas experience food insecurity compared to 11.8% living in suburban and metropolitan areas, which I think is interesting. I think people think if you're close to the farm, then you have access to food. And I think that statistics shows that it is not the case.

And then, people of color are disproportionately affected by higher risk of hunger. 22.5% of black households and 18.5% of Latinx, Hispanic households experienced food insecurity in 2018. So, as the richest nation in the world, what are we doing here that's wrong? And that's a huge loaded question, but let's talk about what you think we can do here, locally, to address such horrendous food insecurity and hunger problems in the world's richest nation.

AJ:

Absolutely. Well, it's a very poignant and an excellent question. And I feel as if there's so many layers, right? There's so many layers. It's about where we're putting our resources, where we are putting our value, right? We have a new stimulus bill that has gone through and I am on page 23.

FM:

Good for you!

AJ:

Out of the 5,000 page document, right? I just started last night. It's good reading, good reading, right? And I think if you read through our stimulus bill, which obviously not everyone has time to read 5,000 pages, is that you really are seeing where we are putting our resources. We're putting our resources in a lot of institutions, which I don't have anything against institutions, but I do think that you need to give people the money, right? So that they can see best how to help their household, and everybody's needs are different. And I think we have to really realign our values. I think that we cannot give all of our income and our power to these large corporations, these institutions. We need to support our local economy, our local farmers, and our local people. So that's what we're doing at the Pinehurst Farmers Market. It really allows people to have the opportunity to support their local farmer.

And it starts at a local level. Unfortunately, we can't solve all the problems in the world, but we can start at our local level. So at the Pinehurst Farmers Market, people can give to the farmers. And that helps our local economy. That helps our local farmers to support their families. And also, I think that it's a proposition of value. When you go to a big-box store, this price is set, right? This is what you're going to pay, this is our cost, and they don't have any of the leeway that farmers do. So when you come to your local farmer and you have $5, you say, "This is all I have, I have $5. What can I get for this $5?" The farmer has a relationship with you and has leeway and autonomy to say, "I'm going to give you a couple extra radishes," right? "I'm going to give you a couple extra mustard greens. And I'm going to throw in, just this week, some extra arugula because I know that you love arugula."

FM:

We were talking about the special leeway that farmers ... The face-to-face versus the big-box stores when it comes to purchasing your food.

AJ:

Absolutely. So it allows you to have more leeway financially. And it also allows you to show solidarity with each other. So in the spirit of solidarity, we started the Pinehurst Community Action, which is our nonprofit. And we're taking action regarding food insecurity, food access, food justice, and farmer training. So, right now we are working with farmers on training, marketing, helping them grow their businesses and giving them access to resources, trainings, education. And also, we are working with the food access. So we are currently fundraising right now. So if you are concerned about food insecurity, food access, people being hungry, now's the time to get connected and to donate and to give to the Pinehurst Community Action. So we are giving out solidarity boxes to our community to allow them to have access to the fresh, amazing produce from the Pinehurst Farmers Market.

So we're able to support our farmers and we're able to support our community and solidarity. So we are currently fundraising. We're asking for donations to the Pinehurst Farmers Market so people can get involved in the work. We are also working on giving our community skills to have solidarity with each other and also to have the access and the resources to grow their own food and to be more resilient and able to withstand these kind of downturns and upturns in our community. So if you are donating and giving to the Pinehurst Community Action, you are allowing your community to have short-term access to food, which is so important in this COVID crisis, economic crisis. But also, you're allowing your community to have lifelong skills so that we, as a community, can be resilient and thrive no matter what's going on in our national or international economy and climate. And that's, I think, so important. So that's the work that we're doing at the Pinehurst Community Action. And that's why we're asking for donations and we are fundraising for our numerous projects.

FM:

I love your focus on community because I think that is something, to varying degrees, that we've lost. So you mentioned, for example, your grandfather, your grandparents, and then generations back had this knowledge, the knowledge of farming. But there was also a tighter community where people would be able to help them out. And I think, unfortunately, in 2020 we find ourselves really disjointed and lacking that community. And, unfortunately, as individuals, we're easy to be overlooked. Injustices can go without being held accountable when you're one person, but that's much harder to do when you're a community and you're helping each other. So I absolutely love the community action that you're doing, sprouting from the farmers market and then growing into something bigger. I know you're so busy, so it's scary to ask what sort of plans that you have, but there might be something in your mind that you're looking forward to, to be building out even further in the coming months and years.

AJ:

Yeah. Well, I'm just really excited for the growth of the Pinehurst Farmers Market. I'm excited for the community solidarity with the Pinehurst Farmers Market, for people to show up every week and support our farmers. I'm so thankful for that every single day. And I'm thankful for our community and their support of the Pinehurst Community Action. And I'm excited for our growth. I'm excited to start working with our farmers and training them and giving resources to them. I think that's so important. I'm excited for our new Agriculture Secretary, Vilsack. I think he's going to do a great job. I'm very hopeful. And I'm excited for the work that Hugh Weathers is doing with the South Carolina Agricultural Department.

I think he's doing amazing work. I think he's doing innovative work. I think he's really establishing a direct relationship with our farmers and I feel his heart is for our farmers and our community in South Carolina. I'm excited to be in Columbia, South Carolina, the sunny, sunny state, the beautiful weather, and our garden projects that are coming up and that we are fundraising for in our numerous projects in the Pinehurst community. So I'm just excited. And the partnerships that we are developing in our state, locally and nationally, I think it's just a great time to be in the food movement to be in the food space. And I think it's a great time for people to show solidarity with each other.

FM:

Wonderful. How can people find Pinehurst Farmers Market and the Community Action Fund online?

AJ:

Absolutely. So we are on Facebook. So the Pinehurst Community Action, they can donate directly on our Facebook page. They can reach out to me, message me on Facebook. We're also on Instagram. They can message me on Instagram as well. And they can donate, they can contact me directly and I can tell them the address to donate to. The Pinehurst Farmers Market is every Wednesday from 1:30 until three o'clock in the Pinehurst neighborhood, which is located in downtown Columbia off the Two Notch business corridor on School House Road. So it's 2600 block of School House Road in Columbia, South Carolina, every Wednesday from 1:30 until three o'clock. And we are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and they can reach out to us for all of our new upcoming updates about what we're doing in our community.

FM:

Wonderful. What's the tastiest thing coming out of the farmer's market right now?

AJ:

I love the mustard greens. I love them.

FM:

It is greens season, right?

AJ:

It is. So delicious. People really love the collard greens. The eggs are so delicious. One of our vendors sells soap, which my family exclusively uses and lip balms. She has a pig farm so she uses lard in her soap, which is just so good, just amazing. It makes your skin really soft and clean and fluffy and just ... I love it. It's the best. And we have fabulous chicken wings, which are delicious and amazing. We, personally, my family loves the potatoes. We're from Ohio, so we are potato eaters and they are delicious. And the onions are so delicious at the farmer's market. My son, he's two, he loves to eat them raw.

FM:

Oh, wow.

AJ:

Yes. They're awesome and he's eating them raw, like, "Yay."

FM:

Good for him.

AJ:

It is. Everything is good and delicious and we are thankful for our farmers.

FM:

No. Wonderful. I can't wait to get down there. Unfortunately, plans last week were scuppered due to really bad weather, but it will be better this week and the coming weeks. Well, April, I know you're very busy. I really appreciate you telling us about the Pinehurst Farmers Market and the Pinehurst Community Action. I love the work you're doing. I'd love to catch up with you again and see how things are going down the line. And thank you for all the work that you're doing.

AJ:

Thank you so much for your commitment to justice and a better society. It takes all of us working together, and I really am excited about Columbia and South Carolina. I really feel we have great people who are really willing to come together in solidarity and uplift each other and support each other. And it's just such a blessing. I'm just so thankful you had me on today and thank you so much for taking the time to hear about what we're doing in Pinehurst. And we're just really excited about the future.

FM:

Thank you April. Well, have a great rest of your day. In solidarity for real.

AJ:

Thank you. Happy holidays.

FM:

Yes. Merry Christmas and New Years and everything that comes along with it.

AJ:

Yeah. It's exciting. 2021.

FM:

Let's do it. All right.

AJ:

Yes.

FM:

Thank you, April.

AJ:

All right. Take care.