During the Thanksgiving season, we’re grateful for farmers in our community for the abundance of food on our tables. Three women farmers in Western NC shared their farming experiences during this challenging year, what it means to them to farm as women and how they continued to grow and distribute their goods in their community during the pandemic.
Three Women Farmers in Western NC
Afton Darnell Roberts farms in Swain County on family land going back generations. She says, “It’s not how successful our business can be as the bottom line. The bottom line is how successful can our business be AND support our employees’ families and our community…I believe that comes from being a woman and understanding all that goes into a job and your work life.” Her father always encouraged her and told her, “This is a woman’s world. You can accomplish anything.” Afton is helping to manage a thriving diversified farm business meeting the needs of her staff and customers during COVID job losses and market uncertainty. Darnell Farms launched a home delivery program to meet the demand of folks wary of shopping and who may be homebound.
“Resiliency is being able to recover from tough situations,” says Tarinii Isner. Tarinii and her family are in year four of their new farming and botanical business, LionPaw Botanicals. Vegetable and botanical sales were planned for the Spring market at the North Asheville Tailgate Market. Due to COVID, new vendors were not able to join the market due to space restrictions. Fortunately, Tarinii already had an online sales platform and is a respected local educator. She continued to produce her botanical blends and expand hemp production while finding resilience in her farming and educational work. Tarinii points to an historic male dominated agribusiness model, where women, the wives, often had a small patch of land for home vegetable and herb production. This was a place of family resilience, offering healing through homegrown foods. She continues to teach and share the heritage of plants from the African Diaspora in Appalachian farms and gardens today.
Patricia (KT) Taylor of KT Farms has been working on her orchard and apiary throughout the pandemic. She is also a full time nurse and her husband Tate while ‘retired’ works with her on the 11.5 acre apple orchard in Haywood County. COVID has not affected her business model and her farm offers families the opportunity to be outside in a healthy environment during this trying period. KT’s chef Jasmine, a mother of three, appreciates the creativity of KT’s kitchen operation as they test new recipes such as a Fire Tonic, balms, and lotions. As part of her plan to retire from nursing, KT is adding new products and will soon start producing apple cider vinegar in her on-farm kitchen. One of KT’s joys is to sell apples to the Swain and Haywood County School System.
Opportunities for Women-run Businesses
Both KT and Afton have led their farm companies into new directions bringing additional women on board to diversify their production and distribution. Tarinii hosts women’s groups on the farm offering a safe space for personal growth, “we are planting seeds of spirit and in the earth.”
Darnell Farms employs many women working in all stages of production from tractor work, sales and running the new home delivery program. “We have a 3-1 ratio of women to men on the farm.” Afton believes women run businesses are more compassionate by nature. Part of the Darnell Farms experience is their farm stand, picnics by the river, a swing set for kids, hayrides and live music. While these activities have slowed down in the time of COVID, Afton still encourages families to come out to the farm stand, enjoy the natural beauty of the river and let the kids run.
Challenges
These farmers experienced the challenge of being recognized as capable business people when they sought advice or funding from traditional sources. Afton Darnell Roberts explains how lenders can be difficult to work with, “If I did not go to the bank with my husband for that first loan, the process would have been harder for sure.”. Afton shared that she knows women farmers who have had to take legal action to be treated fairly by lenders and other agencies. KT has seen a shift in funding from USDA programs such as the Farm Service Agency. “It has definitely gotten easier. The USDA wants to support women and minority-owned businesses so our applications can get a better review than in the past.”
KT said it took years for suppliers and advisors to take her seriously. As her orchard has grown and her hard work has paid off, she has seen more respect come her way, but it was hard to come by. Regional apple meetings are attended mostly by male farmers. Some bring their wives, but KT observed they did not participate in the meetings. “When I first walked into the apple meeting and started asking questions, the men in the room did not give me a lot of credit. Now that I have proven this is not a hobby and I am busy making this business grow, my voice is heard.”
Tarinii says as a woman farmer it is sometimes hard to be seen, but she feels that because she loves what she is doing, the knowledge she offers comes shining through, creating the source of credibility. She is offering other women a reminder of their inner resilience and strength. Women have the capacity to restore and heal the land and their communities by growing food.
Continuing the Tradition of Resiliency
Women have farmed in Western North Carolina for centuries. These farmers are continuing the tradition of resiliency in hard times and supporting other women and families in the process.
Visit these fantastic farmers this Fall to supply your tables with their great products: