What it takes to keep Black-led farms alive

Near the eastern edge of Fayette County, Kentucky, sits the Coleman Crest Farm in the rural Black hamlet of Uttingertown. That’s where Jim Coleman works the land his great-grandfather tilled as an enslaved person — until he secured his freedom by fighting in the Civil War and returning to purchase the farm more than 130 years ago.

Now, Coleman is continuing his family’s farming legacy, but not because it’s easy work.

“Yesterday, I was pulling up mulch,” Coleman told Next City , in between administrative calls. “I had harvested hard the day before. Did a little bit of harvesting [yesterday], invoiced it, packaged it, put it in the case, put it in my truck, drove to my customer, and delivered.”

Coleman’s 13-acre plot is one of the few in th

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