Defenders of Wildlife Private Lands Director Mary Pfaffko on how Farming While Black led to their new short film:

"A camera is a powerful tool. As a farm in New York was illuminated on the screen, my mind was opened to a side of agriculture that needs to be talked about more. The film, Farming While Black, takes a close look into the stories and conditions of Black farmers in the U.S. By the end of the film, I was both inspired and enraged. 

During the panel discussion following DCEFF's screening in March, one of the subjects from the documentary made the link between diversity in the ecosystem on private land and the people who work in agriculture. Indeed, according to the journal Nature, small farms are linked to higher biodiversity and more Black producers are linked to smaller farms than white producers. Smaller farms can be more beneficial for wildlife habitat for many reasons, such as using ecological management practices like limited insecticide use. 

We developed this video to help further illustrate that we can envision a future where more small farms, Black farmers, and wildlife thrive on the land together."