This Is What Food Justice Looks Like

A warm, earthy smell drifted in from the snow-covered fields as I pulled up to Freedom Farm – how welcome in the doldrums of winter. The herd of dairy cows at nearby Freedom Hill Farm, which graze these pastures in the summer, had recently returned the gift in the form of fresh manure, newly laid on the beds in preparation for the forthcoming planting season.

Teo, the farm’s lovable rescue dog, greeted me by way of the sniff test (apparently, I passed) before I entered the 1850s farmhouse to meet Edgar Hayes: collard connoisseur, preacher, farmer, retired NYC firefighter and co-founder of Freedom Farm Community, a faith-based intentional community devoted to growing and sharing clean food.