filmstudio / Getty Images It’s time to burst the bubble of the rural-urban divide: When it comes to competing against forces of gentrification and big agribusiness in the name of food equity, small farmers and urban farms have a lot in common. Here’s how two agricultural entrepreneurs are working toward common ground in the name of a healthier food supply. In the working-class neighborhood of Pinehurst in Columbia, South Carolina, small-town attractions like parks, baseball fields, HBCU colleges, and parades are plentiful. So were grocery stores: Pinehurst was once home to a Piggly Wiggly, and a Sav-A-Lot, among others. Then in 2019, they suddenly all closed without warning. April Jones, a Pinehurst resident originally from Akron, Ohio, was immediately inspired to take action. Jones credits her Ohio childhood — playing outside and harvesting the corn, tomatoes, and cherries from her grandparents’ farm — with giving her a holistic way of looking at and connecting with the Earth. Having read the 2017 book Fast Food Genocide by Joel Fuhrman, M.D., she was primed to think about how the ills in society are related to food: “If you have high rates of ADHD, check your food supply; if you have high […]
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