NEWSLETTER
Projects Led by Indigenous, Black, and Immigrant-Led Community Land Trusts and Farm Partners
Finger Lakes, N.Y. - Khuba International’s Farming for Freedom Trail event will be held on Freedom Weekend, the first weekend of October each year. This year, the farm hop event will be held on October 2-4 at locations throughout the Finger Lakes.
Freedom Weekend uplifts the land stewardship work of eight community-led farm and forestland initiatives and their community partners engaging in sustainable agriculture, food-growing, and related wellness and education work. This event provides support to agrotourism and festivity partnerships across the Finger Lakes that will foster public engagement and visitation in diverse food growing locations and build capacity in area sustainable and biodynamic agroforestry projects. The Trail aims to strengthen collaborations, promote resilience, and gather best agricultural practices from across New York State.
The Learning Farm, Ithaca, NY, in collaboration with Viva Acres, Loving Farms, NuLegacy: the People’s Land, Jasper Meadows, Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming, Pearls of the Land, and Ndor Ecovillage, form the 2026 cohort of farm hop hosts. This partnership aims to elevate community knowledge of the pivotal role that farmers of color play in pioneering food supply chain technology, ecology, horticulture, soil health, maintaining communal food-sharing ways, and ecosystem sustainability. “The Farming to Freedom Trail is a farm-hopping experience through Tompkins and Tioga Counties in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of central NY. The visitors are connected with a vibrant community of diverse farmers and growers,” says Christine Barksdale, community organizer and Event Planning Team Lead of The Farming for Freedom Trail. “From working farms, regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, and ecotourism to locally grown food and stories of land, culture, and resilience, each stop is a chance to experience the region from the people who care for the land.”
“I’m excited to welcome all who come to share in the joy of this year’s event. The participating farms bring an array of products, learning and product purchasing opportunities," shares Davi Mozie, community wellness provider and Farming for Freedom Trail Event Planner. “The event provides time to breathe and feel the warmth of inclusive and healing community spaces.”
“We farmers need more time just to kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labor,” adds Christa Nunez, Executive Director of Khuba International and co-owner of the Learning Farm. “This is one of those moments we get to engage our joy muscles and giggle and drink and eat and enjoy sweet friendship and the birdsong all around us.”
The Trail aims to support tourism development across the Southern Tier and integrate rural farmland visitation and diverse cultural foodways while addressing calls for deeper farmer connectivity and community network building. The program seeks to leverage the strength of smallholder farmers working with partners in their communities, ranging from community gardens, universities, and urban farms to food pantries, donors, land workers, land trusts, extension service providers, school gardens and nutrition initiatives, local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. This year, the farm engages farmers receiving land purchase funds that directly support deeper and more wide-ranging rural integration efforts that provide community connection through landownership for land stewards of diverse backgrounds collaborating with rural neighbors and friends throughout the Finger Lakes.
Over Khuba’s Quarter Acre for the People project’s six years of operation, the program has awarded 61 total acres of rural forested farmland to six community land trust collaborations and farm operators in Tompkins and Tioga counties. These programs have grown and shared over 200 pounds of produce, distributed more than 150 seedlings and saplings, and provided more than 200 tourists with 70 hours of agrotourism fun to residents, out of state visitors, and neighbors from around New York State.
“I participate in the Farming for Freedom Trail because I am proud to stand alongside other farmers of color and help make our presence in agriculture more visible. Although farming in this country has historically been—and continues to be—racially exclusive, farmers of color are here, growing, caring for the land, and creating new possibilities for the future of agriculture. At Viva Acres, I enjoy welcoming people to learn about sheep farming, wool, and the journey from raw fleece to finished fiber products,” said Juliana Quaresma of Viva Acres. “I share my own experience of becoming a farmer so that others—especially immigrants, women, and people who may not see themselves represented in agriculture—can imagine a path into farming for themselves. Opening my farm is about education, connection, and showing that farming can be a place of belonging, creativity, and freedom.”
This year, the Farming for Freedom Trail kickoff party on Friday, October 2 at 5pm held at the Learning Farm will offer local food and beverage fare, music, line dancing, a waterfall wellness excursion, and walks with the alpacas. The evening will also feature a community story sharing circle that will give participants the opportunity to share family land and food heritage stories, some of which will featured on the Sustainability Sentinel podcast.
On Friday night, and during the day on Saturday and Sunday, a variety of farms leading on the cutting edge of food production and community building, will put on party after party at their locations, displaying their produce and value added products, giving folks an opportunity to enjoy the bounty of the land and make new friends.
To cap off Freedom Weekend, Cinemapolis, Ithaca’s nonprofit, independent movie theater, will feature Out Here, a locally produced documentary about land sovereignty and the ecology of community at 2:30pm on October 4th. A panel and reception will follow the 90 minute film. “Cinemapolis is honored to be a part of Freedom Weekend, and we are excited to welcome audience members to a screening of Out Here," Cinemapolis Executive Director, Kate Donohue, shared. “This film is a testament to the talents of local filmmakers; it explores people's relationships with the Earth, with our food, and with each other in important ways.”
Go to www.FarmingforFreedomTrail.org to reserve your ticket and swag bag full of local fare and edible goodies.
Photos available in an online folder, on request.
Media contacts:
Khuba International
Christa Nunez
(707) 570-5178
The Learning Farm
Pete Nunez
(607) 280-7217
Viva Acres
Juliana Quaresma
Loving Farms
Debbie Branker and Craig Livermore
NuLegacy: the People’s Land
Kyung-Ji Rhee and Chino Hardin
info@nuleadership.org
Jasper Meadows
Madi and Chuck Alridge
Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming
Juliana Quaresma and Ariana Taylor Stanley
info@groundswellcenter.org
Pearls of the Land
Antonisha Owens
info@aficapure.com
Ndor Ecovillage
Yao Foli
About Khuba International
Khuba International is an Ithaca-based nonprofit working across the American Northeast and West Africa to support land access, cooperative agriculture, ecological stewardship, and local food economies for Indigenous, Black, Immigrant, low-income, beginning, women, youth, forest landowner, and socially disadvantaged producers. As a land-centered community infrastructure organization rooted in Tompkins County and connected to broader Turtle Island Indigenous, Black, Immigrant, and Diaspora land stewardship networks, Khuba’s work begins with land. A 16-acre teaching farm in Ithaca connects youth to hands-on community agriculture education, forest stewardship, and practical pathways for producers seeking access to land, markets, and technical support. Khuba convenes farmers, landowners, youth, educators, foresters, public agencies, and community partners around the daily work of growing food in food forests, caring for land, sharing cultural knowledge, and building cooperative forms of ownership and stewardship.
About the Learning Farm
The Learning Farm is more than just a farm; it is a sanctuary for learning, growth, and community. Founded on the principles of equity, sustainability, and play, their mission is to connect people with the land, with each other, and with the bounty of fresh, local food. Hands-on farm experiences and programs include an array of educational opportunities for children and adults of all ages. Community-driven events celebrate sustainable living, biodynamic agriculture, and cultural enrichment.
About Viva Acres
Viva Acres is a small fiber and agroforestry farm in Trumansburg, New York, run by shepherdess Juliana Quaresma. The farm focuses on raising Icelandic sheep, practicing sustainable land stewardship, and offering educational farm activities.
About Loving Farms
Loving Farms partners with the land to create a sustainable business while supporting the health of the land for future generations. Their business model seeks to create profits through the cultivation and sale of healthy vegetables, home-made whole foods, and plant-based baked goods, through on-and off-farm educational projects that share information on healthy living and natural conservation while building skills, and by hosting guests for peaceful and restful stays in nature.
About NuLegacy: the People’s Land
NuLegacy: The People's Land is a community-built healing and land-stewardship project in Enfield, New York, created by the Center for NuLeadership on Human Justice & Healing to support system-impacted people and communities.
About Jasper Meadows
Jasper Meadows Farm is family owned and operated. They believe in and practice sustainable and biodynamic farming. They provide organic eggs and poultry year round with vegetables provided seasonally. Weekends, they can be found at their corner booth at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market. www.jaspermeadowsfarm.com
About Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming
Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming works toward building a more sustainable, just food system for all. They support beginning farmers, create affordable land access, collaborate for food justice and equity, foster sustainable farming, and educate for success. groundswellcenter.org/the-incubator-farm
About Pearls of the Land
Pearls of the Land CLT Inc. is a community-based land trust dedicated to advancing regenerative agriculture, land stewardship, cooperative ownership, youth education, entrepreneurship, and cultural healing. Located on 10 acres in Candor, New York, Pearls of the Land utilizes a Community Land Trust (CLT) model to preserve land for agricultural production, community benefit, and long-term affordability. Through a unique combination of nonprofit educational programming and revenue-generating ecological enterprises, Pearls of the Land is creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that builds community wealth, expands land access, promotes environmental stewardship, and supports economic opportunity for historically underserved peoples.
About Ndor Ecovillage
Ndor Ecovillage is a culture and geography-bridging community for sustainable agriculture and environmental education in both Ghana and the United States. Its school and training centers are in development and will bring the latest in sustainable agriculture to local farmers, tailored to local needs. In partnership with Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology, forest ecology curricula developed by Ghanaian agricultural experts ensures coherence with African culture and agroecological practices. https://www.ndorecovillage.org/
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