Wendell H. Paris has deep roots in Mississippi and agriculture. He worked for years — many of them during the tumultuous 1970s — for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, which uses the power of cooperatives to prevent agricultural land loss and advocate for local communities. He helped thousands of farmers and those living in areas with high food insecurity organize land-buying cooperatives and credit unions across the South. One challenge they all faced was the lack of affordable land for growing food.
Paris worked with churches in Jackson and rural parts of the state to convert unused lands into community food plots. The city would otherwise have to dedicate resources to maintain the properties, so converting them to gardens was mutually beneficial. Looking back, Paris says he prioritized partnerships with churches during this time because he believed they could help “members and the community to start working toward levels of independence.”
The properties were relatively small, but Paris and the partnering churches used simple strategies to maximize their productivity for the community. Hoop houses were installed to extend seasons and grow food when it is typically too cold. They used plasticulture to help maximize yield, punching holes in the plastic and burying seeds in the soil.
These plots allow partners to prioritize culturally traditional crop production. Located close to the communities they feed, the plots are planted with local residents’ preferred crops. For example, Paris knows that purple top turnips, Georgia collards, and Clemson spineless okra are popular vegetables in his area. This setup provides a readily available market through the church, providing community access to healthy local produce while minimizing waste and creating income for the producers.
Using idle city lots can be an affordable way to access land for food production. However, Paris learned that it can come with strings attached. A previous mayor in Jackson was an ally for this vision. However, political changes affect access: “When you change administrations and folks have different agendas … you can lose that continuity, that eagerness on the part of elected officials and community-minded people,” says Paris.
Those strings are what make the technical aspects of land agreements crucial. Jackson-area churches signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the city, allowing them to use the plots until the city found a buyer. When a buyer was found, the church was given sufficient notice to finish the season for whatever crops were in the ground.
This collaborative approach not only maximizes the use of idle land but also fosters a sense of community and resilience among local residents, ensuring that the benefits of farming extend beyond just food production.
Field Goals
About 20 minutes from the church-led community gardens, Coach Jeff Gibson has a different spin on weaving together land and community. Gibson became the head football coach at Wingfield High School in 2012 for a team “with the longest losing streak in the history of Mississippi football.” The principal at the time supported Gibson using his creativity to turn that record around. That’s how Coach “had the bright idea” to turn the team into a 4-H club.
Under Gibson’s leadership, the football team began growing vegetables on the school campus. As interest grew, so did the garden. They also leased land from a local farmer to produce one season, then leased additional land in a city park. The team grew enough food to feed themselves, then sold the surplus to raise money to buy equipment, uniforms, and even letterman jackets. “The kids are unbelievably proud to wear the jackets because they know what they had to do to get them,” shares Gibson.
The success of the 4-H club led Gibson to start an agricultural academy at the school. After seven years, he became the director of the Jackson Public Schools’ Environmental Learning Center, where he manages several gardens, raised beds, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, quail, and guinea fowl. The learning center hosts students from across the school district on-site for nature-based educational programs and even features several miles of nature trails and a 3.25-mile cross-country course for district athletes.
When Gibson arrived in 2021, the learning center’s 640-acre property was unsuitable for agriculture. It had been leased to a cattle farmer for 35 years, then turned into a fishing and hunting resort for a corporation. It lay dormant until the early nineties when it was converted into the learning center. Gibson says that his first few years on the property were entirely about amending the soil, creating garden areas, and clearing land. 2024 was the first spring with enough beds to grow crops. This year, 4-H clubs across the district are creating farm businesses that will sell at a small, on-site farmers market in the fall. Ten percent of profits will be kept to pay for inputs; the remaining 90% will be for the students to take home.
The environmental center’s land is designated as “16th Section,” a term from the Land Ordinance of 1785. The Ordinance set up a system that divided land into square townships, each divided into 36 sections. The 16th section of these townships was set aside for public schools. In addition to Mississippi, this land division still prevails in some states in the Mississippi Delta. Every school district in Mississippi has a 16th Section Land Manager who collects bids from private businesses wanting to lease these properties. “Many of the people who lease 16th Section land sign long-term leases,” says Gibson. “[16th Section land] could be very profitable and very viable given the number of leases available.”
Collaborative Farming: A Path to Success
Both Paris and Coach Gibson see the potential for their unique property arrangements to also work for commercial farmers. The church gardens did not require long-term land access, so their informal arrangement worked for their purposes. However, setting up a more formal agreement is wise for someone seeking to use the land long-term.
Paris also acknowledges that working in community is often difficult. It’s important to “get several entities to come to a unified understanding, a progressive understanding of what we’re moving toward.” This means the church, the producers, the landowners, and the communities served must work together to agree on how to use the property. Each entity can also bring its own internal complexities; for example, the minister and the church board must agree before representing the church in external conversations. This process can get sticky if details are overlooked. Paris shared that, in one instance, food producers agreed to plant on the lunar cycle, but over time, it became clear that they were using different interpretations of how to plant on the lunar cycle. Your challenge, then, is to “get people to plant on the same moon” for a unique land arrangement to work in the long run.
No land arrangement is perfect, but working with a local church has real benefits compared to buying land from the private market. For new growers, the cost of land is often prohibitive. Reaching an agreement with a church can reduce or bypass this cost. Churches generally own their land but frequently do not utilize it for food production. Beyond the financial benefit, there is also a social advantage. Growing on church land helps “counter all the messaging, the economic resources that flow into [conventional] agriculture — you’re moving away from all that,” according to Paris. “It’s an alternative that folks can get involved in [to overcome] the social and cultural break with land ownership and farming itself.” This rings particularly true in communities of color and for those who grew up around sharecropping, cash renting, and other exploitative farm labor arrangements.
Community land means community partnership, so be prepared for the benefits of those connections and the possibility of difficulty.
As for Coach Gibson, he sees that the most challenging part of accessing 16th Section land in Mississippi is building a relationship with a 16th Section Land Manager. In Mississippi, all leases are on the Secretary of State’s website. Folks interested in leasing a particular property need to find the school district it is in, then contact that district’s 16th Section Land Manager. If demand is high for that land, a farmer may be in competition with others interested in leasing.
Relationships and clear expectations are paramount to successfully accessing community land. Community land means community partnership, so be prepared for the benefits of those connections and the possibility of difficulty. You may have to manage conflicting personalities, multiple opinions, or busy schedules. Consider setting expectations on paper to ensure all parties are clear about the arrangement and to have a plan of action if things go wrong.
These alternative ways of accessing land can be affordable, rewarding, and creative models for promoting agriculture in your community. Like any arrangement, though, approach the opportunity with a level head and an eye for detail. This will help ensure the land arrangement begins and remains beneficial to all involved.
Kavita Koppa joined RAFI in 2023 after more than a dozen years in agriculture in the nonprofit, for-profit and cooperative sectors. She is passionate about improving practical and equitable access to financing. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in geography and biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a dual MBA/MA in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.