BLACK CURRANT SOCIAL JUSTICE CIDER SPOTLIGHT
COMMUNITY LAND CONSERVANCY
Communities of Color working together to close the nature gap.
Each bottle you purchase in this series generates a $2 donation for organizations doing powerful and creative work in BIPOC communities. Funds generated are offered with appreciation for their efforts to advance social change with no strings attached.
Social Justice Cider project
Finnriver’s Social Justice Cider Project (SJC) is an effort to shift energy towards greater equity and justice in our society by raising awareness of grassroots and community projects working for positive transformations in our region, and by sharing resources with the groups doing this vital work. Our two SJC offerings at the moment are our 'Black Current' (a relabel of our popular Black Currant Cider) and 'Pera de Campesinos' (a relabel of our Pear Cider) and the currently featured organizations on the Black Current cider release is the Community Land Conservancy, based in King County, WA. You can find the Social Justice Cider series at the Taproom at Finnriver, at our regional farmers markets and at participating PCC Community Market locations.
Featured Organization: Community Land Conservancy
Community Land Conservancy (CLC) is a people of color-led land conservancy that acquires land for parks in historically underserved communities — so that community voices are heard and centered in land use decision-making.
Access to nature is vital for health, well-being, and social cohesion. This important issue is often overlooked in discussions about equitable access to affordable housing, particularly for historically underserved communities and communities of color, where many live in fear of displacement.
Racist policies such as redlining have caused low-income neighborhoods to have much less green space than well-off neighborhoods. At the same time, these communities often fear that adding parks and open space will increase property values and thereby contribute to further displacement. This leaves a false choice between housing stability and access to nature.
Community Land Conservancy believes that a conservancy of, by, and for people of color would have the trust, expertise, and capacity to work effectively and sensitively with communities of color to transform land use planning, policy and practice; and to help ensure:
- Conservation strategies serve communities most affected by environmental injustice
- Increased access to quality open space in communities of color that does not result in greater displacement and is coordinated with efforts to increase density and affordable housing supply
- Increased capacity and influence for people of color in a sector that has been historically dominated by white and moneyed interests
- Receipt and management of funds for open space acquisition, design, implementation, and maintenance in communities of color
- Increase in community-driven and culturally relevant park design and programming in communities of color
- Increase in government allocation of impact fees from new developments to pay for open space acquisition and other amenities in communities of color
As an organization led by people of color, the CLC will aim to increase the agency of our communities in land use decisions so that our local knowledge drives strategies to address root causes of environmental injustice and a lack of green space.
Adapted from the Case for Support crafted by SM Watts Consulting, LLC and the CLC Emeritus Advisory Committee: Niesha Brooks, Lylianna Allala, Paulina Lopez, and Brad Brickman.
To connect or volunteer, please email: info@communitylandconservancy.org.
To learn more and support: https://www.communitylandconservancy.org
Organizations this Cider Project has Supported
List of Services
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Nurturing Roots FarmList Item 4
Building community through farming, healing community through relationships
A thriving urban farm and community farming program that values community, self-sufficiency, food empowerment, social justice, and education. Nurturing Roots brings the community together by providing volunteering opportunities, hosting various events, and partnering with local restaurants. Creating community through gardening, they focus on sharing the truth about systematic oppression, with an emphasis on food and environmental justice. Their farm is also about access, education, and re-engaging folks with our environment.
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E A R T H S E E DList Item 3
Earthseed uses arts-based experiential learning to redefine identity in accordance with personal and cultural beliefs and not solely in opposition to the systems of oppression. Our programming centers Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities as well as those who disrupt pervasive systems on behalf of co-liberation. We offer professional and personal development workshops, theatre classes, wilderness travel workshops, affordable space rental, pottery wheel rental, and more at our Beacon Hill Storefront in Seattle.
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Jefferson County Anti-Racist Fund (JCARF)List Item 1
The Jefferson County Anti-Racist Fund is a mutual aid organization founded in 2019 by an Indigenous woman with the goal of giving support to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in Jefferson County, Washington. JCARF runs a large, free CSA with veggies, fruits, meat, dairy, bread and flowers for local BIPOC. Additionally they fund individual BIPOC needs such as: access to wellness treatments or therapies, emergency Situations, transportation, access to healing or traditional foods, access to land and more.
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W O O D B R I D G E F A R MList Item 2
Woodbridge Farm is a 24-acre farm located along a salmon stream in the fertile Chimacum Valley of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Woodbridge was established in 2018 by Peter Mustin, a Black farmer with a vision to cultivate community while caring for the soil, growing good food and flowers, and providing space for Black, Indigenous, and people of color to experience the life-affirming bounty nature provides. Working with farmer partner Cameron Jones, Woodbridge Farm is a project of love and restoration, honoring Peter’s family roots and lifelong love of farming, plants and beauty.
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Y A S U K E C O M M O N S
Disrupt. Nourish. Heal.
Yasuke Commons is a community of farmers, holistic practitioners, and product makers, igniting system change through access to healthy foods, regenerative agriculture and wellness education to historically under-represented communities. Yasuke Commons is bridging the gap of affordability and accessibility for organic produce, natural foods, nutrition, education and wellness services by creating a food & wellness cooperative for low income, working poor, BIPOC communities.
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H O L I S T I C R E S I S T A N C E
Holistic Resistance has been bringing practice and action together in communities across the country through workshops, song circles, youth mentorship, and custom programming with facilitators, parents, teachers, and businesses. With an emphasis on close relationship, they aim to build lifelong connections that support our everyday anti-racism. Holistic Resistance reimagines a world where we see each other’s humanity, repair when we cause harm, and build skills for long-term connection. Learn more about some of the projects they are building: Grief to Action for BIPOC, Chronic Undertouch for Black Youth, and Sheltering Black.
For more information about local organizations you can support please see the following links:
- Black Lives Matter - Jefferson County, WA
- Jefferson County Anti-Racist Fund (JCARF)
- Anti-Racism Resources from B-Corps
For more information about local individuals and businesses you can support please see the following links: