Nature Finds A Way For Everyone To Matter
By: Mykalee McGowan
Edited by: Onyx Ramírez
This blog post contains the personal opinions and reflections of the author and is not representative of the voice of the organization.
July is Disability Pride Month. July was declared Disability Pride Month back in 1990 after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed on July 26, 1990. pivotal civil rights legislation that broke down barriers to inclusion in American society, The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in many aspects of public life such as employment, transportation, health care, and government service.
The ADA shifted culture and society through the creation of workplace and academic accommodations and influenced other laws such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Disability Pride Month honors the history of the many disability activists, disability organizations, and self-advocacy groups that fought for this legislation, and the present fighters who continue to do the work, as well as uplift the achievements, and stories of the disability community.
The physical demands of farming can sometimes lead to new or worsening disabilities over time. As the number of Black farmers overall is already dwindling, as a result of limited access to land and capital, the number of Black people with disabilities within agriculture and food, is even lower.
Despite these challenges, many Black leaders within the food system have been able to use their unique perspectives, shaped by their experiences with their disabilities, to create influential change.
A powerful example is Fannie Lou Hamer. After contracting polio as a child, she developed a permanent limp. Hamer's experiences informed her activism. At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, she shared the story of a Black woman arrested and beaten in Winona, Mississippi, whose injuries worsened an existing limp, caused permanent kidney damage, and left a blood clot behind her eye – all for attempting to register to vote. Hamer's powerful testimony is credited with contributing to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
For Disability Pride Month, we chatted with Corrine Cashin, a financial literacy educator, urban farmer and a person living with a disability.
She holds a dual degree in Finance and Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship from Alfred University and a Masters in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Brooklyn College. She currently works for the Research Foundation of CUNY as the Assistant Director of Operations and Special Projects and is on the Advisory Board for a study at Columbia University for financial literacy and mental health. She volunteers with special needs children at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to teach Children’s First Discoveries where they learn about science and nature and GallopNYC to provide children with rehabilitation services with horses. She’s known for feeding her communities stomachs and souls while removing financial barriers to their goals.
In this interview she shares how land stewardship has shaped her views on disability, the natural world, and the power of community.
BFF: What brought you into the world of land stewardship?
CC: Both sides of my family have farmed for multiple generations on three continents- sometimes they owned the land and sometimes they were owned by other people that owned the land. They carried their farming practice through enslavement, concentration camps and mass genocide. As a child my grandmother braided seed in my hair and told me our hair carried life and that I would be able to find the foods of our people everywhere the sun shined. I remember wishing my hair was more like my grandmothers I wanted it to grow towards the sun like a plant. She would send me into what I thought was a backyard but it was actually a small farm with a massive garden. I was a single digit and she would tell me to pick beans, flowers, or fruit and whatever caught my eye and bring it back to her. Then she would tell me its story and how to take care of it and why it was there. She took me on my first plant walks, just teaching me to pay attention to what was around me in my environment in Florida and in New York. She wanted me to see what was happening in the spaces I was in and encouraged my curiosity. I learned how to give the soil what it needed (amend soil), plant in relationship (crop planning), and to build altars to wildlife (pest management) so they wouldn't eat all her fruit and plants. By 8, I was clearing weeds with a machete with my father and Uncles taught. It is still my preferred tool for the task. I thought all children grew up like that.
BFF: It’s great that you connected with the land at a young age! As someone with a disability, how has it shaped your approach to caring for the land, and how has the land, in turn, supported you?
CC: I manage a dual disability in part because I was struck by a car. My arm was broken in two different places and I had to relearn how to walk which was extremely painful and challenging. At one point my leg looked like Robocop and I'm still working on full functionality. I begged to get back to the land so I could recover movement on land and through farming. My doctors encouraged me to farm a few times a month because the squatting, the kneeling, are all rehabilitative. The physical activity also helped me sleep. I could not physically commute to my job due to three trains, lots of stairs and up to an hour and a half each way each day. And to do what? To sit in a chair for 8 hours The exact opposite of what my doctors wanted me to do. It didn't make any sense. It doesn't help me heal. It would actually reverse my progress. But if I’m on the land a couple of times a month and I'm doing the right movements that are consistent with my physical therapy I get stronger and improve.
BFF: That’s amazing. Given that you are also an educator, has your professional work intersected with your work in food?
CC: As a financial literacy educator I teach wealth building through food and finance. I think everyone needs to know that spices were an early form of currency and to make the connection that well fed individuals do not feel poor. I work at CUNY and I am well known for feeding students healthy food and their grades instantly improve from academic probation to the Dean's List consistently; every student deserves an education with dignity.
BFF: have you seen how connecting with the land has affected others around you?
CC: As a volunteer at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I do Children's First Discoveries and the early access program for children and their families that are considered disabled. Many parents don't get to experience their kids learning through play. They get excited by their child's engagement and immediate behavioral changes. There's many health benefits to being in nature if you are managing a disability. The microbes in the soils are natural antidepressants. So for children with autism and ADHD, this can be very critical in calming them down naturally. Parents are amazed their child will sit and compost with me for 2 hours straight and insist their child doesn't sit still for 15 minutes. Vermicomposting is an amazing activity for everyone - the worms are essential for all the growth in the garden and they have no eyes and no ears. They are mute and according to current Western standards they would be considered disabled. I think I was drawn to the worms because my mother was legally blind until I was 19. Also, my grandmother had no sense of smell. There was never a conversation about them not belonging in the world. I always point that out when composting for all the children whether they have full vision or complete blindness because I want the children to see themselves in nature and to understand that incredible value is created by living creatures completely different than they are.
BFF: Wow, I love that! Seeing oneself in nature.
CC: It's so critical because, and I've said this many times in Farm School, nature finds a way for everything to matter. I think it's important that nature doesn't have the throwaway systems that we do in our conventional society. And being a person that is Black and also of Indigenous descent, we're taught we have less value through a lack of representation because we move in the world differently. Then our traditional practices are renamed things like "regenerative economics" which is looking to nature as an example of how to create socio-economic systems - exactly how hundreds of Indigenous tribes lived for thousands of years.
I look at our environment for answers because nature finds a way for everything to matter. That biodiversity, that's what makes nature thrive.
BFF: Was there any kind of support system that helped you throughout your farming journey?
CC: My first support system for my love of nature was my family. Then the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Farm School NYC provided some very supportive educators and classmates. Also, I love the vibe from Black Farmers Fund. You work hard to share resources and the community work days. Last year, I went to Farm Fresh Caribbean Growers, and I got to go back again this year. I’ve also visited The Black Yard Farm Collective, Big Dream Farm, Moss Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, and Choy Commons. It is important to come back to these farms. That's how you build relationships. That's how it feels like I'm doing something that matters. I met the Black Farmer Fund through Farm School NYC. So it's like the roots on the tree, right? It's all about the ecosystem like the way mushrooms connect trees in the forest.
BFF: What’s a final message would you give those who want to be more inclusive for land stewards with disabilities?
CC: It's important to me that people understand that individuals managing disabilities whether physical, emotional or mental are everywhere in our society. They are making contributions, serving, inventing, creating and it's strange to me that there is so much resistance to creating an inclusive world where everyone can thrive. Nature does it beautifully which is why I think so many "misfits" are drawn to farming. Nature finds a way for everyone to matter.
Nature, in its infinite wisdom, demonstrates that all beings have a role to play. Yet, the American food system has historically excluded marginalized communities, including those with disabilities. By investing in Black agricultural and food businesses, we can begin to rectify these inequities. To truly nourish our communities, we must ensure that all Black individuals, including those with disabilities, have a seat at the table and opportunities to thrive. A just food system is one that reflects the diversity of our society and embraces the contributions of all.