A Journey of Food Sovereignty and Wholeness

Sophia Buggs of Lady Buggs Farm in Youngstown, Ohio.

This article is from the Summer 2022 Agraria Journal.

By Sophia Buggs

There is such a buzz around the ideas of regenerative agriculture and diversity and inclusion that it only makes sense to connect the two as they relate to our everyday experiences with plants, people, and the lands that we steward.

Growing foods that are culturally appropriate within neighborhoods that lack access is a great way to implement diversity in and out of the soil. Edible landscapes are ideal in urban areas that are food insecure with lots of vacant green space available. While regenerating the soils at Lady Buggs Farm, I have discovered the joys of Northeast prairie plant species, pollinators as helpers, and food as medicine. Growing zucchini to reclaim my grandmother’s family zucchini bread is medicine for both body and soul. 

For beginning farmers and gardeners in urban communities, regenerative agriculture can help restore topsoil, increase biodiversity, and improve water retention in areas with poor soils. Regenerating the soil is just as important as regenerating the people. Plants and people have a long-standing relationship with each other and it only makes sense to care for the land the same way in which people should be cared for. 

Edible landscapes are a creative use of local native plants that not only encourage healthy soils but also welcome pollinators and people to experience and absorb the medicinal, magical properties of them. When I discovered that the volunteer plants on my farm were not only good for the local habitat but also for the residents, I immediately fell in love with growing herbs for a living. It’s as if I was co-creating with nature herself. Not only was I able to experience all the moving parts and pieces of urban farming, I also was able to grow what I loved most in ease and joy. Bringing joy to the work of farming and gardening is important. When people are growing food in joy to create healthy ecosystems, the overall community and world at large receive these benefits. 

Acknowledging pollinators, Northeast prairie plants, and trees as part of my ancestral heritage through the lens of agriculture continues to grow and nurture me in ways that my human family has not. With all the microaggressions and code switching that I and many of my Black Indigenous brothers and sisters go through, I am still able to access my wholeness through connection with my heritage, the land, and my place in the natural world. Grandma didn’t use language like bioregion, land steward, or urban agriculture—she spoke of it all by calling it Nature. It is through this exchange of ancestral wisdom and land stewardship that I have access to a form of sovereignty that keeps me returning to each and every season with grace. 

My homeland is the land that I live with through growing seasons and changing weather, with two-legged human neighbors that don’t fully understand the importance of diversity. This nourishing, edible land sits adjacent to my inherited childhood home. I’m so proud to have land that I can wildcraft from, and feel the roots of our kindred lineage. These lands are lush with a variety of trees, urban forest borders, a small hoop house, wild animals, and wildflowers. 

The trees that provide me with the most medicines are the Catalpa, Mulberry and Black Walnut trees. The native flowers that I enjoy making medicinal dried everlasting bouquets with are wild Yarrow, Purple Bee Balm, Sweet Annie, Prunella, Queen Anne’s lace, and Teasel. The black raspberries are like blessings from the other world suggesting that I too am sweet, Black, with thorns. An occasional visit of wild deer, turkey, groundhog, rabbit, squirrel, chipmunk, blue bird, owl, bat and hawk while I’m farming reminds me of the changing seasons as they eat, rest, nourish and bless my place, Lady Buggs Sanctuary. 

I initially started to farm because I wanted to save my mind and offer my daughter fresher, delicious foods. When I discovered that my daughter was allergic to most of the foods that I was offering, I taught myself how to make meals and medicines from scratch. A mother can go potentially into a deep depression when she’s challenged with meeting all the needs of her child without balanced finances and family support. Yes, we have family— but it’s my plant family that saved, encouraged and made me feel a part of this magical reality we call life. 

Restoring land through plant diversity, edible landscapes, and land stewardship is my personal journey of food sovereignty and wholeness. Just as the land is diverse and vast, so should our everyday relations be. Many of us still have ancestral memories of this kind of wholeness. Mother nature is the “technology” we can use to access all that we need to be one with our ancestors, bioregional ecosystems, and each other. Through intentional agricultural designs I will continue greening Black Indigenous spaces and diversifying my relations with all living beings, known and unknown. 

Sophia Buggs is coordinator of Mahoning Food Access for the City of Youngstown, Ohio, director of Environmental and Food Justice, and a member of the Intentional Development Group.

Click here read the full Summer 2022 issue of the Agraria Journal.