The Vermont Land Trust has received $6 million to help diversify farm ownership, boost economic viability of farming and fight the effects of climate change on Vermont farms.
The gift from the High Meadows Fund was announced Thursday in a hybrid virtual and in-person event at the Clemmons Family Farm in Charlotte. The event focused heavily on the $2 million portion that will go toward a land sovereignty fund designed and governed by people who are Black, Indigenous and people of color.
The remaining $4 million will go toward the Vermont Land Trust’s work in getting hundreds of farmers onto land where they can operate a farm business and promote eco-friendly farming practices.
Although the majority of the gift is not specifically for underrepresented communities, the event focused on how the money will support equity in Vermont farming.
“We’re accepting this gift with only one purpose in mind: to ensure that it quickly flows to BIPOC organizations and leadership in order to build their skill and capacity,” Nick Richardson, president and CEO of Vermont Land Trust, said at the announcement.
Richardson called the gift a recognition that Vermont’s land was stolen from Abenaki Native Americans and that the country’s wealth was built on the work of enslaved people whose descendants are unable to acquire much land today.
The land trust plans to work with a group of BIPOC leaders, to be announced in the coming days and weeks, to distribute the funds, he said.
“As a white-led organization and a white leader of that organization, the Vermont Land Trust recognizes that, despite our commitment to racial justice and equity, which is deep and heartfelt, we recognize how ill-equipped we are to be the recipient and holders of those funds,” Richardson said. “They should and will be held by others.”
But Amber Arnold, executive director of the Afro Indigenous stewarded SUSU commUNITY Farm, questioned the process. When the event opened up to questions, she said she’s concerned about the gift’s ability to create equality.
“When I’m seeing that there is a $6 million gift going to an all-white organization based out of a partnership with three white-led organizations, and I see no Black and brown organizations as part of this powerful decision-making and development structure, I feel a lot of deep concern and sadness,” Arnold said on the Zoom call.
In response to Arnold’s concern, Symington said the High Meadows Fund is not looking to fund projects but to fund a process that will be led by BIPOC voices.
Still, after the announcement, Arnold told VTDigger she’s concerned that $4 million is going to a white-led organization while $2 million is being spread across thousands of people. That’s not in line with the concept of equity that’s being promoted, she said, and the groups should have given the funding “directly to Black and brown people” as advocates have long called for.
“Redistribute, give back the money that has been stolen from us, and let us have the agency to decide how we use the money because it’s not even yours in the first place,” Arnold said in a phone interview. “It’s all based on what they want and their trust and what makes them look better.”
Richardson agreed that the groups are in an inexcusable position, but the Vermont Land Trust is committed to creating the conditions for future gifts to go directly to BIPOC farmers.
“This gift is both full of promise and shows just how far we have to go as a society,” Richardson said.
The High Meadows Fund is in the final stages of merging into the Vermont Community Foundation’s community grants and investments programs, made up of hundreds of funds and foundations. High Meadows would then be dissolved.
High Meadows and the Vermont Land Trust have had a partnership for 15 years. According to Gaye Symington, High Meadows president, the land trust is receiving the gift because it has established connections with Vermont farmers that High Meadows does not have time to make before closing.
