Puget Sound Agrarian Commons

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About

The Puget Sound Agrarian Commons began with a ten-acre farmland gift on Whidbey Island, and exists to advance food sovereignty and farmland viability in Washington State. In the context of escalating land prices in the region and historically rooted structural barriers to BIPOC land tenure, the Puget Sound Agrarian Commons acts to represent and resource Indigenous and POC collective stewardship goals and land tenure security.

Black Seed Agroecology Farm & Village is the first farm to join the Puget Sound Agrarian Commons. Black Seed is a project of Modest Family Solutions, and grows food to gift and sell to BIPOC communities, facilitates youth agroecology education, and helps to establish economic stability and a dignified food supply chain.

Interactive Map of the Agrarian Commons Get the full experience on Google Earth

Land Acknowledgement

The Puget Sound Agrarian Commons is located on ancestral lands of the Lower Skagit, Swinomish, Suquamish, Snohomish, and other Coast Salish nations, who have lived in relationship with these lands and waters since time immemorial. We honor their elders, past and present and commit to supporting Coast Salish sovereignty in word and action.

Much of this land is unceded and in many cases these territories were stolen, seized, or otherwise acquired through genocidal actions of the state and settler colonizers. The first farm to join the Puget Sound Agrarian Commons is Black Seed Agroecology Farm & Village which is located on Whidbey Island or in one Salish language Tscha-kole-chy. Tscha-kole-chy was ceded to the United States in 1855 through the Treaty of Point Elliott. We recognize the rights and injustices of this treaty and the ongoing legacy here in the Puget Sound.

Despite their participation in the Treaty of Point Elliott, the Duwamish tribe, on whose land Seattle is located, have been denied federal recognition. As a show of solidarity and a small step toward offering compensation, Agrarian Trust makes a monthly payment toward Real Rent Duwamish.

Please visit native-land.ca/maps/territories/puget-sound-salish/ to learn the names and histories of the Coast Salish Nations who live here in the Puget Sound and coastsalishgathering.com to support ongoing organizing.

Legal Statement

The Puget Sound Washington Agrarian Commons is organized and shall be operated exclusively for the purpose of holding title to property, collecting income therefrom, and turning the entire amount, less expenses to the AGRARIAN LAND TRUST within the meaning of Section 501(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”). Agrarian Land Trust, the parent corporation of Puget Sound Washington Agrarian Commons, is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(a) and described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Code.

Community

The Puget Sound Agrarian Commons launched with a ten-acre farm on Whidbey, the largest island in Washington State, located thirty miles north of Seattle. Black Seed Agroecology Farm & Village, a program led by Modest Family Solutions, is stewarding this land in order to support food sovereignty to facilitate youth agroecology education.

Adasha Turner founded Modest Family Solutions as a way to grow her own food after medical complications during pregnancy prompted her to change her diet.

Healing her debilitating medical conditions through food, she began teaching youth how to grow their own nutritious fruits and vegetables, and distributing healthy food through BIPOC communities.

Modest Family Solutions has a unique educational program that provides hands-on, garden-based lessons rooted in science content, permaculture, local food tastings, farmer visits to classrooms, farm field trips, and farm-to-school related family and community engagement. The organization is moving toward their goal of a sustainable social enterprise that builds capacity for the BIPOC community through indigenous agroecology education, career development, and youth entrepreneurship.

Land, History & Community

The Puget Sound Agrarian Commons is rooted in reverence for the continued legacy of communally managed land and seascapes by Lower Skagit, Swinomish, Suquamish, Snohomish, and other Coast Salish nations. The Commons seeks to represent and resource Indigenous and POC collective stewardship in response to escalating land prices in the region and historically rooted structural barriers to BIPOC land tenure here.

While 32 percent of land in Washington State is agricultural, there is enormous room for Washington’s agricultural economy to grow towards sustainable, equity-driven, and community-led farm enterprises. Less than 2 percent of farms are certified organic and just 13 percent of farm products are sold directly to consumers in Washington. 98 percent of farmland owners in Washington state are white.

Since 2000, the average price per acre of farmland in Washington has doubled, and between 2012 and 2017 the state lost almost 1,500 farms. On Whidbey Island (Salish Tscha-kole-chy), where Black Seed Agroecology Farm & Village holds land tenure, there remains significant farmland stewardship, yet existing production is inadequate for community needs. By bringing land gifted by Ms. Caroline Gardner into the permanent affordable tenure of Black Seed Agroecology Farm & Village, the Puget Sound Agrarian Commons acts to secure food sovereignty and farmland viability in this region.

Structure