NYC Land-Based Healing Project

Neighborhood-level racism manifests structurally in ways that can include lack of affordable healthy food, toxic dumping, divestment, segregation, limited access to public spaces, hyper-surveillance, and displacement, among others. In NYC, land work (such as farming and gardening) has evolved as a community practice to address the impacts of structural racism and historical trauma. This study explores urban gardens and farms as sites of intergenerational healing and wellbeing.

This project aims to discover: 1) What meanings farming and gardening hold for Black youth, and youth of color, in NYC; and, 2) If given the resources, what land-based approach to mental health and healing of historical trauma and systemic racism would these youth design for their peers? Youth will receive stipends and training to create an oral history of their community garden or farm, and use those histories to co-design a land-based healing approach.

The project team selected five NYC community farms or gardens, representing each borough, and recruited a multidisciplinary research team that includes ten Black youth or youth of color (Ages 14-24) who are working on the farms or gardens and one elder/mentor from each of the five gardens or farms.

As part of the multidisciplinary research team, ten Black youth or youth of color will:

• Attend advisory meetings
• Receive training and support to create an oral history piece that documents their community farm or garden
• Participate in local farm and garden visits and trainings, including to the partner farms and gardens participating in this project
• Co-design a land-based healing approach, based on their research findings, to support healing and well-being for Black youth and youth of color in NYC

Elders/Mentors from each of the five community gardens or farms will:

• Attend advisory meetings
• Provide mentorship and support to participating youth
• Provide local knowledge and guide project design and implementation in ways that are respectful of the land, the community farm, youth, and other community members

As part of the research team, the Academy aims to support the PI and co-PI in pilot implementation, disseminating key findings, and advancing the co-design of future land-based healing interventions. We will also integrate helpful practices into future Academy programs, promoting rapid implementation of research into practice.