When it comes to fighting against food deserts and seeking food justice, Houston-area Black farmers are literally on the front lines.
Food deserts are urban areas where affordable, good-quality fresh food is hard to find. In Houston, more than 500,000 residents live in food deserts, many in predominantly Black neighborhoods like Acres Homes and Third Ward.
According to a Kinder Institute study, over half (53%) of Black households in Harris County experience food insecurity, and one in five Black residents lack easy access to fresh food.
Some advocates reject the term food desert, preferring food apartheid — a phrase coined by activist Karen Washington to describe the racially and economically driven systems that determine who gets access to healthy food and who doesn’t. Whether one says “desert” or “apartheid,” Black people are catching the short end of the stick when it comes to food access and the illnesses that result.
Though only 1.3% of Americans grow food for the rest, Black farmers are disproportionately few. They make up just 3% of all Texas farmers, yet Texas leads the nation with 11,741 Black producers — nearly a quarter of all Black farmers in the U.S.
The Defender spoke with some local Black farmers to hear what food justice means to them, and how they’re working to achieve it.
Food justice defined
“For me, food justice is about people knowing where their food comes from, being able to see a farmer who looks like them, and having equitable access to fresh food,” said DeShaun Taylor, a licensed midwife who co-owns Taylor Made Farms with her husband, Jazzyyy. “We shouldn’t have to drive from Acres Homes to The Woodlands for a tomato. That’s injustice.”
First-generation farmers DeShaun and Jazzyyy Taylor hit the ground running with Taylor Made Farms. Taylor’s understanding of food justice is deeply tied to her profession and scholarship. In her master’s program thesis on the topic, she listed several examples, including the impact of Black male malnourishment.
“When a man is malnourished because he’s in a food desert, that affects our children — obesity, cancer, learning disabilities — it becomes a cycle.”
Her husband added that access to clean, healthy food isn’t just about survival. It’s about breaking intergenerational patterns.
“We’re growing and keeping things as organic as possible, and connecting with other farmers around the city to get our food to local farmers’ markets,” said Jazzyyy. “We’re working to become a CSA — community-supported agriculture farm.”
For Della Holden, founder of the Socialites Riding Network and Socialites AgriVersity, food justice means self-reliance.
“We’re taking back the responsibility of growing our own food for our own people,” she said. “You don’t have to wait for grocery stores to produce it. That’s where the justice comes in, being able to survive and stay alive in these economies.”
Holden’s AgriVersity, located on land her family has owned for decades in Sunnyside/ South Park, serves as both a community garden and a training space.
“We have different organizations we partner with. They get hands-on training on sowing their own seeds. Within that growing season, they’re responsible for their box,” she said. “We educate them on how to live off the land and grow their own food.”
Shaka Von Thomas, who heads the Houston Board of Food Security and The Happy Camper Houston, offers another layer to the definition.
“Food justice is knowing the history of your food,” said Thomas. “When food is sprayed with chemical compounds, you don’t truly know what you’re eating — or how it’s affecting you over time.”
Taylor Made Farms
The Taylors, both military veterans, purchased 4.24 acres in Conroe in March. By May, they had moved in and begun growing. For DeShaun, the calling began during her first pregnancy.
“I just wanted the best for my baby,” she said.
Now the Taylors not only cultivate produce, but also host youth field trips and collaborate with other Black farmers. They recently added a mobile home on the property to serve as an Airbnb and classroom for doula trainings and youth farming workshops.
“We want to teach kids that farming is not just about food — it’s about freedom,” said DeShaun.
Socialites AgriVersity
Holden describes herself as a “country-turned-city girl returning to her roots.” Her reentry into agriculture began when her elderly relatives, who owned the family’s Sunnyside property, fell ill.
“God put it on my heart to help them,” she said.
Holden now raises horses, chickens and pigs, while overseeing a community garden. She invites the community to learn alongside her.
“Just schedule a time with me,” she said. “We have events where the community comes out to see what we do.
Aswad Walker is an author at Word in Black.