There Should Be Farmland in NYC Parks, and It Should Belong to Young Residents of Color

Amber Tamm Canty is the up-and-coming farmer-activist who’s determined to make it happen

Melissa McCart
Heated

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Photos courtesy of Amber Tamm Canty

Amber Tamm Canty is a farmer of sorts. The better part of her work experience has been in agriculture; she wrote on her site that in the last four years, she “has come to possess knowledge in cannabis, farm education, permaculture, tropical agriculture, agroforestry, urban farming, floral arrangements and lastly the healing powers of the Earth.”

With local agriculture comes activism: Amber wants to connect New Yorkers with the Native American heritage and reclaim land for Black and Brown people. Her goal is rooted in her young self, growing up in Coney Island projects, where she did not have access to food or farming; once she did, it changed her life. Fast forward four years and her front-burner project is to secure land in the city’s park systems — specifically connected to the Seneca Village historical site. There, young people of color would till the soil and grow food for themselves and their communities. It would belong to them.

In mid-June, Amber also launched a GoFundMe for The Future Farm Fund — to propel part two of her dream to buy a farm upstate. So far, she’s raised over $100,000 in two…

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Melissa McCart
Heated

Editor of Heated with Mark Bittman on Medium. Dog mom. Pho fan. Send me your pitches: melissamccart@gmail.com