M U L T I M E D I A S T O R Y T E L L E R
Farmer Bruce-Michael of Groundswell farms may be the last black, USDA organic farmer in the traditional sense. He runs his farm on 11 acres in Zeeland, Michigan—a historically, majority-Dutch Community in southwest Michigan.
I encountered Bruce after googling "Black Farmers in Michigan" in 2021 and on a whim asked him if I could visit his farm.
Bruce-Michael is the son of farmers and is passionate about educating others about how Black Americans have made inseparable contributions to American agriculture.
Groundswell farm is bordered by larger mono-crop farms and there is a persistent threat of contamination (like a mono-crop seed meandering its way to Bruce-Michael's organic rows). Maintaining community relations was a multidimensional topic we explored often.
Especially since Groundswell is a CSA (Community Support Agriculture). And Bruce-Michael's presence alone makes him an outsider, in who he is and what he chooses to grow.
He is a very private person, guarded against too much attention. I am grateful that he allowed me to capture him at all.