The Laura Flanders Show

July 26, 2023 

A MUST WATCH - The Laura Flanders Show covered a story titled Jubilee Justice Regenerative Farming: Tackling Racism with Rice that provided an inside look at a bold experiment taking place among Black farmers in the Southeast — a story of hope in an area with a history of plantation slavery, land theft and white violence. The Jubilee Justice Black Farmers’ Rice Project is pioneering regenerative farming practices as a means to address systemic racism and make repair. This innovative project combines restorative economics, regenerative agriculture, and asset ownership as the path to address the harm done to Black farmers, and the environmentally harmful methods of rice production.

"People like Konda and Jubilee Justice created an opportunity for Black farmers to have a livelihood that is vertically integrated – that didn't exist before today, and that is pretty awesome. So, land, race, money, spirit, it doesn't get better than that." - Caryl Levine, Co-Founder Lotus Foods

To learn more about Jubilee Justice's 2022 Annual Review, goals, and accomplishments, please read the Lotus Foods blog Celebrating Jubilee Justice.

Inside the longer Laura Flanders Show segment was this short video highlighting Lotus Foods' System of Rice Intensification 

More Crop Per Drop® is how we refer to the agroecological rice-growing method System of Rice Intensification (SRI). Farmers do not need special seeds or agrochemicals. They boost yields by changing how they grow rice to optimize the plants’ development. They transplant younger seedlings and plant them in wide rows, instead of random clumps of older seedlings. This reduces transplant shock and competition among plants, and enables mechanical weeding. Soils are kept moist, not flooded, promoting soil health and root growth. Rice plants actually grow better in soils that have access to oxygen, which a blanket of water shuts out.

By adopting More Crop Per Drop® growing practices, farmers can reduce their water use by over 25-50%, while also increasing their yields. This is how farmers produce Lotus Foods’ Organic Basmati, Jasmine, Quick Cook, Tricolor Blend, and Red Rice.