The outstretched limbs of Savannah’s live oaks sent dappled sunlight along a wide promenade separating two rows of farm stalls in Forsyth Park. The Saturday morning farmers market was in full swing, with boxes heaped high with red peppers, collard greens, and bright orange carrots.
Hilton Graham was doing a brisk business in just-picked organic produce from his nearby Telfair County farm. Arranging bunches of greens, he gestured to his two teenage helpers to assist a waiting customer. “It’s a great day for a market, and as crazy as this place gets, it still gives me peace of mind being here,” Graham says.
In a city where more than half the population is African American, the park’s weekly farmers market is evidence of a slow reversal of history. As recently as 1963, Graham, a 61-year-old African American vegetable farmer, wouldn’t have been allowed to enter this park, let alone run a successful vegetable stand. Now, however, Forsyth Park is a true community space that’s helping to put a new face on the organic food movement.
To read the full article, click here.
