“You can’t get this at the store,” Roz Crawford, a vendor who the Black Farmer’s Market attendees affectionately refer to as Ms. Roz, boasts when she has customers and staff try and name her homemade pepper spice — the “Feel it in Your Nose” spice — because of its power and heat.

The market manager and organizer, Brittney Shelby Sessoms, who calls herself “The Youngest Big Mama You’ll Ever Meet,” greets the customers, some curious, some familiar, to make sure they feel welcome. 

As we continue to explore the More for Memphis plan, it found that food deserts are most dominant in areas with people of color, single parents, women, and people with disabilities. The plan also found that South Memphis, a majority Black community and the place in which the market is held, has difficulty accessing farmer’s markets and full-service grocery stores.

Brittney Shelby Sessoms.The plan hopes to change these disparities by creating interventions that tackle hunger and food insecurity within five years of its implementation. Founded by the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis, the Black Farmer’s Market as an initiative stands alone but aligns with the direction of the More for Memphis plan.

High Ground News spoke with Brittney Shelby Sessoms and Roz Crawford of Crawford’s Garden Starters to learn more about their efforts and experiences at the Black Farmer’s Market, its inclusivity, food justice, and what the market means to them.

Black Farmer’s Market staff.High Ground News: The More for Memphis plan hopes to create more access to health and wellness in Memphis. How does the Black Farmer’s Market bridge the gap? 

Brittney Shelby Sessoms: “The Black Farmer’s Market seeks to bridge the gap by cultivating a space that is for Blacks by Blacks, but it’s also very inclusive. We purposely bring it into a food desert where folks don’t have the opportunity, availability, or stability to access fresh foods or [experience] the joy that is Memphis. If you go Downtown or to the South Main district a few blocks away, you have all kinds of cool shops. Crosstown has cool shops and local foods. These people deserve to experience those things as well.

So while it's [about] food access, we have fresh foods provided by Lockards Produce and we are seeking to attract more. Our roots are directly tied to agriculture. For me, it makes no sense that Black folks anywhere are hungry or unhoused. I put those together because when you have a home, you are able to grow. It gives you more access to food. We intentionally put this in a food desert to expose [the community] to cultural relevance and nutrition, the beauty of small businesses, foodpreneurs and artisans, and things that are more natural.”

HGN: Can you share a little of your background? 

Brittney Shelby Sessoms: “I grew up a very Southern girl at the corner of Charlotte and Pickens, who is what my company is named after, Charlotte Road being in Walker Holmes and Pickens Road being just down the road in Mason, TN — a thriving hub for Black folks in this area. My grandmother inherited a 45-acre farm from her father, who he inherited from his grandfather’s father, who died a prosperous farmer before the end of slavery. We have a lot of history directly related to sharecropping.

One of the first acts of poverty, to me, is sharecropping because now you are free and you can go and get access to stuff but you don’t have anything. You can’t read or write. You don’t have any tools to work the land and bring in wealth. My grandfather allowed families who were sharecroppers to rent off his land and make money until they were able to buy homes on my [paternal side].

On my [maternal side] on Charlotte Road, my grandmother grew up residentially in the housing projects of Horn Lake Heights. She had a thriving farm in her backyard and grew a whole watermelon on the side of that brick porch. I am directly tied to folks who can make wine. My father still hunts to this day. I went on to learn more and get certified. It’s how I was raised.”

Black Farmer’s Market vendors.HGN: How did you know food justice was your passion? 

Brittney Shelby Sessoms: “Probably since I was little, and loved to eat. My granny and third-grade teacher would call me “Pot Roast.” I was a little chubby girl who loved potatoes, food, and cooking. I was always in the kitchen. My mother worked so I was always in the grannie’s houses. As for the justice part, my mother would tell me I couldn’t save the world before bedtime, and I begged to differ. 

I knew very early on that I loved growing food. I always had a connection to the land. I was raised by people who could cook and burn [so] it chose me. I would play in the medicine cabinet growing up, and when someone got sick, I would go and try to “doctor” on them. Everything that plants could do, I took to it. The spark has been lit in all those areas early on.” 

HGN: What lights you up about being involved with the Black Farmer’s Market? 

Brittney Shelby Sessoms: “Most definitely seeing people gain the access that they didn’t know they were missing. Something joyful about Black folks in our neighborhoods. Old folks used to say you can't miss what you never had, and you make the best out of everything. Sometimes you will see them and they pull up and ask, “What y’all doing over here?” [so] seeing them come use their vouchers, seeing them say this is better than in the store, seeing them taste samples of herbal teas and enjoy it, seeing the elders taste red tomatoes that take them back to their childhood — because tomatoes don’t taste like that in the store. Seeing them be taken back to a time of innocence over [things like fresh] tomatoes is a joy for me.” 

HGN: What is your vision a year or two from now with the Black Farmer’s Market?

Brittney Shelby Sessoms: “My vision is to grow and grow. On opening day, I said it is something that I want to be around when my children have children. So by the next two years, I hope we have 10-15 consistent vendors with at least four being farmers [growing from the six we currently have]. I hope that we are not asked by that time why is it called the Black Farmer’s Market; even though I appreciate that conversation and I consider it an educational piece and time to get cultural competence. It is something that makes you feel you have to prove yourself. I see special events, more live bands at the market and more food vendors, more arts and products, more classes, live demonstrations, more children and youth, and more joy.” 

Black Farmer’s Market vendor.HGN: Is there anything else we should know?

Brittney Shelby Sessoms: “We opened on Juneteenth, as a symbolic sign, as a call to the land, and as an act of liberation. So I just want to say, most years, look for us and we will try to make it annually that the opening day is Juneteenth, and that serves as a symbol of dismantling these historic injustices that are directly tied to land and food; reuniting with us. We look forward to expanding the hours to make this the community staple it deserves to be. So look for that and come join us.”

HGN: What got you into farming? 

Roz Crawford: “When I was a kid, we ate from the garden, from the ground. And later on in life, I started feeling the urge to eat a little better. So I am a friend of Bill W. and [I am] a recovering alcoholic and addict. I told my teacher that I wanted to learn how to grow. He has a farm in Mississippi. He said okay. We tore a deck down in the backyard and we built a frame up to keep rodents out. We started prepping the ground for the garden. That’s how I got started.”

HGN: What does the Black Farmer’s Market mean to you? 

Roz Crawford: “It means a lot. I learn. I meet people. I eat good because we have vegan food and different kinds of food. I try different stuff, different types of oil, and incense that people make. And Brittney [Shelby Sessoms] is my goddaughter. We are like-minded. She loves to grow and I do, too.”

Roz Crawford.HGN: Why is it important for events like these to be placed in the community? Why is it important and impactful for the community? 

Roz Crawford: “So the community can come out and learn and enhance themselves. So they can try different stuff. People pass by and they are curious. They want to know what we got going on up in here. Some stop, some keep going, but I think it’s a positive thing. And I really wish that the neighborhood would come out. We don’t get much of that. I worked with Westwood. They are trying to do things for Westwood and I wish people would come out. [I enjoy] being in community and sharing knowledge. And they teach me also.” 

HGN: What would you like us to know about Crawford’s Garden Starters? 

Roz Crawford: “I love to grow and I love to feed. You come to Crawford’s Garden Starters and I just ask for a little donation. You can go back there and you pick enough to eat. You don’t go back there and get crazy with it. Because I don’t want food, tomatoes, and peppers to go bad on my count. So I am learning how to dry this year, clean and dry vegetables.

I do not use pesticides. I am friendly, and sometimes I sell. But I give more than I sell. Some people come in and they want to grow. I ask them if they have dirt and a pot. If they say yes but they can’t afford the plant, I’ll give it to them. You just feel something in your heart. And if you see something on their face that they really want to do it, then baby, I will load them up.”

Roz Crawford.Why do you think it’s important for people to learn how to grow their own food? 

Roz Crawford: “That’s an easy one there. The food nowadays is horrible! You have all kinds of pesticides. Chicken ain’t chicken no more. Herbs ain’t herbs no more. You got a tomato [on this catalog]. That is a GMO. They are trying to get genetically modified foods in our garden and I’m not going. Even in the grocery stores, you don’t know what they are spraying on your food and vegetables. Homegrown is the way to go. It feels so good to go outside and cut a cabbage and go in the house and cook it, knowing that not all that stuff is in your food. It feels good to pick a tomato or greens and just eat it. That is the most joyous feeling in the world.” 

Is there anything else you want people to know? 

Roz Crawford: “I love me, so I can love y’all. Y’all need to come down here and learn. Come to some of the classes. Come to the Farmer’s Market. We are here every Tuesday at 491 McLemore. We got people that grow, that make their own stuff chemical free. So y’all come on out. I love me, and I love y’all, too.” 

The Black Farmer’s Market is held Tuesdays from 3-6 p.m. until Sept. 24 at 491 E. McLemore. For more information, visit: blackfarmersmarketmemphis.org or call: (901) 646-0947.