A couple of thoughts on how racist things work...
The big grant project we have going on is a NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG). NRCS fund agricultural operations, usually rural. But they have recently carved out a $1.5 million set aside of the funds for urban agriculture. A long-time buddy of mine who presently works for the City of Boulder, and who is leading a national carbon neutral cities alliance, spearheaded a proposal that will put one of our biochar+energy systems into greenhouses at four "urban" food sustainability operations in Cleveland, Detroit (both black organizations), Vanderwagon NM (the Skeets' Spirit farm), and The Old Chinese Gardens LLC farm in Silver City (our farm). Though Trollworks is the core link between them all, we made sure that there was an element of technology transfer in both directions with all of the sites, mostly because each site has a strength or two that the other sites lack, but also to moderate the status establishment effect of all the tech flowing from the White entrepreneurs to the "minorities". In my mind this acknowledgement of the necessity of clear lines of transactional equality is fundamental to the success of the project.
I traveled to Cleveland in December with another member of our farm (both of us White boys) to take a look at the site where they want to install their unit, and for us to learn about their established aquaculture operation, which we plan to integrate into our greenhouse. The whole trip was a great success - the back and forth exchange of learning was productive and fun, due in some part to there being no fixed teacher/student dynamic.
They had a great aquaculture system, which we will replicate pretty much exactly - except we plan to raise shrimp instead of tilapia. If we are successful, they will add shrimp to their operation.
