By Brian Barth in Modern Farmer

Leah Penniman is an American anomaly: black, female, and a farmer. Her primary focus involves fighting what she considers a far more common, yet more subtly brutal, form of oppression. “Corporations, and white folks, in particular, control the food system,” explains the 37-year-old. “If the means of production are in the hands of people outside our community, we are dependent on those who might not have our best interests in mind.”