“If your vision is for a year plant wheat, if your vision is for a decade plant trees, and if your vision is for a lifetime plant people.” - African Proverb

Who We Are

Nourishing Beloved Community emerged from a growing commitment to practice interdependence and develop resilience. We humbly stand on the shoulders of the Jefferson County Anit-racist Fund, which began a mutual aid program for BIPOC in 2019.

Our mission is to use sustainable models for addressing food access and other forms of well-being while also building a socially and economically cohesive thriving community for the people of the global majority (PGM) in semi-rural Jefferson county.

Oceana Sawyer, Cendre Hunt, and Cameron Jones are the team behind Nourishing Beloved Community, which started as an experimental project of Well Organized/ BLMJC in April 2023.

Our Program Vision Includes

  • Development of a community garden by and for PGM on land that is owned by a PGM trust

  • Agricultural mentoring and training of individual PGM gardeners as well as PGM youth

  • Cultivation and sharing of culturally appropriate agricultural and culinary foodways and wellness practices

  • Cultivation of land stewardship among the PGM community

  • Development of a robust community social and economic structure that prioritizes cultural literacy, relational rigor, wellness, joy, and resilience. 

  • Development of a community wellness initiative that includes land, food, physical and behavioral well-being, and communal resilience.

FAQs

  • In the spring of ‘23, a few local PGM got the idea to imagine a sustainable way for PGM to feed themselves as a way to cultivate community.

    We wish to recognize our sources of inspiration - Jessaca Kéet of JCARF and Peter Mustin of Woodbridge Farms.

  • We have adopted the term “people of the global majority” [PGM] to replace the popular moniker “people of color” [POC] as a departure from the fallacious notions of color as a meaningful indicator of character.

    Nomenclature is essential to our goals and how we function. The use of the term people of the global majority (PGM) fits with our vision and values. While we honor Loretta Ross, an African American woman, who coined the term:” women of color” in 1977 which led to its current wider use of “people of color”, we feel the conversation has recently evolved.

    The term People of the Global Majority was coined by Rosemary Campbell-Stephens as late as 2011 and popularized by Dr. Barbara Love as early as 2013. Both women of African descent are thought-leaders in the area of liberatory theory and praxis.

  • While we always seek to uplift PGM who have particular needs, our primary goal is to develop a resilient community among ourselves. We believe this is the best way to make a contribution to the lives of all beings on the Olympic Peninsula, and Jefferson County in particular.

  • Family members of PGM kin are always welcome at our exclusive events. We also welcome thoughtful partnership and support from non-PGM as the occasion arises.

  • If you are a PGM, you can sign up to receive news, updates, or a food box through a password-protected portal here.

    If you are an interested non-PGM, you can sign up for our newsletter here.