Growing the Sankofa Community Farm

Today we are excited to announce the launching of a new chapter: introducing the Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden. The word Sankofa, from the Twi language of modern-day Ghana,  means to "go back and get it."  The farm is now fully rooted at Bartram's Garden and in our Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood.   

We are committed to the practice of natural agriculture; grounded in spiritual awareness; and dedicated to providing space for people to build relationships with food, the land, and each other. Sankofa Community Farm works to learn, teach, and promote self-reliance through connecting  to our community's deep African Diaspora culture. 

We have strong local leadership guiding our vision of youth development, community health, and food sovereignty.

Our work depends on You: our community. Your generosity will have a direct and immediate impact:

·         providing stipends for the roughly 20 high school students who are hired to tend the farm and run the farmstands each year;

·         offering supplies and workshops for our 50 community gardeners, many of whom are elderly or recent immigrants;

·         sustaining the year-round youth development curriculum, including lessons on nutrition and kitchen skills, African heritage, food justice, and leadership;

·         welcoming more than 10,000 schoolchildren to our outdoor classroom each year;

·         and helping the farm grow and distribute more than 15,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce each year.

With the support of the Bartram’s Garden Board of Directors, as well as a dedicated network of institutional funders, we are well on our way to raising the farm’s annual budget of $200,000. We hope that you will join our many dedicated partners in making this opportunity possible: please use this secure server to make your tax-deductible gift now. You can learn more about our values and impact—and get a behind-the-scenes view—through the video above, or learn more about our latest developments below.

We sincerely appreciate your support of the farm and look forward to working with you as we continue to grow.

Sankofa: A Constant Remembering
The new name was chosen in a collaborative process led by our youth, our Community Advisory Board, and local partners. It intentionally reflects the African focus of the farm's core work: the concept of Sankofa is derived from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa, where people say, "Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyi." Literally translated, this means, "It is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot." The farm has been guided by the idea of Sankofa since its inception and we work daily to bring this consciousness in our Southwest Philadelphia community. We are committed to living the praxis of Sankofa, a constant “remembering” as we move forward with our lives as individuals, nourished by active engagement of our people’s shared narratives in America.

With this optimistic new focus, the farm has devoted this year towards deepening our work within our community. With their help, we have developed an identity that reflects and confronts our history and, ultimately, embraces the healing power of Sankofa and the land.

Renewing the Bartram Legacy of Agriculture
This commitment is strengthened by our new institutional alignment at Bartram’s Garden. The Bartram family’s legacy of agriculture, stewardship, and sharing informs today’s modern commitment to food sovereignty as a cornerstone of the Garden’s new strategic plan. With the farm now fully integrated as part of Bartram’s Garden, we have embodied and deepened our connections to the community and to the land, welcoming more neighbors than ever before.

Thank you for your support of the Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. We are honored to be in community with you.