Young Female Farmers Encourage Healthy and Self-Sufficient Farming Practices

By: Ashtin Barker

Young Female Farmers Audio Story

Origins of Young Female Farmers

Since she was four years old, Margo Candelario has been working in the dirt and learning to farm. Coming from three generations of African-American women farmers, Candelario started Young Female Farmers on three and a half acres in Bishop, Georgia, in 2006 as a way to teach her three daughters to be self-sufficient. 

Candelario lost her husband to a heart attack in her early 30s while she was pregnant with her youngest daughter, Trae. Candelario’s mother, Clarice Scott, moved to Georgia from New York to help raise the young girls. 

Scott almost always had a garden and grew food in their backyard in the Bronx. After Scott suggested that Candelario start a garden in Georgia, the idea of developing their land into a farm started.

“This is not something that just happened, you know, yeah, at least we started in 2006, but I’ve been doing it since I was four years old, but didn’t think about turning it into a business really; and that was because of the tragedy of losing my husband and the circumstances and wanting to create something for my children,” Candelario said.

Scott most enjoys the capacity to be self-sufficient and be able to feed themselves by growing food on their land in Bishop, Georgia.

“What’s interesting to me, at best, is that when we farm, we can eat, don’t have to go to the grocery store,” Scott said. “And then we can also help other people to eat without going to the grocery store, as long as we plant enough for us first.”

Learning to Live from the Land

Since her daughters have grown up and two have started families of their own, Candelario has been using her farming skills and experience to hold workshops and educate people on sustainable farming practices and the health benefits of herbal remedies and eating organic produce.

“I want people to know that if you don’t have an acre, but you have a porch and you have a back deck, you can grow food in a five-gallon bucket,” Candelario said.

During the summer growing season, customers can order freshly harvested produce from the farm and pick it up on the same day.

In addition to their summer produce, Young Female Farmers also sell herbal teas and herbal extract tinctures made from native plants on the farm. Their available tinctures include plants like yellow dock, which can be used as an anti-inflammatory, and mullein leaf, which is used to treat breathing problems such as asthma and sore throats.

On October 19, 2024, Candelario hosted a “Women, Livestock, and the Land” workshop at Young Female Farmers in partnership with the National Center for Appropriate Technology. NCAT is a nationwide nonprofit organization aiming to advance solutions in regenerative agriculture and clean energy while working to promote healthy communities and protect natural resources.

The workshop brought in people from across the southeast, and Candelario said she was surprised when Black farmers from Mississippi came to Georgia for the workshop and to see other Black farmers.

“There were people that drove up here for that from Mississippi,” Candelario said. “I was totally shocked. I was excited about it, and they were Black because they wanted to see another Black farmer.”

 

History of Black Farmers

In the 1920s, Black farmers made up one-seventh of all farm operators in the United States, and today they make up less than two percent of all farmers. Over the past century, Black farmers have given up farmland because of discriminatory policies and loan denials from the federal government. According to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, those losses cost the farmers approximately $326 billion in income from that land.

Today, organizations like the National Black Farmers Association are working to educate and advocate for Black farmers to ensure they can access the funding they need to continue and grow in the agriculture industry.

Candelario knows that information is valuable, and by sharing her experiences and knowledge with others, she hopes to encourage a new generation of sustainable farmers. Young Female Farmers keep their Instagram and Facebook regularly updated with their planting and harvesting plans. On their website they offer various different classes for gardening and food preservation, as well as seasonal farm tours open to anyone.

“If you know how to grow your own food and teach others to do the same, this is not something that you gatekeep, you know,” Candelerio said. “Share the information because the more that you know, the more independent you become, then your community is independent.”

Clarice Scott and Margo Candelario pose for a photo in their kitchen, where they process all their harvested herbs and produce. Scott finds being able to grow food is “easier” because if money runs short, they still have food. (Photo/Ashtin Barker)

Although she isn’t sure if her daughters or grandchildren will continue the family farm in the future, Candelario continues to farm because she wants to educate and teach people the importance of eating off the land and utilizing plants for medicine and nutrition. 

“I want people to be self-sustainable if they choose to be, and you can’t do that without information,” Candelario said. “So you need people who are willing to educate and share their experiences with individuals who are interested in growing food, not interested in making money.”

Breaking Barriers: The Pressure and Power of Being a Black-Owned Business in Athens

By: Ashtin Barker, Mary Ryan Howarth, Sarah Davis, Shweta Krishnan

Nony’s Cheesecakes Video Package

Marcus “Nony” Lawrence’s business isn’t just about making cheesecakes. It’s about having resilience and determination to fight for the career you want.

“One of my biggest messages is consistency, like just stay at it. If you don’t quit, you can’t fail,” Lawrence said. “Failure is only when you quit.”

Lawrence is the owner and CEO of Nony’s Cheesecakes, which began as Cheesecake Topia in November 2012. Lawrence was forced to close in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, he rebranded the company to reflect his personal growth and long-term vision for success. 

For him, launching a business and becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t a carefully guided journey – it was partly a leap of faith based on hustle, ambition and belief in his community’s support.

That independence, though empowering, also came from a deeper fear – one rooted in the distrust of traditional systems that many Black entrepreneurs share.

“I was really stuck on doing it on my own. I wasn’t even going to ask [for help] because I was told that there were barriers. I didn’t even bother to ask,” Lawrence said.

Instead of seeking out loans, Lawrence launched a GoFundMe about a year ago, to raise money for his food truck and other business expenses. To date, the campaign, community donations, purchases and tips have raised about $4,000 of the $80,000 needed to bring his dream to life (not all numbers are visually shown in the GoFundMe total).

“I want this food truck, and I believe that the community that believes in me is going to make that happen. I shouldn’t have to go to a bank or anything to make that happen,” Lawrence said. “Because ultimately, I feel like that’s just to keep us in debt. That’s a personal belief… I’m really fearful when it comes to stuff like that.”

This fear isn’t unfounded. 

According to research from the 2024 The State of Black Business Report, Black business owners face more barriers to accessing capital compared to other groups, which impacts their ability to start a business. 

Four in ten Black-owned businesses are completely denied loans, lines of credit and cash advances. Only 32% are fully approved, compared to 56% of white-owned businesses that are fully approved.

 

 

This reality reinforces a cycle of self-reliance and community support.

But being a Black business owner in a small town like Athens comes with more than just financial challenges – it also comes with stereotypes that Lawrence has tried to break. 

“You know the stereotype of Black people open when they want to- that’s one that I know I used to say,” Lawrence said. “If you go to a store that’s Black-owned and they’re closed for whatever reason, you don’t need to know the reason, you just know that ‘oh that’s how Black people is’ or if they’re late for something…, it just burns on the inside when I’m late for something now.”

He recognizes what his customers expect, and he holds himself to a higher standard to ensure that he is not reinforcing the stereotypes he is trying to break.

“Even now, just dealing with the stress of things, I kind of want to lash out, go hide in the bed or something, but it’s like I have to be a symbol of change or something different. You want something different, you got to do something different.”

His commitment to making change in his community extends beyond his customer service. It shows up in how he runs his business and teaches his team. 

His current employees are from his family – his two sons, sister-in-law and niece – and he finds it important to not only teach them how to run a successful business, but to have the willingness to grow.

“That’s one of my biggest things. If you come in under me, just be prepared to learn and grow,” Lawrence said. “I want motivated people- somebody that either wants a location of their own or they aspire to be an entrepreneur, and they can take from what I have, the information that I have, and be able to utilize that in their own way.”

Lawrence’s employee and sister-in-law, Kimberly Sessions, spoke about her personal experience working with Lawrence and watching the business grow.

“It’s grown a lot…I think it’s better now,” she said. “I can talk to him about anything, and he’s willing to work with me.” 

 

His successful mentorship is evident through his previous employees. Five out of the seven employees that he had at his first company, Cheesecake Topia, have gone on to launch their own small businesses.

Still, Lawrence recognizes that mentorship, particularly in the Black community, is not always easily accessible. 

“Since I’ve gotten a mentor, I’ve realized that mentorship is very important, and I don’t think there are a lot of mentors available here,” Lawrence said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of education as far as understanding how important a mentor is or how important resources are.”

He noted that when he first met his mentor, Maxim Watkins, the owner of Food Truck Builders A-Z, he was skeptical. He said Watkins’ position and the information and money he had made him think that he would take his ideas and run away with it – especially because it had happened previously.

“It’s just letting the guards down. I think there’s a lot of distrust amongst Black people and that’s within the community and outside the community…,” Lawrence said. “Breaking those walls down and figuring out how we can come together to help each other and not feel like we’re going to take from one another.”

But Watkins helped Lawrence gain access to a trailer and kitchen space, allowing him to make more cheesecakes and take his product on the road.

This vision of unity is something he hopes extends to the local community. Lawrence dreams of a day once a week or even once a month where community members intentionally shop at local businesses. 

This community collaboration is not only something he hopes to see with businesses, but also on a personal level, with mentorship.

Lawrence grew up in East Athens, where he was not afforded as many opportunities, resources and the education to succeed. He seeks to use his experiences to make a difference in the next generation of entrepreneurs, not only to build success but also hope.

“We’ve taken some pretty hard losses on the East side as far as people who I knew as kids to be really good people but maybe made some different decisions that weren’t the best, but I want to be that beacon of light to show that it’s an opportunity to do something different,” Lawrence said. “You don’t even have to change who you are. You can be exactly who you are- just grow. Just be willing to grow.”

Invisible barriers to Mental Health Treatment for UGA Students

By: Ashtin Barker

Mental Health Access at UGA Video

An organization on campus hopes to end the negative stigma around mental health to get students access to the resources they need. The members of the National Alliance on Mental Illness on Campus understand the complex and nuanced process of seeking out mental health services.

NAMI hosts mental health awareness events and student-led mental health support groups throughout the school year. NAMI’s president, Gabriel Richardson, a 22-year-old biology and psychology double major, wants to enter the mental health field someday.

“A lot of low-income students might be not used to just seeking out healthcare in general,” Richardson said. “Sometimes, because of cost and affordability, somebody from a more affluent background might be taken to the doctor every time they have a cold. Well, that might not be the case for people with lower incomes.”

A National Crisis 

The national mental health crisis has gradually worsened in the past decade. According to the 2024 report from the Healthy Minds Study, 41% of college students reported in the survey expressed symptoms of depression, 36% reported anxiety disorders and 14% reported having seriously considered suicide in the past year.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, in 2020, among adults who had any mental illness in the past year and a perceived unmet need for services, 30% didn’t receive care because insurance didn’t cover mental health services or didn’t pay enough for the services.

Fourth-year criminal justice major, Grace Teague, says she has used the counseling/therapy services at the Center for Counseling and Personal Evaluation since September 2024. The CCPE offers individual counseling for students from doctoral and masters level student clinicians at $10 per session.

“I didn’t really know much about counseling and I was like I don’t even know if that’s going to be helpful,” Teague said. “Sort of like I feel like where everyone kind of gets where it’s like I don’t know what I need, but I need.”

Teague has experienced anxiety since high school, and in college she realized she couldn’t continue managing her anxiety alone so she started looking for professional help. Through her college roommate she learned about the affordable counseling services at the CCPE. 

“People who maybe need those [mental health] resources might not know they need resources until it’s like they’ve kind of reached a breaking point,” Teague said. “And then it’s like the process of getting into resources and all that, it’s like at that point you might feel really defeated.”

Financial stress is a significant risk factor for poor mental health, with 65% of college students with a positive screen for depression or anxiety reporting that they’ve experienced high financial stress.

“Someone might know that they’re struggling, but then it’s like, I can’t worry about my mental health right now. I have all these other [financial] things to worry about,” Teague said.

The societal and cultural stigmas surrounding mental illness and suicide inhibit people in need from seeking out and accessing the help they need. The annual Out of the Darkness Campus Walk hosted by UGA and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention aims to reduce the stigma surrounding the topic of suicide. The 2025 walk is scheduled for Saturday, March 23 at Tate Student Center and all donations made during the event go to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Angel Hart, a December 2024 graduate participated in the walk for the past two years and is planning to attend this year as well. Hart graduated with degrees in Spanish and psychology and is currently applying to work in the Center for Counseling and Personal Evaluation as a counselor. 

“I think it’s more so finding the time to even try to stop what you’re doing and to seek out resources,” Hart said. “Even if you have organizations at UGA or things that you hear about from friends…it’s so hard to even stop to be like ‘Oh maybe I do need to do that.’”