Lessons from the Garden: An Autoethnography of Learning and Unlearning in Agricultural Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v67i3.3322Keywords:
Autoethnography, Food justice, Garden-based learning, Abolitionist teaching, Whiteness and positionalityAbstract
This autoethnography traces my evolution as a White educator, researcher, and activist working in school and community garden spaces and examines how these experiences cultivated an abolitionist approach to agricultural and civic education. Drawing on frameworks like abolitionist teaching and food justice, I explore how gardens became sites of learning, resistance, and contradiction. Through personal vignettes, field notes, and narrative inquiry, I illustrate how gardening with Black and Brown youth revealed the enduring afterlife of slavery within contemporary food systems and how these insights pushed my practice beyond apolitical garden-based education toward explicit freedom work. I highlight key pedagogical shifts, including recognizing gardens as commons where youth enact mutual aid and democratic decision making; understanding food cultivation as both a civic and abolitionist act; and confronting tensions around my own whiteness, institutional constraints, and the limits of volunteer labor within capitalist systems. These reflections reveal how garden spaces can function simultaneously as sanctuaries and contested terrains, offering opportunities for healing, critical consciousness, and collective imagining for more just futures.
Downloads
References
Alexander, M. (2020). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781620971949
Alper, K., Huber, E., & Stephens, J. D. (2021). Poverty and social rights among the working age population in post-industrial democracies. Social Forces, 99(4), 1710-1744. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soaa073. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soaa073
Barra, M. P. (2023). Plotting a geography of paradise: Black ecologies, productive nostalgia, and the possibilities of life on sinking ground. Transforming Anthropology, 31(1), 15-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/traa.12243. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/traa.12243
Bell, J. S. (2002). Narrative inquiry: More than just telling stories. TESOL Quarterly, 36(2), 207-213. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588331. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3588331
Blair, D. (2009). The child in the garden: An evaluative review of the benefits of school gardening. Journal of Environmental Education, 40(2), 15-38. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOEE.40.2.15-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3200/JOEE.40.2.15-38
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. University of California Press.
Carney, J. (2011). In the shadow of slavery: Africa’s botanical legacy in the Atlantic world. University of California Press.
Davis, A. Y. (2016). Freedom is a constant struggle. Haymarket Books.
Davis, A. Y. (2024). Abolition: Politics, practices, promises, vol. 1. Haymarket Books.
Delgado, R., and Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York University Press.
Delgado Bernal, D. (2002). Critical race theory, Latino critical theory, and critical race-gendered epistemologies: Recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107
Edwards, R. (2018). Invited essay: The new learning about homesteading. Great Plains Quarterly, 38(1), 1-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/gpq.2018.0001
Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Historical Social Research, 36(4), 273-290.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury Academic.
Gadd, R. (2023). ‘You can say that they were being racist’: Confronting white comfort in anti-racist teacher education. Whiteness and Education, 8(2), 159-176. https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2022.2066569. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2022.2066569
Gallavan, N. P. & Bowles, F. A. (2012). School-community gardening: Learning, living, earning, and giving. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 24(3), 13-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66392/105603012814724187
Gannon, K. M. (2020). Radical hope: A teaching manifesto. West Virginia University Press.
Garth, H. (2020). Blackness and “justice” in the L.A. food justice movement. In Garth, H., & Reese, A. M. (Eds.), Black food matters: Racial justice in the wake of food justice. (1st ed., p. 107-130). University of Minnesota Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctv182jtk0.7
Gottleib, R., & Joshi, A. (2010). Food justice. MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7826.001.0001
Green, J. J., Green, E. M., & Kleiner, A. M. (2011). From the past to the present: Agricultural development and black farmers in the American south. In A. H. Alkon & J. Agyeman, (Eds.), Food justice: Race, class, and sustainability. (1st ed., p. 47-64). MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8922.003.0006
Guthman, J. (2011). Weighing in: Obesity, food justice, and the limits of capitalism. University of California Press.
Harris, J. B. (2012). High on the hog: A culinary journey from Africa to America. Bloomsbury.
Hassberg, A. H. (2020). Nurturing the revolution: The Black Panther Party and the early seeds of the food justice movement. In Garth, H., & Reese, A. M. (Eds.), Black food matters: Racial justice in the wake of food justice. (1st ed., p.82-106). University of Minnesota Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctv182jtk0.6
Helfrich, S. (2012). The logic of the commons and the market: A shorthand comparison of their core beliefs. In D. Bollier & S. Helfrich (Eds.), The wealth of the commons: A world beyond market and state (pp. 35-43). Levellers Press.
Helmick, L. (2022). White saviorism: An insider perspective. Art Education, 75(3), 9-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2022.2027722. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2022.2027722
Hess, C. (2008). Mapping the new commons. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1356835. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1356835
Horst, M., McClintock, N., Hoey, L. (2017). The intersection of planning, urban agriculture, and food justice: A review of the literature. Journal of the American Planning Association, 83(3), 277-295. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2017.1322914. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2017.1322914
Kelley, R. D. G. (2016). Freedom dreams: The Black radical imagination. Beacon Press.
King, T. L. (2019). The Black shoals: Offshore formations of Black and Native studies. Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478005681
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X035007003
Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104
Lorde, A. (1984). Sister outsider: Essays and speeches. Crossing Press.
Love, B. (2016). Anti-Black state violence, classroom edition: The spirit murdering of Black children. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 13(1), 22-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2016.1138258. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2016.1138258
Love, B. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.
Love, B. (2023). Punished for dreaming: How school reform harms Black children and how we heal. St. Martin’s Press.
Mah, A. (2021). Toxic legacies and environmental injustice. In B. Coolsaet (Ed.). Environmental justice: Key issues. (pp. 121-131). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429029585-12
Mares, T. M., & Peña, D. G. (2011). Environmental and food justice: Toward local, slow, and deep food systems. In A. H. Alkon & J. Agyeman, (Eds.), Food justice: Race, class, and sustainability. (1st ed., p. 197-220). MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8922.003.0014
mayam. (2023). On farming as a practice of abundance and liberation. In W. Awry, (Ed.), Nourishing resistance: Stories of food, protest, and mutual aid. (1st ed., p. 49-55). PM Press.
McKittrick, K. (2006). Demonic grounds: Black women and the cartographies of struggle. University of Minnesota Press.
Meyer, C. (2020). The commons: A model for understanding collective action and entrepreneurship in communities. Journal of Business Venturing, 35(5), n.p. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2020.106034. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2020.106034
Minkoff-Zern, L-A., Peluso, N., Sowerwine, J., & Getz, C. (2011). Race and regulation: Asian immigrants in California agriculture. In A. H. Alkon & J. Agyeman, (Eds.), Food justice: Race, class, and sustainability. (1st ed., p. 65-86). MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8922.003.0007
Mitchell, T. D. (2008). Traditional vs. critical service-learning: Engaging the literature to differentiate the two models. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 14, 50-65.
Ngunjiri, F., Hernandez, K-A., & Chang, H. (2010). Living autoethnography: Connecting life and research. Journal of Research Practice, 6(1), 2-17.
Norgaard, K. M., Reed, R., & Van Horn, C. (2011). A continuing legacy: Institutional racism, hunger, and nutritional justice on the Klamath. In A. H. Alkon & J. Agyeman, (Eds.), Food justice: Race, class, and sustainability. (1st ed., p. 23-46). MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8922.003.0005
Pechtelidis, Y., Kozaris, I., Pantazidis, S., & Botonaki, A. (2023). Sowing the seeds of commons in education: Three case studies from the Horizon Project 2020 SMOOTH. Social Sciences, 12(10), 581-597. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100581. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100581
Penniman, L. (2018). Farming while Black: Soul Fire Farm’s practical guide to liberation on the land. Chelsea Green Publishing.
Perkins, D. D., Meeks, J. W., & Taylor, R. B. (1992). The physical-environment of street blocks and resident perceptions of crime and disorder: Implications for theory and measurement. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 12(1), 21-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80294-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80294-4
Pfeil, C. (2026a). Sowing abolition: Reimagining agricultural education in the afterlife of slavery. Journal of Agricultural Education, 67(2), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.5032.jae.v67i2.3292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v67i2.3292
Pfeil, C. (2026b). The gardens as commons, the commons as classroom: Abolitionist civic learning in practice. The Journal of Environmental Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2026.2631985. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2026.2631985
Pfeil, C. (2025). Exploring food justice and civic attitudes among Black high school students. Journal of Agricultural Education, 66(1), Article 16. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i1.2903. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i1.2903
Pfeil, C. (2024). “It’s good for the human soul”: Community gardening as a pathway to civic action. Journal of Agricultural Education, 65(4), 127-144. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v65i4.2774. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v65i4.2774
Saltmarsh, J. (2005). The civic promise of service learning. Liberal Education, 91(2), 50-55. https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-sp05/le-sp05index.cfm.
Sandlin, J. A., O’Malley, M. P., & Burdick, J. (2011). Mapping the complexity of public pedagogy scholarship: 1840-2010. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), 338-375. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311413395. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311413395
Sbicca, J. (2018). Food justice now!: Deepening the roots of social struggle. University of Minnesota Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctv3dnnrt
Sewell, W., Horsford, C. E., Coleman, K., & Watkins, C. S. (2016). Vile vigilance: An integrated theoretical framework for understanding the state of Black surveillance. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(3-4), 287-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2015.1127735. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2015.1127735
Sharpe, C. (2016). In the wake: On blackness and being. Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373452
Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103
Sparkes, A. C. (2024). Autoethnography as an ethically contested terrain: Some thinking points for consideration. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 21(1), 107-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2023.2293073. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2023.2293073
Torney-Purta, J., Cabrera, J. C., Roohr, K. C., Liu, O. L., & Rios, J. A. (2015). Assessing civic competency and engagement in higher education: Research background, frameworks, and directions for next-generation assessment. Educational Testing Service Research Report. https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12081. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12081
Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121
Wall, S. (2006). An autoethnography on learning about autoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(2), 146-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500205
Wallace, D. (2018). Safe routes to school? Black Caribbean youth negotiating police surveillance in London and New York City. Harvard Educational Review, 88(3), 261-286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-88.3.261
White, M. M. (2018). Freedom farmers: Agricultural resistance and the Black freedom movement. University of North Carolina Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469643694.001.0001
Wilson Gilmore, R. (2022). Abolitionist geography. Verso.
Woodson A., & Love, B. (2019). Outstanding: Centering black kids’ enoughness in civic education research. Multicultural Perspectives, 21(2), 91-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2019.1606631. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2019.1606631
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
