A University of Vermont Institute for Agroecology Small Grant helped launch three innovative agroecology projects that are grounded in the principles of food justice and poised to flourish in 2025. These projects confront the white heteropatriarchal culture of rural and agricultural spaces in their northeastern US region, while fostering spaces for socially marginalized people to thrive in agriculture. Documenting oppression and cultivating alternatives is core to the research and extension mission of Institute for Agroecology faculty collaborator Isaac “Ike” Leslie, a community organizer for the projects. As white heteropatriarchy wields its destructive power in the US in 2025, it is ever more important to support constructive projects like these that offer pathways toward a future guided by values of social justice and environmental sustainability.

The Trans and Queer Farmer Portrait Project

The Trans and Queer Farmer Portrait Project is a workshop series where LGBTQ+ farmers (owners and workers) gather in community on trans and queer-owned farms. Farmers are professionally photographed and use plant or soil matter from their farm to develop a semi-abstract photo portrait, called an anthotype. 

Trans and Queer Farmer Portrait Project artist Kayleigh MacDonald self-portrait

An anthotype by artist Kayleigh MacDonald

The project is led by artist Kayleigh MacDonald in partnership with Vermont farmers Jamie Skye Bianco (also a New York University Clinical Associate Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication) and Ike Leslie (also a University of Vermont Extension Assistant Professor of Community Development, Food Systems Graduate Program Faculty, and Gund Institute for Environment Affiliate). 

Jamie Skye Bianco’s first lambs of 2025

The resulting portraits will be shared through a gallery series and book project, where viewers are invited to confront the ways that white heteropatriarchy has influenced our preconceptions of The Farmer and our relationship with the land itself. 

The Jewish Trans and Queer Agricultural Project

The Jewish Trans and Queer Agricultural Project has begun with exploratory research about this last decade’s vigorous emergence of farms and land projects led by Jewish LGBTQ+ farmers. This project is a collaboration with Rabbi and Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont Executive Director Grace Oedel, Ike Leslie, and Babson College Professor of History Marjorie Feld - author of the new book The Threshold of Dissent: A History of American Jewish Critics of Zionism. 

Marjorie Feld’s timely new book

Interviews will provide the foundation of writing that explores questions of food and land justice from Jewish LGBTQ+ farmers’ perspectives. In our current times of war in the name of religion and government scapegoating of LGBTQ+ citizens, this project aims to inform new land-based frameworks for developing alternatives to the settler colonial and family farm models of organizing agricultural production. 

The Northeast LGBTQIA+//BIPOC Beekeepers Alliance

The Northeast LGBTQIA+//BIPOC Beekeepers Alliance is a grassroots network addressing the distinct challenges of building a resilient and equitable beekeeping industry in the Northeast.

Northeast LGBTQIA+//BIPOC Beekeepers Alliance participants

The Alliance is led by They Keep Bees and Island Bee Project in collaboration with Woven Roots Farm, Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust, and the University of Vermont. In 2024, the Alliance engaged 12 emergent BIPOC beekeepers, supplying them with 24 starter hives, beekeeping equipment, and online mentorship to start or grow their beekeeping operation. 

Northeast LGBTQIA+//BIPOC Beekeepers Alliance workshop

The season culminated with an in-person workshop and reflection at Woven Roots Farm. In 2025 the Alliance will engage 15 more beekeepers and expand its community organizing efforts across the Northeast. Their approach supports small- to mid-scale beekeepers by equipping them with strategies, resources, and education to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Simultaneously, it fosters a community of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC beekeepers in the Northeast that shares resources, skills, and bees. 

For more information about engagement with these food justice projects, please email Ike at isaac.leslie@uvm.edu.