Farmers ‘sidelined’ at their own market
Minority candidates don’t yet see program benefits
Farmers who say they have been boxed out of the lucrative cannabis industry due to the high costs of entry were confronted by police as they protested a so-called “Cannabis Farmers Market” event at a Worcester dispensary over the weekend.
“Farmers aren’t even getting in the parking lot, let alone sitting at the table,” Westport farmer Averyl Andrade said.
Andrade and her husband picketed the event at Worcester pot shop Resinate alongside a motherdaughter farming duo Ominique Garner and Goldie Piff of A.V. Rose Farms in Rochester and about a dozen advocates fed up with the barriers barring them from getting into the businesses.
Farmers said the title was misleading since Resinate and the other companies involved are not farmers and have big-money backing.
Videos posted to social media show Resinate staff and co-owner Peter DeCaro confronting the farmers. Worcester police responded, but no arrests were made and protesters were allowed to stay.
Neither DeCaro nor Resinate responded to requests for comment.
Massachusetts has been criticized for the slow rollout of programs designed to increase the number of licenses going to minority candidates and people and communities negatively affected by the war on drugs.
Former Cannabis Control Commission founding member Shaleen Title took to Twitter to decry Saturday’s incident, calling the confrontation “symbolic” of the plight of farmers and minority candidates.
“Farmers were sidelined at an event that was literally named for them but they were not only excluded, but also had police called on them,” said Title, who now serves as the cannabis policy practitioner in residence at the Ohio State University and Policy Center. “There is so much more work to be done … and so much more that we need to do for farmers and communities of color.”
Massachusetts is losing farmland at a rapid pace as land is gobbled up by developers for housing, solar and other more profitable uses.
Andrade said cannabis is one way to save farms.
“A 20,000-square-foot, half-acre canopy of cannabis can change farmers’ lives. It can generate twice to three times the money we earn from solar … and other uses,” Andrade said.
But the barrier to entry remains too high for breakeven farmers like the Andrades and A.V. Rose Farms as the expensive upfront cost of host-community agreements with the towns where they reside remain out of reach.
“My grandfather was first Black landowner in Rochester so we understand the barriers in this industry and see those playing out now in the cannabis industry,” Garner said. “I’m hoping the protest on Saturday can serve as a sort of flashpoint.”