What I Learned from the Grandmother of Juneteenth

And how her namesake farm is changing the food scarcity crisis

When I started my Substack, I knew I wanted a space to write things other than weekly recipes. My Thursday “Things, Life, Whatnot” newsletter was meant to capture the random things related to food that didn’t go with recipe posts, but listening to a podcast about Homeboy Industries in LA made me realize my true passion is sharing the stories that connect people and food. I’m pondering a new name for this weekly newsletter, but have also changed the publishing day from Thursday to Sunday to hopefully make space for reading without weekday time constraints.

I hope you enjoy these stories and will become a paid subscriber to help me support organizations like the one I’m highlighting this week.

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Since my first trip to the Cours Saleya outdoor market in Nice, France 26 years ago, shopping at local farmers’ markets has become essential to life. Among the many joys of frequenting a farmers’ market, building relationships with farmers is number one.

Five years ago, Greg Joel showed up at the Cowtown Farmers Market for the first time. He only had a modest table, was on the outskirts of the market with no tent and no signage, and out of curiosity we stopped on the way to our regular vendor’s booths.

As we do with all new farmers, we introduced ourselves and asked about his story. He told us about the farm he managed, Opal’s Farm, their farming practices, and how the name originated. I stood there completely wrapped in what he was saying about the farm’s namesake - Ms. Opal Lee. It was unbelievable and I was astonished to know we have a true hero right here in Fort Worth. Full of life, tenacious, super kind in spite of being treated with hate most of her young life and 97 years old to boot!

Though I haven’t met her yet, my dream is to interview Ms. Opal Lee - known affectionately as the Grandmother of Juneteenth - for an audio or video here on Substack someday soon. Please subscribe so you don’t miss it. Until then, I want to share the back story of Opal’s farm.

What is Juneteenth?

Before you can understand who Opal Lee is, you have to understand what she stands for. Recognizing there are readers here who aren’t from the US, let me explain. In January 1863, President Lincoln blessedly proclaimed the abolition of slavery in the Emancipation Proclamation. For reasons that aren’t clearly known, (one theory is Lincoln’s messenger was murdered) it wasn’t until June 19, 1865 almost 2 1/2 years later, that Union General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 stating all slaves were free.

The news so stunned the newly freed Texans that it wasn’t until 1866, a year later, they began to fully celebrate this monumental day. Festivals at Galveston where General Granger read the order centered in churches and honored those who had endured slavery with parades, prayers, and readings of the proclamation.

While it remained a Texas celebration for decades, the Great Migration after WWII brought it to the nation although it quickly lost steam in the 1950s. The Civil Rights Movement and assassination of Martin Luther King revived it however and it began to gain momentum until Texas adopted Juneteenth as a state holiday followed by all but three other states.

How Ms. Opal Lee Became the Grandmother of Juneteenth

Ms. Opal celebrated Juneteenth with family picnics and quiet celebrations throughout her childhood since the holiday wasn’t celebrated as widely in Fort Worth but June 19, 1939 marked her life. On that day, white vigilantes interrupted her family’s private Juneteenth celebration burning down their home in the primarily white neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas. Though this day could have led to a place of animosity, it has come to define her life in a much more positive way.

Juneteenth had been celebrated throughout the country for the last few decades, but in 2016, Ms. Opal realized there was a need for an even deeper connection for the African American population to this holiday beyond the festivities and food. Through a series of speaking engagements sandwiched between 2 1/2-mile walks morning and night (honoring the 2 1/2 years it took for the news to reach Texas slaves) Ms. Opal symbolically walked from Fort Worth to D.C. participating in Juneteenth festivities and celebrating her 90th birthday along the way. Her plan was to garner attention to this holiday with the goal of having it become a national holiday. Attention was garnered for sure, but the plan wasn’t complete.

With great persistence Ms. Opal continued her campaign journeying not once but three times to D.C. to make this request to the President in person, once with a petition bearing 1.5 million signatures in hand. After her third attempt, she said “I refuse to let our efforts we’ve made die on the vine.” (1) Four months after her third journey on June 17, 2021 she finally got her longtime request and hope fulfilled with the signing of the bill recognizing June 19th as a federal holiday.

In 2022, Ms. Opal was nominated for but did not win the esteemed Nobel Peace Prize on her 96th birthday, however, May 3rd of 2024, at the young age of 97, she rightfully received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. This award recognized her brave and persistent efforts driven by the desire for the original intent of Juneteenth to be restored - educating, celebrating, informing, and bringing all people together.

When pressed to make this a source of division, her response always points back to equality: "It’s not a Texas thing. It’s not a Black thing. It’s not black-and-white. It’s the right thing…It’s about humanity and the ability to know another person’s story." (2) Proving this point, she recently returned from a 10 day trip to Japan sharing about freedom and what Juneteenth means for our country.

Opal’s Farm

While Ms. Opal’s personal story is incredibly inspiring, it’s the others involved in her namesake farm I’ve personally gotten to know.

Located just outside of downtown Fort Worth, Opal’s Farm is an extension of Ms. Opal’s work with Community Food Bank. With Farmer Greg at the helm as manager, the five acres are farmed using 100% organic methods in order to preserve soil and protect the environment.

Each week at the Cowtown Farmers Market we stop by the Opal’s Farm booth to buy produce and chat with Greg. Soft spoken and kind, he keeps us informed about what’s happening on the farm, good and bad and we all share updates on our families.

Miraculously, in spite of having the worst freezes of the century two years in a row and one of the hottest summers on record, they have seen great growth producing thousands of pounds of produce each year. This produce boom enables the farm to provide seasonal, sustainably raised vegetables to the Community Food Bank as well as those in food scarce neighborhoods who depend on SNAP for food benefits.

Through a partnership between the market and the Blue Zone’s project, Opal’s Farm and all food and beverage vendors at the market can accept SNAP giving recipients up to $60 to spend using the Blue Zone’s matching initiative. While the farm receives grants to help buy supplies, selling at local farmers’ markets like the Cowtown further funds the farm making the SNAP program mutually beneficial.

Full Circle

As I was researching the back story of Ms. Opal, I came across this amazing full circle story. The house that her parents bought in the 1930s had been lovingly taken care of before it’s destruction in 1939. Ms. Lee recently reached out to Trinity Habitat for Humanity, the owners of the property, to ask if she could buy it. Their response? No.

Instead they gave her the property with the promise of building a brand new home for her to be finished this year. While I have only captured a small snapshot of her long and cinema worthy story, I love how the tenet of kindness bringing about kindness is seen so vividly in this turnabout of events.

So here’s to you, Ms. Opal for what you’ve taught me not in person but through your actions: Stand and keep standing for what you believe. Let calamity be fuel for change. Healthy food is not a privilege but a right for all.

So thank you for what you’ve done to make healthy food available to those in food scarce neighborhoods. And thank you for standing for equality for all.

How You Can Carry On Ms. Opal Lee’s Efforts

• Subscribe to Real Food Sanity - 20% of gross receipts between now and June 20th will be given directly to Opal’s Farm. My goal is $1000!

• Give Directly to Opal’s Farm - But I would love it if you would do this in addition to Subscribing! While it seems she will live forever, the farm carrying her name will live on well after her long and storied life has ended and donations help them buy supplies to keep sustainably growing produce.

• Participate in Opal’s Annual 2.5 Mile Walk - Benefiting the forthcoming National Juneteenth Museum, you can register to walk even from your home treadmill, no matter where you are in the world. (Watch the linked video of the museum to see just how inspiring she is at 97!)

• Buy Ms. Opal’s book, Juneteenth: a Children’s Story to help explain the significance of this holiday to children.

(1) The Mission Of Opal Lee, Fort Worth's Grandmother Of Juneteenth

(2) Opal Lee Kicks Off Another Year of Juneteenth Celebrations