Conetoe is indeed isolated, but Rev. Joyner determined the only transformation worth having would come from within the community, not from another landowner. Conetoe had once been full of able farmers, Joyner adds, but people had forgotten the ways of his mother, who always grew organic vegetables and knew how to preserve anything, in its original juices, all winter long. As the movement grew, the Conetoe Family Life Center (CFLC) also deployed lay health coaches among the congregation. These coaches are simply responsible for helping a select group of individuals and families learn how to access and cook fresh, whole foods such as sweet potatoes, which thrive in North Carolina soil. Sweet potatoes are also rich in vitamins and minerals and even help improve blood sugar regulation.
Watch the interview with Richard Joyner who explains lay health coaches:
Read more in the Conetoe series
Justice through farming: The soil will give to any person
Being black in the United States is decidedly bad for your health
Video: Richard Joyner discusses Conetoe’s pathway to health
Video: Richard Joyner explains lay health coaches
Related news:
Youth-led farming, bee-keeping ministry inspires CBF field personnel
Hurricane season has ended (yay) but the poor aren’t cheering
Moving beyond hope to confidence in fight against hunger
How a North Carolina minister sowed seeds of hope in a food desert (via Modern Farmer)
Related commentary:
5 reasons why reparations talk makes white people crazy | Alan Bean
I’m awaiting a kidney transplant. I care about our nation’s health care crisis. But churches should too | Kathy Manis Findley
Racial justice: apology without restitution, lamentation without transformation | Susan M. Shaw
A Lenten reflection about repentance, reparations and resistance | Wendell Griffen
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Seed money to launch our Storytelling Journalism initiative and our initial series of projects has been provided through generous grants from the Christ Is Our Salvation Foundation and the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation. For information about underwriting opportunities for Storytelling Projects, contact David Wilkinson, BNG’s executive director and publisher, at [email protected] or 336.865.2688.
