November 2026: Member Spotlight - Michael Carter Jr.
Eleven generations.
Let that settle for a second. Eleven generations of Carters have worked the land, saved the seed and held on through everything this country did to push Black farmers off their ground. Michael Carter Jr. is the one carrying that legacy today, and he’s carrying it forward.
This month, we are so proud to highlight the fruit of the eleven generations that we now get to experience through Michael.
When Michael talks about regeneration, he’s not only talking about soil. He’s talking about us.
Michael was born in Baltimore and raised in Caroline County, Virginia, where the earth was part of his upbringing. He earned his degree in agricultural economics from North Carolina A&T State University. Then he took his learning global, working in Ghana, Israel and Kenya to study holistic, sustainable farming.
Michael’s international experiences have shaped his holistic approach to farming. He brought all of it back home. Today, Michael puts that wisdom to work at his family’s farm, Carter Farms, in Unionville, Virginia
Michael founded Africulture, a nonprofit that teaches the principles, practices and plants of African-descended agriculture. It’s also about identity: helping our people reconnect with a cultural heritage that was never lost, only buried.
He wrote the book on it, too. Africulture: How the Principles, Practices, Plants, and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture tells the inspiring stories and the hard truths, including the steep decline of African American farmers over the past century. More than that, it lays out a path forward.
Michael pairs ancestral knowledge with modern regenerative techniques. He uses the lifecycle of a plant to teach about personal growth, community resilience and the story of Black farming in America.
His message is simple: healthy soil grows healthy plants, and healthy plants grow healthy people. Through crop production, regenerative practices and community engagement, Michael:
strengthens our food systems
protects Black land stewardship
mentors the next generation of growers and students across the country
He’s planting seeds of knowledge and cultural pride that will feed generations.
For Michael, caring for the earth and caring for our people are the same work:
“To me, regeneration of the earth should be in line with the regeneration of the human spirit and human soul, and there’s a lot of things that we have to regenerate as well: our compassion for nature, for ourselves, for plants, peoples, the flora and fauna, the insects.”
Degrees, passport stamps and a published book later, Michael is still a farm son at heart, and he still believes in the power of a story well told. He reminds us that every seed we save and every acre we tend holds the memory and wisdom of the ones who came before us.
Follow his work, read the book and share this spotlight with someone who needs to know our history in the soil runs deep!!!
Comments