Woman leaves her white-collar job to become first-generation farmer

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WUSA) – A woman in Maryland quit her white-collar job to become a first-generation farmer at 40 years old.

Gale Livingstone bought 50 acres of land to create Deep Roots Farm.

“Sharing the road that I’ve traveled to get here, I think is what I’m supposed to be doing,” she said. “I’ve got to give myself kudos for all that I have accomplished. I mean, this was a blank slate.”

Livingstone hasn’t always been “Farmer Gale.” She was a career government contractor until a car accident shifted her perspective.

“I was like, ‘No, you can’t do this anymore.’ You’ve got to make a change,” she said.

Before she could clear the weeds of her property, she had to navigate a complicated land grant process that made little space for someone who looked like her.

“Very minimal amount of Black farmers in the country right now,” Livingstone said. “And it’s because of a lot of the injustices that were perpetrated by the USDA and many other local organizations, right? And so to me, if you want to correct those past wrongs, you get an application that says Black as the ethnic group. That application needs to be expedited.”

Livingstone said it’s important for Black women to learn how to farm.

“Because it’s in our DNA, and because our ancestors were brought to this land for that primary function to cultivate the soil here. OK. It’s part of who we are,” she said.

Livingstone said becoming more grounded and going back to cultural roots is a healing process.

“Healing and liberating. Children that look like me, having them learn about how to grow anything that they can consume to nourish themselves, should be a priority,” she said.

She said she named her farm Deep Roots as a promise to her community.

“We’ve established a foundation, the Deep Roots Foundation, which is going to provide education and training to the next generation of farmers,” she said. “And that old tobacco barn behind me, we’re going to convert that into an education center. This land and this space will always be here to allow for an opportunity for other folks to come and learn and develop their skills.”

Livingstone’s journey has only just begun. In the next year, she said she’s hoping to have bees as well as goats, sheep, cattle and pigs.

“I believe in what I’m doing, and I believe that it will bear fruit,” she said.

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