A Salem farm dedicated to the city's Black queer community produced 3,000 pounds of food and helped feed 245 families in 2025, its first full year of operation.

Black Joy Farm, founded by Juli Ray Joy in 2024, grew out of a deliberate pivot. Joy had spent roughly two and a half years running Black Joy Oregon, an advocacy and protest organization, before deciding to shift toward direct community provision.

"We had been doing Black Joy for about two-and-a-half years at that point, and we were done asking," Joy told Street Roots in an Aug. 20 profile of Black-owned Oregon farms.

"We were done begging, and we were done doing the stuff with the city. How can we transition from this protest group and this advocacy group to a group that really gathers our community and also provides what our community needs on our own, without having to ask for it?"

Joy said Salem has a number of community gardens, but none were dedicated to supporting Black queer residents before her farm launched. Though her family in North Carolina owned a farm, Joy had very little personal agriculture experience before starting the project. She said being early in her own farming journey has helped her make the work more accessible for community members.

The farm's production comes amid rising food insecurity statewide. The Oregon Food Bank's 2026 State of Hunger Report found that one in seven Oregonians and one in six children face food insecurity, with food assistance visits jumping 51% in two years to a record 2.9 million.

Federal legislation under H.R. 1 has made the largest cuts to SNAP in the program's history, with about 310,000 Oregon adults facing additional barriers to food assistance and more than 30,000 households seeing benefits reduced, according to the Oregon Food Bank's 2026 State of Hunger Address.

Black Joy Farm operates a community-supported agriculture program alongside volunteer days and community events. Families can sign up or be referred for regular produce deliveries by emailing [email protected].

Beyond farming, the operation hosts movie nights and wellness workshops. Organizers use a colored-button system at events: attendees who want to be left alone for healing wear one color, while those looking to socialize wear another. Joy described the atmosphere as relaxed, with 1990s and 2000s R&B playing while people work.

It's open to all. The farm offers up to 20 volunteer spots on Saturday mornings from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Sign-up is available at blackjoyoregon.com.