During Christmastime of 2005, 9-year-old Akin Carter asked his father why it hadn’t snowed that year. Akin went online to research global warming. He presented his findings to his father, Fred Carter, and later asked him, “Well, what are you going to do about it?”  

 

Fred Carter laughed and thought to himself, “Well, what am I going to do about it?”

 

Fred Carter originally trained to become a chiropractor, but shifted his efforts toward the environment after a co-worker convinced him to attend a rodeo for African-American riders. Something stirred inside Fred Carter upon seeing a community full of kids running around on open land, which he contrasted with Chicago’s concrete terrain. In 2006, he founded a non-profit organization called The Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Renewable Living that’s dedicated to education and training. From then on, Fred Carter and his family committed themselves to informing their communities and equipping them with the skills to lead richer, more sustainable lives.

 

Every Wednesday, the Carter family hosts seminars from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oak Forest Health Center. There are different fruit, vegetables and grains for purchase, and the family holds group discussions sharing their experiences about the agriculture community, offering solutions to environmental problems.

 

Before starting the center, Fred Carter took a couple of classes on the environment, energy solutions  and agriculture. As soon as he walked into the classroom something stood out.

 

Fred Carter was the only African-American man there, and none of the white men spoke to him--except the instructor, who assigned the students to read “The Party’s Over,” a book by Richard Heinberg.

 

“I am telling you, that book changed my life. I was depressed for about six months after,” says Fred Carter.

 

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Fred Carter met his wife, Dr. Jifunza Wright Carter, at a community training in Chicago. Dr. Wright Carter is a family physician specifically focusing on holistic integrative medicine, a type of medicine that aims to take care of the whole person--body, mind and spirit.

 

Fred Carter concluded that he wanted to help his community and realized the importance of agriculture and food’s effect on the body. The couple decided to take other classes to learn more about this topic.

 

Fred Carter is now a certified teacher of permaculture by the Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute. Permaculture aims to develop agricultural ecosystems designed to be sustainable and self-sufficient. Its design is centred around using similar patterns found in natural ecosystems.

 

“My dad’s work has been essential to teaching people who are willing to learn and getting the message out for food advocacy,” says Akin Carter.

 

After that Christmas, Akin Carter realized how serious climate change was. He has been dedicated to The Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Renewable Living and to working toward stopping global warming. Now 21, Akin still helps out his community by educating people who attend the seminars.

 

“Unfortunately, I think the the majority of Americans are still skeptical about climate change and its impacts,” says Kelly Rieger, senior scientist at Ecology and Environment Inc.

 

The Carters’ first seminars hosted about 25 people, and the number of attendees has risen every year since.

 

“Your plate is the most power political expression you can ever make,” says Fred Carter. “Who controls your plate controls your future.”