A reflection from Kristin Marsh Song, founder of Delve Experiences 🌍
When most people picture a farm, they see something familiar: a red barn, a wide field, maybe a white farmhouse framed by sky. It’s a comforting image — and part of the truth. But only part.
The real landscape of agriculture is far more diverse. It’s a mosaic of people, histories, and traditions — all growing side by side.
Across Texas and beyond, I’ve met farmers whose roots reach into every corner of the world. Immigrant families cultivating herbs their grandparents once grew in Mexico and Vietnam. Black-led urban farms transforming city lots into food and hope. Women reclaiming land, goats, and greenhouses to teach the next generation that farming isn’t just a man’s story.
Agriculture has never belonged to one image or one background. It’s always been a reflection of everyone who has ever tended soil, shared a seed, or taught a child where food really comes from.
🌱 What We Learn by Looking Closer
One of the quiet privileges of building Delve is that I get to see the full picture — the people who make up the living patchwork of our food systems.
At Opal’s Farm in Fort Worth, founded by the extraordinary Ms. Opal Lee, visitors learn that farming can be an act of healing and legacy. At Joppy Momma’s Farm in Dallas, a small neighborhood garden tells a story of community, perseverance, and pride. At Nature’s Circle Farm in Aurora, families see sustainable techniques inspired by traditions from around the world.
Each of these places reminds me that food doesn’t just feed bodies. It carries culture, memory, and identity.
When visitors walk through these farms, they’re not just learning about crops — they’re learning about people. And in that, they discover a truer version of Texas: one where agriculture speaks many languages.
🌾 Why Representation Matters on the Land
We often talk about diversity as if it’s something new, but agriculture has always depended on it — biodiversity in our fields, and cultural diversity among the people who grow them.
Yet, for too long, only one version of the farmer has been widely seen. That narrow picture limits everyone: those who might have joined this work, and those who might have learned from it.
When people see themselves reflected in agriculture — in a photo, a story, a field trip — they begin to imagine their own connection to the land. They understand that they, too, have a place in this story.
It’s something the data quietly supports as well. Across the United States, farms owned and operated by women, people of color, and immigrant families are steadily growing. (📖 Coming soon: [New Census Data on Diversity in Agriculture]and [Women in Agriculture: The Changing Face of the Farm].)
The numbers matter, but the stories matter more — because they show us how resilience and innovation actually look in practice.
🌻 Diversity as Strength
Diversity in agriculture isn’t just about fairness — it’s about vitality.
When many people bring their knowledge, crops, and customs to the same landscape, we all gain. We inherit new flavors, new methods, new ways of thinking about care and stewardship. We build ecosystems — social and ecological — that can adapt, recover, and thrive.
Every farm that opens its gates to visitors becomes a classroom in empathy. And every visitor who listens walks away changed, carrying a seed of understanding home.
🌿 Listening to the Land — and to Each Other
Farms are stories written in soil, and every voice adds a line.
If Delve has a purpose beyond helping people find experiences, it’s to help people see each other — to understand that agriculture is not a single narrative but a shared conversation.
Every field, every farm, every family contributes a verse. Together, they remind us that the land has always been diverse — and so have the hands that care for it.
About the Author
Kristin Marsh Song is the founder of Delve Experiences, a Texas-based agritourism platform connecting people with local farms and hands-on learning. She’s a mom, a lifelong explorer, and a firm believer that curiosity builds community — one farm visit at a time.
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