by Harper Bundy

Nakita Hemingway was born in Savannah, Georgia and raised in Decatur, Georgia. She is one of three siblings in a single parent home where a passion for helping others was instilled from a young age. “Those years of my life were the most profound, because that’s when our beliefs and values for working and fighting for people were formed.” Hemingway says. Driven by her mother, they always found a way to give back, from letting someone sleep on their couch to giving away their Christmas presents to kids who didn’t have any.

“My values are not focused on material things, they’re focused on people.” 

Hemingway spent her summers with relatives in South Georgia. There, she learned all there is to know about farming from her farmer grandparents. Her time on the farm formed a lot of who she is now and what she cares about. When she was young she didn’t see herself on a farm; as a self-described creative, she envisioned a career in Interior Design. She majored in Real Estate at Georgia State University, and later received a degree in Finance from American Intercontinental University. An entrepreneur at heart, Hemingway went on to open and run her own travel agency for three years. 

In Georgia, which was built on agriculture, agrotourism is a major player in the economy. Hemingway knows the importance of farms creating an experience for tourists to generate revenue. “You need someone who understands travel and tourism”. There is a delicate intersection between the two that Hemingway not only understands but in which she has first hand experience.

How Hemingway got into the race for elected office

In 2018, Hemingway applied for a special use land permit to open her own cut-flower farm and bed and breakfast. She hit a roadblock involving a myriad of Georgia codes; the issues impacted many parts of her business, not just the land permit needs. The system she was dealing with felt unconstitutional, and this inspired her to make a change and run for public office. 

Her first race in 2020 for House District 104 was a close one. The seat was flippable, but it was an uphill fight from the start. Her opponent raised $1.4 million and led a slanderous campaign against her. It was hard to ignore the extraneous noise, but it taught her to prioritize her mental health.

When the going gets tough, Nakita turns to her mother. “I saw my mother start as a maid in a hotel room and go onto be a supervisor in a hotel, then a hotel manager, then go to school to become a licensed hair stylist, own her own salon, and retire at age 59.” Hemingway says, “I can’t allow myself to fail, because she didn’t.” As a mother of four herself, Hemingway hopes to set an example for her children: “If you give up, you automatically fail.” She lost the house seat by a mere 779 votes -- a feat in and of itself. “It’s not about the end result, it’s about the journey. What can I do now? When we show up, we have an opportunity to change things.” Hemingway says. “The painful loss was not an end but rather a spark to a bigger flame.”

The future of agriculture in Georgia

Now, in 2021, she’s making a historical run for Commissioner of Agriculture. In Georgia, there has never been an African-American or a woman to run for the position, and in the United States, there has never been a person of color, male or female, to run. “The role of Agriculture Commissioner is more aligned with what I’m seeking to do: it gives me the greatest opportunity to bring about change in the state of Georgia.” 

Nearly 1.3 million Georgians face hunger and 337,000 are children. Hemingway believes that “hunger is not a resource issue, it's a policy issue.” 

“A person who grows up in poverty is ten times more likely to remain in poverty if they don’t have adequate nutrition. If they don’t have adequate nutrition, they are 20-30 times more likely to earn less than half of what their counterparts who grow up in the same area.” Most people who grow up in poverty don’t live to see age 65, due to the nutritional deficits they faced as children. Food security is something that needs to be created, because it is not built into the current system. 

“We are committing ourselves to eradicating childhood hunger by 2025.” Hemingway says. 

She also wants to build up the next generation of farmers. Most farmers today are between the ages of 58, and new farmers have fewer than ten years of experience. Farming is not an industry of the future, and it’s going to take a fresh perspective to get it there. 

Hemingway lives by three pillars: opportunity, education, and resources. By providing those in need with these three pillars, she believes people will then have the capabilities to solve their own problems. 

A major part of Hemingway’s platform focuses on supporting local farmers. Even though Georgia is an agricultural state that is capable of growing food year round, 80% of the state’s food is imported. Trade agreements would need to be reformed to rebalance the proportion of imported food to local food. Hemingway will push for locally-grown food to be more prevalent  and accessible.

Creating sustainable agriculture practices for climate change

Hemingway also wants to make agriculture more sustainable, because “agriculture is one of the biggest culprits of climate change.” 

“In 2016, on Valentine’s Day alone,  there were 166 million stems of roses shipped into the U.S. The environmental impact of just that one day of bouquets was equivalent to the impact of 78,000 cars on the road for an entire year.” 

Similar to food, 85% of flowers in the U.S are imported. Buying flowers locally supports the local economy, farmers, and the environment. Georgia’s current policies are not conducive to creating more sustainable agriculture. 

Nakita Hemingway wants to start by promoting sustainable products, like cannabis. By legalizing cannabis, we can improve air quality. “One acre of cannabis can remove 4.2 tons of carbon from the environment every year. An acre of trees can remove 6.5 tons of carbon every ten years.” It takes cannabis only four months to reach maturity, while a tree can take up to 25 years. It will take widespread education and a willingness to be bold to enact this. However, “it’s not about protecting a certain group's interest; it’s about protecting the planet.” Sustainable organic farming is the future. 

Agriculture is for everyone

There’s no doubt that Hemingway leads by example. She’s teaching her children all about the importance of growing their own food. Four-year old Jonah is already on his third pair of farm boots.

There is an excitement around food and being an active participant in where it comes from; it provides the freshest, most nutritionally dense foods. “Kids are farmers too!” she says.

“One thing that I love about agriculture is that it doesn’t matter what your education or background is, there is always a space for you here.” Nakita Heminway is making room for all voices and making agriculture accessible. She says “God blesses us to use our talents to do the most amount of good for the most amount of people.” That’s just what she’s doing. 

All photos in this article are made available with the courtesy of Nakita Hemingway for Agriculture. For more information on Nakita’s campaign, visit her website at www.NakitaHemingway.com.