Sea Matías (they/them) is a Bronx-born and raised farmer and environmental educator with a mission to create a nourished and resilient community through the sharing of knowledge and fresh, locally grown produce. Inspired to farm by their grandmother’s love for plants, Sea first gained experience with urban farming and teaching others in the city and eventually began to look for rural land to grow at a higher capacity for mutual aid efforts. When Sea began farming upstate, they met Tom Hutson, a lifelong cattle farmer. Despite lacking heirs, Tom was determined to see his land transition to the next generation and had permanently protected his farm with a conservation easement.
Sea and Tom quickly forged a connection, and the timing was right for Tom to make his land available to farm. Working with Tom, American Farmland Trust collaborated with Catskills Agrarian Alliance (CAA) to support the creation of the West Branch Commons, the inaugural land access project of CAA offering alternative and affordable land access opportunities for BIPOC, Queer, and Trans producers. CAA is a Regional Navigator for Farmland for a New Generation New York (FNG-NY), and the FNG-NY team has supported the efforts to form the West Branch Commons and provided direct assistance to the farmers.
“It’s very competitive to get financial support and it’s also really hard to find land,” Sea says. “This opportunity with Tom and with American Farmland Trust and the West Branch Commons is like a needle in a haystack opportunity, a once in a lifetime chance to get equitable land tenure.”
Sea became one of the anchor lessees on Tom’s farm, managing over an acre of vegetables, flowers, and herbs, grown for their community in the Bronx and the local community around Delancey. Sea also helps Tom with his herd of beef cattle on the land and emphasizes the importance of receiving generational wisdom and the ability to “see the land through Tom’s eyes” as its lifelong steward.
