Interview with Trey Williams from Hood Honey - Cleveland, OH

Interview with Trey Williams from Hood Honey - Cleveland, OH

How did you get involved in bee keeping?

I began beekeeping May 5^th 2021 but the journey began about a year earlier when my friend asked me to help him with a project of his he called Leaders of our future America, LOOFA for short. He wanted to help out those in need and asked me to help him because he saw the community work I did running a baseball league. We both had deep roots to the Mt. Pleasant area of Cleveland Ohio, so I agreed to help and I started Hood Honey because I saw how agriculture and particularly bees could be integrated into a black community almost seamlessly!

What does being an urban farmer mean to you?

Being an urban farmer to me means being a traditional farmer. Agriculture and urban are tied at the hip. They are married. Our ancestors built the first cities with efficiency and nature in mind. Unlike today’s society where trees and other flora are planted for aesthetics, governments of old commissioned cities to have trees and other plants of use in and around the city. Urban farming and gardening today is talked about like it is a new idea. It's as old as cities themselves.

What is the future of Hood Honey?

Our mission is to create black economic development in Mt. Pleasant with an urban farm; the future of Hood Honey is tied to present day Cleveland, meaning we are solving our communities problems and will export the answers to our sister and brother communities around the globe.