Cindy Ayer Elliot: Foot Print Farms

Foot Print Farms is Cindy Ayer Elliot’s legacy in the making. The reason Cindy started the farm was to impact the community. Foot Print Farms is an urban farm actually located in the city of Jackson, Mississippi, and is the largest urban farm in the state, with 68 acres.

Cindy was born and raised in Mississippi and is the seventh generation Mississippian in her family. She moved to New York for a time but returned to Mississippi to use her knowledge and experience to make an impact. Cindy has always enjoyed her family life, going to church on Sundays, being in the church choir, and participating in dinners on the grounds.

Considering herself a farmer, Cindy is the new face of farming. She likes to

look at solutions to make life better for numerous people, as her grandparents and great-grandparents have done. Foot Print Farms was created to improve the Mississippi statistical data of health, such as hypertension and heart disease. Mississippi doesn’t have a successful rate in dealing with health disparities. Good health involves good food, but if people don’t have access to healthy foods or even know about them, it’s difficult to improve. Fast foods also contribute to poor health, so Foot Print Farm is an avenue to bring access to healthy foods for the community.

Foot Print Farms uses six to eight acres for farming, and the farm is buffered by thirty acres on one side and eighty acres on the other. There are plenty of trees and open land, and they are a USDA certified farm so they can sell their food anywhere. In addition, they are certifies by USDA Nutrition, which is like grocery stores in that they can accept Snap and EBT cards. Cindy is confident that their mission and focus is clear.

Around 2012, the farm began working with the football team at Wingfield High School to offer healthier food to the team. The football team became a 4-H group, like future scientists of America and let them know they are important. They team leased one acre from the farm for $1.00 and grew a crop of watermelons. They learned math, science, economics, and how to save money, which are all important for daily life. The farm showed them what they can accomplish. Now some of them are in college and some are working with agricultural farming. The farm taught them how to plant seeds in the ground but also planted seeds of success in their brains. Foot Print Farms continues to present workshops to youth and schools while also working with families in the community.

Foot Print Farms uses technology as much as possible. An example is water based growing, called Aerophonics, which is self-contained. It waters itself, and the plants can be grown in a small space. Another unique tool the farm uses is Afritourism, which is basically agriculture tourism, observing and learning where food come from.

Located at the farm is a cottage that visitors can rent for a few days, a week, a month, or longer. Fishing is available on the farm, and many authors come to the cottage for inspiration to write. Film companies have visited the farm in hopes of filming there. There is a group meeting space where farm to table healthy dinners are offered. The chefs are outstanding! All aspects of farming and harvesting can be viewed at the farm. Archery is offered and even a rocking chair in which people can just enjoy life.

There are many farmers who help at the farm, and they all are making a difference. Cindy’s son is teaching children to fish. Further information on Foot Print Farms can be found on Instagram and Facebook.

Woman To Woman With Joanne The Magazine was so honored to sit down and talk with Joy Bradford about their faith journey through the cancer diagnosis of her daughter Reagan. Below is their story:

Little Reagan Bradford was diagnosed with B-Cell Lymphoma at only 21 months old. She had fever and a lump behind her ear that alerted the baby sitter to caution her mom Joy to keep a watch out for. After the fever didn’t break, Joy took little Reagan to the hospital.

At the hospital, they tested for Strep throat and a few other things which all came back negative. The ER doctor thought it to be just an inflamed lymph node and that maybe she was fighting a cold. So, he prescribed antibiotics and sent them on their way with instructions to bring her back if the fever did not break, but to also follow up with the pediatrician if the lump did not go down.

At the pediatrician, they thought the same as the ER doctor, that Reagan was fighting an infection or cold that caused her lymph nodes to swell. About a week later, the lump continued to increase in size but, it never gave Reagan any trouble. After another visit to the ER and Pediatrician, they were referred to an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor who prescribed a steroid and antibiotic which did not prove any significant change. So, they were encouraged to drive to Jackson, MS to see a Pediatric ENT. There they prescribed stronger antibiotics and steroids which actually caused the lump to decrease in size but, as soon as she finished all the medicine, the lump began to swell again.

At this point they wanted to do an

MRI and Joy nearly lost it. “My baby was just 18 months at that time and they would have to put her to sleep.” Reagan did great during the test but, the results were inconclusive so they would now have to do a biopsy on the mass. Again, little

Reagan had to be put to sleep and now they had to cut the backside of her ear to get the sample. “My stomach was in knots the entire time. The doctor informed us before the procedure that if it was a cyst, they could drain it, but if it was a tumor, they would take a sample to see if it was malignant or benign.”

“When they called our names, my heart was beating so fast I thought it would explode. He took us into a small room and told us it was a tumor and that it would take several days for the results to come back. We waited and waited and then we got the call. It was malignant.

They told us to pack a bag for several days and come to Children’s Cancer Clinic in Jackson, MS. We stayed there 9 days, which

were the longest days of our lives. For the first several days they had not diagnosed Reagan, but we were given all types of possibilities. Maybe it was leukemia or maybe it was B-Cell or T-Cell Lymphoma.” After a lot of back and forth, it was confirmed that little Reagan had B-Cell Lymphoma and needed to start chemotherapy and treatment immediately.

“I was flooded with emotion. The questions flooded my thoughts continually and I was not ok.” So many fears and questions flooded my mind and I needed to understand and try to wrap my brain around why this happened to us. I thought we had done something wrong, there had to be some type of explanation. But neither was true.

Months later, I finally got past my fears, emotions and consuming thoughts of those worst-case scenarios and I heard God speak. He asked me where was my faith? He asked if He had ever let me down? At that moment I was shook.

I began praying that my baby is healed. I fed my faith muscle daily by reciting scripture and renewing my mind. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”

Reagan began chemo and other treatments which compromised her

immune system which mean she could not be around school aged children. Joy and her husband T.J. had to decide who would stay home with Reagan since she needed someone to be with her all the time. They decided Joy would stay home with little Reagan. At the beginning, Reagan had treatments once a week, then every ten days, then once a month. She took chemo medications by mouth at home daily and received chemo through her port at her monthly visits.

After her very first set of scans, and every single scan after that, it was totally clear. No sign of Cancer. Little Reagan completed her treatments in September 2020. God is faithful!

“I could see God’s hand through every step of the journey.” During this journey, there were times when Joy and T.J. had to have grace for each other. They had to be patient and understanding to grant each other the space and grace to have a moment. To be angry, to be uncertain, to question, to be afraid. But against the odds, this journey brought them closer together. “We had to choose to trust God daily. We had to choose to keep our faith strengthened, and choose to focus on the positive in the situation. We had to have Faith For Today.”

The book Faith For Today is a devotional written for every woman, no matter her level of faith, who is seeking a daily re-focus, boost, and a reality check of their faith. To order your copy, go to www.joybradford.com or order from amazon.

Joy Bradford is a Christ follower, wife, mom, Certified Life Coach, and Author. As a Coach and Mentor, Joy works alongside her clients to assist them in pursuing their God-given purposes while becoming the best versions of themselves. She believes that one’s confidence in Christ and clarity in purpose is the key to enjoying the best quality of life.

Joy now resides in Starkville, MS with her husband T.J. and their 2 beautiful children, Reagan and Gabe.