Progress report for EDS22-42
Project Information
Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC) farming and ranching is deeply intertwined with the development of sustainable agriculture in the United States (Federation of Southern Cooperatives, n.d.; Penniman, 2018). We owe many resilient agricultural systems and techniques-- key seeds and livestock genetics (Carney, 2013), irrigation systems (Iwata, 1962), fire safe land management (Sommer, 2020), and creative local food supply chains (Sandoval & Rodine, 2020) among them --to Black, Indigenous and Native, Coolie laborer, and Latinx diasporic traditions.
Our project is rooted in this resilient history and driven by the perspective that BIPOC farmer knowledge and creativity is inseparable from the development of sustainable agriculture. In addition to their enduring impact, we recognize the continued exclusion of farmers of color from Southern agriculture. Our project addresses these twin truths through a fellowship program designed to equip young, BIPOC farmers to become changemakers in their communities and beyond. The year-long program aims not only to educate and resource participants, but heal and connect them. In a space that is both nourishing and educational, fellows will learn from mentorship and one another to build the networks, skills, and energy necessary to act as local, regional, and federal advocates. Our objectives are to:
- Identify 6 farmer leaders across the South already impacting their local or regional farm and food systems at the nexus of racial equity and sustainability.
- Launch the Southern Farmer Leadership Fellowship for Farmer-led Racial Equity and Sustainability Projects.
- Provide 6 fellows with over 10 hours of collective programming on Southern sustainability and equity organizing history, the equity advocacy landscape, leadership development, racial equity, and program management.
- Provide 10 hours of tailored support to fellows to identify their communities’ major areas of need and opportunity through established advocacy tools such as SWOT analysis and power-mapping followed by 10 hours of no-cost access to national experts capable of meeting identified needs and opportunities.
- Provide support to each fellow to identify sources of funding for their work; at least one grant application or other fundraising opportunity.
- Publish 6 case studies that are accessed broadly by our network of over 200,000 supporters and present fellows’ work via a public webinar.
We visualize Southern, farmer-led advocacy as a loop; young, BIPOC farmer leaders leveraging their training and place-based, lived experiences to drive policy change at the local, regional, and federal levels and build equity and sustainability into their home communities. We are equipping BIPOC farmer leaders with the tools to originate projects and policy solutions that solve the urgent needs of their local communities, and are inspired by them. Fellows finish the program empowered to enact their visions for more sustainable, equitable communities and to communicate ideas effectively to local elected officials. By tapping into our national network and farmer-led advocacy infrastructure, our Southern fellows’ infectious energy will be amplified to the national stage to win big, strategic victories for young farmers everywhere.
Understanding the rich impact of farmers of color on Southern agriculture as well as the reality that they continue to be marginalized from it, this program resources young BIPOC farmers to become experts on and advocates for local and regional policy change that serves their communities and their work. The fellowship is designed to not only mobilize, but heal; the restorative space will support fellows to cultivate energy and confidence to act as local, regional, and federal advocates.
- Spotlight - Select 6 Southern farmer fellows impacting their loco-regional farm and food systems at the nexus of racial equity and sustainability.
- Educate - Provide fellows with 10+ hours of collective curriculum on Southern sustainability and equity organizing history; Southern advocacy landscape; leadership development; racial equity; and program management.
- Activate - Provide fellows with 10 hours tailored education to identify their major areas of need and opportunity through SWOT analysis followed with 10 hours of no-cost access to national experts who can respond to those identified needs and opportunities.
- Resource - Support fellows to identify sources of funding and support each project on at least one grant application or other fundraising opportunity.
- Share - Publish 6 case studies that are accessed broadly by our network of over 200,000 supporters.
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor - Producer
Education
The project’s educational approach is guided by our Coalitions’ theory of change – when resourced and trained to share their stories with lawmakers; young farmers can remake the food system to be more equitable, just, and in service to our communities and the land. Understanding the rich impact of farmers of color on Southern agriculture as well as the reality that they continue to be marginalized from it, this program resources young BIPOC farmers in the South to become experts on and advocates for local and regional policy change that serves their communities and their work. The project is centered around a fellowship designed not only to mobilize but also to heal; this restorative space will support fellows to cultivate energy and confidence to act as local, regional, and federal advocates.
This entirely Southeast-focused fellowship, called the Red Clay Fellowship, will provide six young farmers of color with an in-depth collective curriculum on organizing, racial equity, leadership, and more. The project then resources fellows to carry out an initiative of their choosing and design that reflects the needs of their region or community related to land, climate, water, or other key agricultural issues related to the Southern farmer experience. Each fellow will publish a case study to showcase their project and process, which will be made available broadly to our network of over 200,000 supporters.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
General Timeline Update
Due to the conclusion of other advocacy fellowships and other organizational factors, we have adjusted the timeline for this project. During the first year, we focused on deepening trust and growing our farmer base in the Southeast. We consulted with community partners about the curriculum and finalized the application process. The second half of the grant period will account for most of the outlined project deliverables; we are still on track to complete our project within the grant period.
Our new project timeline is as follows:
- Early April: applications for the Red Clay fellowship open
- Mid-April: fellows are selected
- May - July: three-month fellowship programming
- August: evaluations and case study development
Activities
Consultations: In August 2022, we hosted a preliminary meeting with curriculum collaborator and southern partner, SAAFON, to discuss overarching fellowship goals and purpose. After incorporating their feedback, in September 2022, we shared our curriculum outline with SAAFON in a second consultation and further refined the program design. Lastly, we met with Wild Violet Permaculture this March to review the full detailed curriculum and solicited their feedback on our application documents and outreach plan.
Curricula: Now complete, the curriculum consists of three months of core educational and leadership development programming. The first month lays the groundwork for mutual understanding and establishing trust between the six Red Clay Fellows as peers, National Young Farmers Coalition, and the program. We will host a multi-day in-person workshop to support these goals and help fellows identify advocacy projects to carry out through the fellowship. In the second month, the fellows engage in related advocacy opportunities and utilize the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) framework to provide an analysis of their projects. Each fellow will have the chance to have their project reviewed by a trusted member of their community to ensure that their project is accountable to the larger network of farmers of color in their ecosystem. In the third month, fellows will participate in training from a national team of experts related to (1) funding/fundraising, (2) storytelling and advocacy, and (3) power-building and southern organizing traditions. Through storytelling, fellows will build out content to create case studies which Young Farmers will compile in a collection for public dissemination. Through the case studies, the fellows, in their own words, will detail their advocacy learnings, experience creating a project, accountability process, and evaluation. These case studies will be part of our project success measures.
Fellowship Application (Other): Our methodology for outreach is to lean into relationships with key Southern partners and build trust through our recruitment/outreach process. Since there are only six positions available in the fellowship and it is a very curated experience, it is important that partners embedded in the community have the opportunity to get involved and elevate farmers in their networks. We’ve developed a comprehensive rubric to communicate program goals and ensure alignment with the fellows' individual goals and capacity. Informed by our prior experience with fellowships, we aim to welcome fellows that can use this program as a launching pad for the work they want to continue to do in their communities.
Project Outcomes
The fellowship model empowers farmers to enter policy spaces they’ve never been a part of but want to be. By working regionally and nurturing a small and diverse group of young leaders as experts, we build power among young farmers and long-disenfranchised communities of color. Farmers benefit from spaces where they learn from each other, and Young Farmers is a vehicle for that, showing up to the space equal to them, and valuing their lived experience. We build power toward a more sustainable agricultural future by resourcing farmers as advocates for climate-resilient, regenerative, and equitable agricultural policies.
Note: Most project outcomes will be achieved after the implementation of the programming, which takes place during the second half of the grant period.