Final 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 was 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. Deeply aware of the significant barriers to leadership faced by young and BIPOC farmers, Young Farmers debuted fellowships in 2021 designed to support farmers in advancing their leadership within our coalition and the movement at large. Building on the success and lessons learned from our past climate, land, and water fellowships, we designed an entirely Southeast-focused BIPOC farmer fellowship program, called the Red Clay Fellowship, through this project.
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 resourced 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 was 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.
The Red Clay Fellowship provided six young farmers of color with an in-depth collective curriculum on organizing, racial equity, leadership, and more. The project resourced 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. Five out of six fellows published a case study showcasing their project and process. The Red Clay fellows' projects and outcomes were shared broadly with our network of over 200,000 supporters through our newsletter and social media.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
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. (3 Consultations, as referenced above)
We then finalized the curriculum which consisted of three months of core educational and leadership development programming (1 curricula, fact sheet, or educational tool). Applications opened in April 2023. For six available spots, we received 20 applications; a testament to the importance of our deep-rooted approach (application = 1 other educational activity).
In August 2023, six BIPOC farmers completed the Red Clay Fellowship, an intensive, collective experience designed for food systems leaders working at the nexus of racial equity and sustainability in the Southeast. As described in the interim report, the program itself was preceded by a year plus of relationship-building and outreach in the region. We further consulted with valued partners at SAAFON, Violet Permaculture, and others to customize the outreach process to the unique needs of our target community.
The all-BIPOC cohort included first-generation farmers and those from farming families as well as rural and urban land stewards from across the Southeast; New Orleans, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, and Virginia. Fellows met for the first time in May 2023. Cogent of the key role peer relationships play in long-term power-building work, our first meeting focused on growing trust. In months subsequent, Young Farmers staff and consultants engaged the fellows via 30+ hours of programming. This included 10 hours of collective programming on Southern sustainability and equity organizing history, the equity advocacy landscape, leadership development, racial equity, and program management. Fellows also benefited from 10 hours of focused, individualized support to identify and address their communities’ unique areas of need and opportunity through established advocacy tools such as SWOT analysis and power mapping. Finally, fellows had the opportunity to use up to 10 hours of no-cost access to national experts capable of meeting identified needs and opportunities, including access to fundraising expertise. In August 2023, all six fellows completed the program. We’re proud of this impressive completion rate and of our fellows themselves, who are today stronger advocates for climate-resilient, regenerative, and equitable agricultural policies in the Southeast and beyond. See “project outcomes” for more details on fellowship outcomes.
Since the completion of the program, we’ve continued to work with fellows to amplify their voices and showcase their stories. In August, all six fellows were introduced to the extended Young Farmer network via an Instagram post celebrating their achievements. In September, fellows were the focus of our monthly Young Farmers newsletter (2 published press articles). Since then, our communication team has interviewed five of the six fellows and is working to produce polished case studies based on these interviews. Once published, the studies will shed light on the greater context of fellows’ work as BIPOC farmers and land stewards in the Southeast, including challenges faced and their transformative visions for a more just, equitable future.
Learning Outcomes
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)
Funding/fundraising skills
Storytelling and advocacy advocacy
Power-building and Southern organizing traditions.
Project Outcomes
In August, all six (100%) Red Clay Fellows completed the program better equipped to lead their communities in advocacy and to act in the policy spaces from which they’ve historically been marginalized. The outcomes of this project are evidenced by the fellows’ ongoing work.
In January 2024, two fellows (33%) participated in “The Time Is Now Conference,” an event co-hosted by the Young Farmers and the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (1 webinar, talk, presentation, as listed in the previous section). Fellows were joined by 39 farmers, extension officers, academics, students, organizers, lawyers, and others including the Executive Director of the Organic Association of Kentucky. These diverse participants joined three discussion sessions— on markets, racial justice, and land access, with a particular focus on land and property rights —-to reach a consensus on strategies to secure land access and justice. The event served as an important in-person opportunity for fellows to exercise their new skills and connect with partners, supporters, and local leaders across the region.
All six fellows (100%) continue to organize independently, as well. One fellow, having applied a SWOT analysis to his community in New Orleans, now stewards a quarter-acre community garden and fruit orchard there. After growing her network via the fellowship, another fellow is building a network dedicated to supporting BIPOC farmers in rural Mississippi. Others are leading organizations such as the Liberation Seed Farm and the Kentucky Black Farmers Association. One fellow now sits on the Young Farmers national Board of Directors. These are just a few highlights. Equipped to act as leaders and changemakers locally, our fellows are spreading the impact of our fellowship through their organizing. Through them, we build power among young farmers and long-disenfranchised communities of color.
In recent interviews with the Young Farmers team, five fellows (83%) made connections between their continued advocacy and the fellowship’s outcomes. Articulating the program’s positive impact on their ability to work towards that future, fellows cited the importance of the fellowship as a “safe space” where BIPOC farmers can engage in “vulnerable” conversations with “masks off.” Appreciation was expressed for the program’s regional focus, which recognized the unique and crucial role of the South in transforming our food system. Another fellow attested that the program helped them to realize that the same voice they use in activism can be used in farming, and as a tool for the community. The crucial importance of specific skills acquisition like SWOT was likewise appreciated.
Several fellows expressed intentions to expand their organizing efforts, either by participating in more civic advocacy locally or at the state level. Having already grown his network via the fellowship, one fellow expressed a strengthened conviction that “a lot of people not only want [me] to be here, and that the community also wants [me] to spread their values outside of [my] farm.” Thus inspired, this fellow plans to collaborate with a nearby university and to join grassroots sustainability projects, like the restoration of historical canneries and boosting a more diverse economy for local farmers. Another fellow credited the program with teaching him the crucial importance of collaboration and collective action. He plans to bring his knowledge to community spaces and movements and share it with others freely, illustrating the ways in which the fellowships’ outcomes reach beyond and through our cohort.
These interviews will form the basis for polished case studies. Once published, these case studies will serve as evergreen examples of the power and ingenuity of our fellows and the Southern BIPOC agricultural communities and traditions they represent. Case studies will go up on the Young Farmers website and be publicized on our social media and in our newsletter to reach a combined audience of 200,000.
We appreciate the support of SE SARE for this project, and particularly the flexibility afforded by the budget modification. The additional time enabled us to involve community partners and BIPOC farmers across the region in every step of our outreach and curriculum development process. These partnerships and connections remain salient to our ongoing work in the region. We believe our project and the achievements of our fellows speak to the untapped potential in the region and hope that SARE will continue to prioritize sustained funding for BIPOC farmers and their development in the Southeast. In the words of one fellow— “We’re not playing around! There is so much power in Black and BIPOC communities. That power only continues to grow.” With support, we know it will.
Information Products
- Red Clay Fellowship webpage (Website)
- Red Clay Fellow Bios (Website)