Let’s honor the legacy of Juneteenth by delivering on our promise of debt relief to Black farmers
Yesterday, President Biden signed a law making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Celebrating the perceived freedom of Black people as a nation is performative without actions that require accountability to the Black farming population. On the eve of Juneteenth, we are facing a moment to act in service to Black farmers in a meaningful way. We […]
Racial Inequity in the Food System
The following is an excerpt from the Young Farmers 2019 Organizing Handbook. Thank you to Sara Black, Tess Brown-Lavoie, Michelle Hughes, Mai Nguyen, and Holly Rippon-Butler for their contributions to this section. The National Young Farmers Coalition is a national organization that holds space for many different kinds of farmers and farm operations: urban and rural, large […]
Cooperative Power
In 1920, 14% of U.S. farmers were black – today less than 2%. Land ownership by Black farmers has also declined over the past 100 years, from 15 million acres to roughly 2 million acres. These numbers are tough, but some say they would be even worse without the leadership of the Federation of Southern […]
USDA’s 2501 program provides critical support for Black farmers in Georgia: farm bill negotiations threaten the program’s future
Before my great grandmother, Mrs. Maggie Johnson, made her transition when I was 5 years old, she told me I was the one who would take over our family’s 100-year old farm. Fifty years later, I am struggling to see that dream through. The leaders and farmers in the SAAFON network have become my […]