They Just Need Land

Forty percent of all US farmland will change hands in the next decade. The challenges of finding affordable farmland were reported by The Guardian, which highlighted the institutional land investments becoming increasingly commonplace as corporations buy swaths of farmland at prices out of reach for the average farmer.

Two NFFC members, The Federation of Southern Cooperatives and Agrarian Trust, were cited in the article in addition to NFFC's National Program Coordinator, Jordan Treakle, who said, "If 40% of agricultural land falls into corporate ownership as a speculative asset class or as a way to park money – rather than that land being used to support rural economies in our local food systems – I think that has big implications for national security, for our food security as a nation and the vitality of our local rural economy."

In short, farmland shouldn't be treated as a commodity - keeping land it under the care of and in production by local farmers helps rural economies, supports national food security, and benefits the climate.

Pointing the Farm Bill Towards Racial Justice

The Federation of Southern Cooperatives and the American University’s Center for Environment, Community, and Equity (CECE), with Berkeley Food Institute and Antiracist Research Policy Center, co-hosted the recent "Pointing the Farm Bill Towards Racial Justice" summit. Formed around the goal of making the 2023 Farm Bill a legislative vehicle for advancing racial equity, the summit convened a diverse group of farmers, advocates, policy-makers, scholars, students, and the public. Event participants examined how the Farm Bill impacts us all, and analyzed current food and farm policies through a racial equity lens.

NFFC staff attended the summit, where we had the opportunity to share our Farm Bill priorities at a Senate Congressional briefing at the end of the event.

Disparity to Parity Premieres New Short Film

Farming for Our Future: The Importance of Parity in the Global Farm Justice Movement was created by American University students in collaboration with leading parity researchers and agricultural policy experts, including George and Patti Naylor of Family Farm Defenders. Watch the short film to dive into the history of parity within the US, how it was slowly eroded through the influence of corporate agribusinesses, and its long term impact on family farms. You'll also learn about the far-reaching international impacts of disparity using examples from the 2020-2021 Indian farmer protests. The film is an excellent "road map" to get yourself familiar with the parity and family farm movements!

Visit the Disparity to Parity website for more videos, past webinars, and essays to learn more.

NFFC Staff Retreat - Planning the Year Ahead

In late April, NFFC staff traveled to New Orleans for a week of sharing, analyzing, brainstorming, and team-building. As a mostly remote staff, we were glad to catch up in person while mapping out our most important priorities for the year ahead, including the Farm Bill.

In our down time, we met with the awesome folks at Don't Cage Our Oceans, enjoyed a LOT of great seafood (shout out to CarmoCafe), and squeezed in an afternoon at the famous NOLA JazzFest. New Orleans gets a glowing 5-star review from us!