2011 Grants for Family Farm Agriculture

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Picking cucumbersIn addition to Farm Aid's work throughout the year to build a thriving family farm-centered system of agriculture, Farm Aid funds family farm and rural service organizations through our annual grant program. We view our grantees around the country as critical on-the-ground partners in the movement to keep family farmers on the land, producing good food for all.

In 2011, Farm Aid distributed $302,710 to 46 family farm and rural service organizations nationwide. These funds were invested in programs that help farm families stay on their land, build local markets, confront the threat of corporate control of agriculture, train new farmers and support farmer-to-farmer programs for more sustainable agricultural practices.

With your gift, we can continue to support farm groups helping family farmers on the local level all over the country.

Information about each 2011 grantee is available below.

Growing the Good Food Movement

Creating and implementing innovative programs that build local and regional food systems, connecting farmers directly to consumers and creating new markets for family farmers.

  • Dakota Rural Action, Brookings, SD: $5,000 to support a new generation of sustainable food producers through the South Dakota Food and Agriculture Sovereignty Project. www.dakotarural.org
  • GrowNYC, New York, NY: $5,000 to support Youthmarket – a source of affordable, fresh, locally grown farm products for the diverse communities of New York City. www.grownyc.org
  • Sustainable Food Center, Austin, TX: $5,000 to establish a Double Value Coupon Program (DVCP) and a farmers' market to host the DVCP. www.sustainablefoodcenter.org

Helping Farmers Thrive

Providing farmers with the tools and resources they need to access new markets, grow sustainably, produce renewable fuels and stay on the land in the face of financial and natural disasters.

  • Alaska farmer, AK state: $500 for emergency assistance to a farm family in Alaska.
  • Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, NE: $10,000 in disaster assistance to help farmers in the Missouri River Region rebuild after severe flooding. www.cfra.org
  • Cultivate Kansas City, Kansas City, KS: $10,000 to empower low-income people in underserved Kansas City neighborhoods to develop sustainable small farm businesses and supply food to communities through the Juniper Gardens Training Farm and the Farm Business Development Program. www.cultivatekc.org
  • Farmers' Legal Action Group, Saint Paul, MN: $15,000 to support a hotline for America's family farmers as they struggle with legal, financial and bureaucratic challenges that threaten their lives on the land. www.flaginc.org
  • Farmer-Veteran Coalition, Davis, CA: $5,000 to help returning veterans start careers in agriculture through the Educational Farming Retreats for Veterans Program, Farmer-Veteran Mentorship Program and Farmer-Veteran Fellowship Fund. www.farmvetco.org
  • Federation of Southern Cooperatives, East Point, GA: $12,500 to enhance the livelihoods of family farmers and improve communities in the South. www.federationsoutherncoop.com
  • Federation of Southern Cooperatives, East Point, GA : $5,000 in disaster assistance to help farmers throughout the South following devastating tornados in the region. www.federationsoutherncoop.com
  • Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers, Gainesville, FL: $7,500 to support organic farmers through training and technical assistance, new marketing opportunities, education on food safety regulations and utilization of Farm Bill programs. www.foginfo.org
  • Holistic Management International, Albuquerque, NM: $5,000 to support a Beginning Farmers and Ranchers program in Texas. www.holisticmanagement.org
  • Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE: $7,500 to provide support services to farm families in crisis through the Nebraska Rural Response Hotline. www.interchurchministries.org
  • Jasper Area Amish Relief Fund, Jasper, NY: $1,000 in emergency assistance to farm families facing tragedy in New York.
  • Louisiana Interchurch Conference, Baton Rouge, LA: $10,000 to support a farm advocacy program in Louisiana and surrounding states. www.lainterchurch.org
  • Louisiana Interchurch Conference, Baton Rouge, LA: $5,000 in disaster assistance to help farmers after severe tornados in the region. www.lainterchurch.org
  • Lutheran Social Services of the South, Austin, TX: $5,000 to support farm and ranch families in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma facing severe, prolonged drought in the region. www.lsss.org
  • Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy, WI: $5,000 to help underserved farmers use federal programs successfully. www.michaelfieldsagainst.org
  • Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, Spring Valley, WI: $5,000 to support its Grow Organic program for beginning and transitioning farmers. www.moses.org
  • Missouri Rural Crisis Center, Columbia, MO: $350 for emergency assistance to a farm family in Missouri. www.morural.org
  • National Farm Crisis Center, Perkins, OK : $500 in emergency assistance to a farm family in Oklahoma.
  • New England Farmers Union, Shelburne Falls, MA: $5,000 to develop a carbon-crediting program for New England family farmers that will increase competitiveness, provide additional revenue streams and mitigate climate change. www.newenglandfarmersunion.org
  • New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, Lowell, MA: $4,860 to develop a farm business planning distance-learning course for beginning farmers to assist marketing, production and financial management on their farms. www.nesfp.org
  • New York farmer, NY state: $500 in emergency assistance to a farm family in New York.
  • Ohio farmer, OH state: $500 in emergency assistance to a farm family in Ohio.
  • Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, Pittsboro, NC: $15,000 to support farm advocacy, farm credit policy and contract agriculture reform. www.rafiusa.org
  • Rural Vermont, Montpelier, VT : $3,500 in disaster assistance to help farm families following devastating flooding in Vermont. www.ruralvermont.org
  • Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Elgin, TX: $2,500 in disaster assistance to help farmers affected by extreme drought in Texas. www.tofga.org
  • The Greenhorns, Tivoli, NY : $5,000 to host events for young and beginning farmers and foster farmer-to-farmer networking across the country. www.thegreenhorns.net
  • Vermont farmer, VT state: $500 in emergency assistance to a farm family in Vermont.
  • Wisconsin farmer, WI state: $500 in emergency assistance to a farm family in Wisconsin.

Taking Action to Change the System

Working to promote fair farm policies and grassroots organizing campaigns to defend and bolster family farm-centered agriculture.

  • California Climate & Agriculture Network (CalCAN), Sebastopol, CA: $5,000 to cultivate farmer leadership around climate change and serve as the voice of sustainable agriculture on state climate change policy. www.calclimateag.org
  • Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment, Columbia, MO: $5,000 to engage communities to demand change in federal farm, food and economic policies to better serve family farm agriculture. www.morural.org
  • Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, NE: $7,500 to develop conservation and beginning farmer and rancher policies for the 2012 Farm Bill and to engage, inform and build its national rural action network. www.cfra.org
  • Dakota Resource Council, Dickinson, ND: $5,000 to support the Justice for Farm Families Campaign to secure greater justice in the marketplace for those who live and work on family farms in North Dakota. www.drcinfo.org
  • Family Farm Defenders, Madison, WI: $7,500 to popularize and implement the principles of food sovereignty in the food and farm system. www.familyfarmdefenders.org
  • Friends of Family Farmers, Molalla, OR: $5,000 to organize farmers, ranchers and the public to shape state and federal policy around the 2012 Farm Bill. www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org
  • Georgia Organics, Atlanta, GA: $5,000 to support new processing options for independent and pastured poultry farmers in Georgia. www.georgiaorganics.org
  • Idaho Rural Council, Bliss, ID: $5,000 to support its Fighting Factory Farms and Sustaining Family Farms & Ranches campaigns. www.idahoruralcouncil.org
  • Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Des Moines, IA: $5,000 to support the Factory Farm Accountability Project. www.iowacci.org
  • Kansas Farmers Union, McPherson, KS: $7,500 to support the next generation of family farms and farm leaders in Kansas. www.kansasfarmersunion.org
  • Kansas Rural Center, Whiting KS: $7,500 to support outreach, education and advocacy efforts to expand local and regional food system across Kansas. www.kansasruralcenter.org
  • Missouri Rural Crisis Center, Columbia, MO: $10,000 to challenge the corporate takeover of agriculture, while organizing for and proposing alternatives that curtail the damaging trends facing agriculture today. www.morural.org
  • Missouri Rural Crisis Center, Columbia, MO: $2,500 to advocate for local control in the face of anti-family farm and pro-factory farm legislation moving through the state legislature. www.morural.org
  • National Family Farm Coalition, Washington, D.C.: $15,000 to support its member organizations through capacity-building, strategic analysis and campaign coordination. www.nffc.net
  • National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Washington D.C. : $12,500 to advance policy supporting sustainable agriculture and rural communities in the 2012 Farm Bill campaign. www.sustainableagriculture.net
  • Northern Plains Resource Council, Billings, MT: $5,000 to develop local, state and federal policies to provide economic stability for family farmers and ranchers in Montana, especially regarding on-farm energy generation. www.northernplains.org
  • Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association, Columbus OH: $5,000 to support OEFFA's Farm Policy Matters program for Ohio's family farmers. www.oeffa.org
  • Organic Farming Research Foundation, Santa Cruz, CA: $5,000 for the 2012 Farm Bill campaign. www.ofrf.org
  • Organic Seed Alliance, Port Townsend, WA : $5,000 to confront corporate concentration in the seed industry. www.seedalliance.org
  • Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture, Millheim PA: $5,000 to support policy change that advances sustainable agriculture for Pennsylvania's family farmers. www.pasafarming.org
  • Powder River Basin Resource Council, Sheridan, WY: $5,000 to return market fairness and control to producers in order to keep family ranches and farms on the land. www.powderriverbasin.org
  • Western Organization of Resource Councils, Billings MT: $5,000 to return competition and fairness to the livestock industry. www.worceducationproject.org