Happy New Year! Though we just entered into 2022, we’re already gearing up to accomplish some big goals. We know this year will be critical for bringing change to our farm and food system to improve the lives of farmers, ranchers, workers, eaters: all of us.
This year Farm Aid will:
- Be here for farmers and ranchers through the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, by providing emergency assistance and long-term recovery strategies;
- Connect farmers with the resources they need to stay on the land and help new farmers gain access to the credit and tools they need to get started;
- Deepen our ability to provide emotional, legal and financial expertise to better serve ALL farmers, including providing hotline services in Spanish and cultivating deeper relationships with Black, Indigenous and People of Color farmers and farm organizations;
- Fight with and for family farmers and rural people, with their voices at the center, to ensure a powerful 2023 Farm Bill, and strong state and federal policies that empower farmers and invigorate rural communities;
- Gather engaged farmers, advocates, eaters and activists to build power to address challenges like factory farms and climate change; and
- Bring you the stories and challenges of farmers so that together we can build a family farm centered food system that benefits farmers, communities, eaters and our soil and water.
Thank you for standing with Farm Aid and family farmers. Though 2021 was filled with challenges and unknowns, we were able to accomplish some very important outcomes.
Last year’s highlights:
- We worked with leaders in Washington on policy changes that create more competitive markets for farmers, strengthen local, sustainable farm and food systems, and take better care of farmers, ranchers, and farm and food workers.
- We expanded our Farmer Services Team to the largest it’s ever been so that we’re even more equipped to offer farmers a listening ear and crucial tools to support them in times of crisis, change and growth.
- At our virtual Farmer Town Hall, we gathered hundreds of farmers and farm advocates to share their challenges and ideas with a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives, as well as top U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, right up to the Secretary of Agriculture. We’ve had several meetings since then to keep policymakers accountable, and we will not give up, ever.
- We held our annual Farm Aid festival live and in person this year, celebrating family farmers with a jubilant and vaccinated/tested crowd of 15,000 in Hartford, CT, to experience how music, good food and family farmers unite us.
- We made grants of just under $1 million to support family farmers and ranchers directly in times of emergency and natural disaster and to strengthen the essential work of grassroots farm and food organizations across the U.S.
We’re grateful to be doing this work with you. Together we are making real change for family farmers and our food system!
