The Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) is committed to identifying, recruiting, and training farmers and ranchers to make meaningful change in their lives and communities. They encourage farmers to spearhead campaigns for agriculture and food justice, help strengthen leadership on these issues, and build hope and courage for action.
Ranchers from WORC display their brands during a 2009 rally in Rapid City, S.D., to protest burdensome animal identification regulations proposed by the USDA.
Wink Davis in Hotchkiss, Colorado, is a farmer who took this concept to heart. This grape grower and winemaker joined WORC’s Regional Agriculture and Food Campaign Team in 2014. Wink knew about the potential detrimental impacts global trade deals could have on farmers and local food producers, so he stood up at a town hall meeting and publicly challenged his U.S. Senator to oppose giving the president the authority to fast track trade deal negotiations. He took this passion a step further and traveled with WORC to Washington, D.C. to lobby members of Congress. Wink honed these leadership skills at WORC’s four-day, nationally recognized Principles of Community Organizing Training.
WORC credits Farm Aid with being an historic supporter of grassroots organizing for systemic change. “[This] consistent support has enabled us to continue our core family farm advocacy programs…We appreciate that Farm Aid funds advocacy work that allows us to organize affected citizens to address root causes of local struggles, and raise these issues at the federal level.”
