Tag: New York State

Y’All Come Meetings ~ Join in Farm Bill Advocacy!

by Food for the Spirit, posted in Events

Building on our Farm Bill Campaign, co-led with Equity Advocates and Black Farmers United NYS, we are launching monthly “Y’All Come Meetings” to invite everyone to get involved with our Farm Bill Campaign. Our “Y’All Come Meetings” will take place on the third Tuesday of each month from 5-6:15 PM.

Click here to register for our fourth meeting on August 15, 2023 at 5 PM!

Our guest speaker for our next meeting is: Tiffany Bellfield El-Amin, Food System Equity Organizer at Community Farm Alliance!

Stay in the know by joining these monthly check-in meetings.

Here is a list of our past and upcoming gatherings:

  • April 18th, 2023 with Dañia Davy of Federation of Southern Cooperatives
  • June 20th, 2023 with Kelsey Watson of National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
  • July 18th, 2023 with Jose Oliva of HEAL Food Alliance
  • August 15th, 2023 with Tiffany Bellfield El-Amin of Community Farm Alliance!

If you miss a meeting, you can also view the meeting recording at a later date.

Click here to learn more about our New York State 2023 Farm Bill Campaign.

Public Narrative Training Update

by Food for the Spirit, posted in Events

On February 20 and 21, Food for the Spirit co-hosted a two-day, in-person Public Narrative Training in Albany NY for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and other farmers, gardeners, and food systems actors of color in New York State. The purpose of the training was to engage participants in advocacy around the 2023 Farm Bill Campaign, and it was hosted in collaboration with our partners: Black Farmers United NYS, Equity Advocates, and the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust.

More than 20 participants attended the training to learn how to strategically construct a narrative focusing on one or more urgent food issues impacting them and their communities. They developed narratives that merged their personal food story with the story of the communities / organizations they belong to, and by the end of the training, each participant had a narrative they crafted to use when speaking with politicians or other Farm Bill decision-makers.

Attendees said:

“I learned how to better narrate my story by being concise and how to ‘draw a picture’ when telling it. Making it short and to the point but drawing in the audience leaves a greater impression.“

“I had not been to a public narrative training, so the entire curriculum was new to me. It helped me think through the best way to approach a personal story that connects to broader groups / communities I’m connected to, and urgent issues that are most pressing at the current moment.”

“I want to bring this to our Buffalo network, and think through how this kind of approach can be used to build solidarity as well as consensus about important initiatives to focus on together.”

“The Public Narrative Training was very informative and supportive of everyone’s needs and accommodations. We left with a wealth of knowledge to take back to our communities and make a change.”

“I really appreciated not just the chance to develop a framework and language to tell my own story, but to hear from others and feel in community with folks with similar values. It makes me feel hopeful to know this network is being created.”

“I really felt like I built a lot of camaraderie with the other Public Narrative Training attendees in a way I have never experienced before at an event or training. It made it so meaningful for me.”

Click here to learn about our New York State 2023 Farm Bill Campaign.

2023 New York State Farm Bill Policy Platform

Featured by Food for the Spirit, posted in Policy

Click Here to Sign Our Platform and Get Involved!

In 2022, to engage New Yorkers in shaping the 2023 Farm Bill, Food for the Spirit joined Equity Advocates and Black Farmers United NYS to co-lead a series of of conversations, listening sessions and surveys. We prioritized outreach to and participation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) farmers, producers, & practitioners in NY State and over 300 New Yorkers got involved.

Those New Yorkers shared how the 2023 Farm Bill can better support them in terms of land access, urban agriculture, climate change, community food project funding, nutrition, local and regional food systems, and their comments informed our statewide policy platform. The resulting policy platform represents a collective voice from NYS community food leaders, farmers, gardeners, land stewards, producers, & advocates.

Sign on to support our platform and get involved!

Support Black Farmers in the Genesee Valley of New York State

by Food for the Spirit, posted in Events

Western New York and Southern Tier Black farmers are looking for your support!

According to the 2017 USDA Agricultural Census there are only 139 Black farmers in NYS, compared to 57,000 white farmers statewide, and Black farmers make just $1 for every $5 a white farmer makes.

“Farming is big business in New York State — a $42 billion industry on which every other sector relies. Yet black farmers’ contributions in New York are often undercounted, overlooked, and undervalued, to the detriment of the health and prosperity of black communities statewide.”

– from Black Farmers United NYS

For these reasons and more, Food for the Spirit has been supporting Black farmers in New York State since 2019 through education, outreach, advocacy, and support for the development of networks and cooperative systems.

In 2021, we established the Genesee Valley Black Farmers Collective Marketing Project, a collective marketing project to serve Black farmers in the nine counties in the Genesee Valley of New York State. We engaged local farmers in the project and enlisted marketing and design support from Buffalo-based artist and food entrepreneur Alexa Joan Wajed of Eat Off Art.

Linked below are the Farmers Portraits created by Eat Off Art. Visit them to get to know each of the farmers and learn how you can support them:

Alison Espinosa of Rootworkers Croft

  • Allison is seeking venues (both virtual and in-person) with public school students and families in Rochester to share her expertise about farming and animal husbandry, as well as clients for farming, gardening, livestock husbandry, and herbalism.
  • Check out Alison’s Farmer Portrait at: bit.ly/GVBlackFarmer_AlisonEspinosa. 
  • Alison can be reached by email at rootworkerscroft (@) gmail.com.

Wil Moss, Jr. of Moss Fresh Fruits & Vegetables

  • Wil is seeking support with transportation and distribution to get their farm products to additional markets, and looking for support with equipment and labor to plant, cultivate, harvest, and take product to market.
  • Check out Wil’s Farmer Portrait at: bit.ly/GVBlackFarmer_MossFarm.
  • Email Wil Moss, Jr. at wemossjr (@) hotmail.com.

Pamela ReeseSmith of Harlem Brood Teas

  • Pamela is looking for venues (both virtual and in-person) to teach and educate underserved communities urban farming, growing herbs and vegetables, as well as clients who wish to consult with her around her expertise.
  • Check out Pamela’s Farmer Portrait at: bit.ly/GVBlackFarmer_PamelaReeseSmith.
  • You can reach Pamela on her business phone at: (585) 404-3885.

Through our collective efforts, we envision farmers of color coming together to learn from each other, share resources, and offer each other support in mutually-beneficial forums. We hope you will support us in bringing about this vision.

You can support our efforts through a donation or grant made to Food for the Spirit. To support the Genesee Valley Black Farmers Project and related efforts, contact Rebekah (@) foodforthespirit.org.

More ways to engage:

Learn about Eat Off Art at www.eatoffart.com.

This project was made possible through a grant from the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority and the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets.