Support our Community Farm Fighting Food Scarcity

Hello,

t's hard to believe we are already in May. But what a ride it has been since the close of our last growing season at the Community Farm and the whirlwind changes under the new administration.

These Spring months when the Earth is warming and the days are getting longer are always tangible reminders of Nature's cycles and fresh opportunities for new beginnings. In many ways, this moment is a chance to consider what we each are seeding and composting in our lives and work at this time. Change is challenging but exciting, too.

Thank you for supporting our work to provide free food to underresourced community members. Over 60 donations raised a total of $1505 since the project started at the second New Mexico farm location. This support contributed to us being able to do something to directly redress food scarcity that too many face, and to simultaneously support the leadership of young community members.

Growing food without chemicals, in drought, and that returns nutrients to the lands, has been a challenge. But our small team of three was able to do just that, and welcomed community members to harvest healthy food, hosted skillbuilding lessons for curious new farmers and distributed fresh veggies to community centers.

One aspect of this work has been to uplift those who carry ancestral wisdom during open source free, and accessible webinars for which they are paid, so that many more people across time zoes can also learn. Honoraria to community members are paid. This is a core value and practice as we do not have unpaid labor. 

Thank you for your contributions that contributed to supporting our farm, our team of three farmers, and those who shared knowledge. 

We have some news to share as we also seed and compost. Towards the end of the last growing season, our lead farmer who also hosted the landbase of the farm, shared their plans to increase their travel, the challenges of the farm, and their hope to relocate to another country, maybe back to Peru or Brazil. We were sad to learn of this news, but happy for them and grateful for their stewardship. Personal fulfullment and growth is important to celebrate. We wish them much success as they grow their work and platform to reach those in their expanding community.

The supplies and tools from our farm were offered to local farmers - passing this forward - for this work to continue!

We considered looking for another farm in New Mexico but have decided to regrant the small amount of funds raised since the end of the growing season last year to seed the work of another farmer as part of our Seed Grant program that is inherent in our small organization. We have a smal budget overall budget and no overhead as a remote team, but share what we have. (You can learn more about this from our Seed Grants for Appalachian communities in the wake of the the devastatinghurricanes.)

At this time, what is clear is that the political climate is calling us to a larger scale work to protect food workers who are being targeted and to raise awareness of often violent land takings from industrial agriculture operations. We have been part of the international food sovereignty movement for some time beyond the farm and given the urgency faced and also it's connection to climate change, we will be organizationally investing in leadership to address this crisis over the next 4 years.

We remain connected to the Earth, communities and to you you for your incredible generosity. Thank you - as we grow, learn and move with excitement toward next steps.