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Programs
The Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural is an alliance of over 70
regionally and culturally diverse organizations working to build a more just and
sustainable food system which brings fair returns to minority and other small
farmers and rural communities, establishes just and fair working conditions for
farmworkers, protects the environment and brings safe and healthy food to customers.
Our programs include advocating for national policies which support these goals,
as well as economic development efforts such as bridging the digital divide and
helping our diverse members market the products of their small farms. Our programs
are summarized below:
The SuperMarket is an innovative project to increase the health and
economic viability of rural, agriculture dependent communities through
cooperative marketing
of products via an on-line network and the Internet. Together, our cooperative
members made up of small, limited resource and minority farmers and artisans, have
developed creative marketing strategies to sell a wide variety of high quality food
and crafts via the web site and trade shows. The project is designed to make small
and limited resource farmers more successful by combining into one on-line network
all the supports and services they need to market their goods. By locating markets
for their goods, eliminating the middlemen who take a cut of the profits and bundling
goods from several producers in order to secure more long-term, stable contracts the
project hopes to increase the returns to participating cooperatives and
organizations. Pesticide training is included in the project to ensure a safe food
supply as well as safer working conditions for farmworkers. For details about this
project, visit the SuperMarket Project online brochure.
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Rural Coalition Assembly is a gathering of Rural Coalition's members and
friends
to explore current social and political issues, their effects on the world, and our
response to them. The assembly is a chance to connect with others who share your
values and passion for justice, equity and sustainability. The next Assembly will be
in the Summer of 2005.
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Food 'N Justice Campaign is Rural Coalition's grassroots policy campaign
which
promotes comprehensive food, farm, labor, immigration and trade policies in Congress
to build a more equitable and sustainable food system for small and limited resource
farmers and ranchers, farmworkers, rural communities, consumers and the
environment.
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Equal Access to Agriculture Programs and Opportunities is an effort to end
racial
discrimination at the US Department of Agriculture and to reestablish viable and
sustainable minority farm agriculture. Minority farmers, facing farm crises,
discrimination, and neglect are on a long road to extinction. With them goes the
largest source of minority-held equity in the South and an important base of economic
development. This project is designed to broaden collaboration among minority and
limited resource farmers, increase their participation in USDA programs, work with
the USDA on concrete strategies to address barriers encountered, develop outreach
programs and improve USDA services to producers and farmworkers. USDA programs and
services are explained in outreach training sessions for farmers and farmworkers who
return to their own communities and educate others. In regular meetings with USDA
staff we identify barriers to participation, and offer specific recommendations to
make the programs more accessible and monitor changes.
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Community Research Network on Agriculture and Environmental Justice allows
Rural
Coalition members to use community-based research to identify, quantify, and develop
solutions to community issues related to agriculture, human rights, and the
environment. The research process has helped communities strengthen their
organizations and build partnerships with other communities, universities, and young
researchers. Project Summaries are below.
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Meeting the Risk Management Needs of Small, Limited Resource
and Minority Producers
The goal of this project is to enhance the economic viability of a diverse
population of limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers by equipping
them with the knowledge, skills, and specific tools necessary to ensure their
risk management needs are equitable met. This risk management outreach
project will:
- work with the insurance industry to train insurance agents to deliver crop
insurance and related products to limited resource farmers with the high quality
customer service these farmers require;
- train partner organizations to develop a revolving loan fund as a risk
management tool for small, limited resource, and minority producers;
- develop the record keeping systems necessary to produce the financial records
required for both revenue protection type of insurance and revolving loan funds,
and providing training in their use.
Project Period: October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004
Past and Upcoming Events:
- January 14 - 16, 2004 - Project Planning Meeting in Yakima, WA
- February 19-20, 2004 - Presentation of Feasibility Study Draft in Washington
DC
- April 16, 2004 - Review of Feasibility Study by RC Board of Directors
- May 12-14, 2004 - Project Meeting in Brinkley, Arkansas
- August 12-14, 2004 - Project Meeting in Maine
A project of Rural Coalition in partnership with: Casa Del Llano, Growing
Power, Hmong American Community, Homeworkers Organized for More Employment,
Intertribal Agriculture Council, Land Loss Prevention Project, Minnesota Food
Association, National Crop Insurance Services and its members, Operation Spring
Plant, Rural Advancement Fund, Rural Community Development Resources, Dr. John
Green of Delta State University, and funded by the Risk Management Agency.
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Reducing Risk Exposure and Increasing Health and Safety Through
Farmworker-Farmer Partnerships and Training
In collaboration with regional Risk Management Agencies, farmers, and farmworkers,
we are working to develop methods to foster and sustain relationships between farmers
and farmworkers. The partners will develop methods and tools to enhance farmworker
health and safety, building on the health and safety training tools developed by our
farmworker partners in the past. Project partners will also investigate and assess
the key factors that contribute to high costs for workers compensation insurance in
the state of California (one of the states with the highest number of agriculture
workers covered). In partnership with insurance companies, we will develop and test
a revised compliance, training, and workplace assessment tool. The partners will
then explore the possibility of certification of workers and workplaces based on
the use of this tool, and whether such certification has the potential to be
recognized by insurance companies as of value in reducing risk exposure on the
particular farm.
Project partners will also develop strategies, methods, and tools to build and
sustain work relationships between small farmers and farmworkers.
Through this project we are hoping to place value on the reality that protecting
and improving the livelihood and quality of life for farmworkers may improve the farm
enterprise overall.
Project Period: October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2006
Past and Upcoming Events:
- December 10, 2003 - RMA Research Orientation training in Kansas City
- March, 2004 - Farmworker Partners planning meeting in Florida
- March 2004 - Site visits and farmer-farmworker partner planning meetings in
South Texas and New Mexico
- April 1 - 2, 2004 - Opening Project Meeting and focus on health and safety
and workers Compensation issues in California. in Monterey, CA
- May 11 - 14, 2004 - Project Meeting on Small Farm-Farmworker Partnerships in
Brinkley, AR
- September 20 - 21, 2004 - Farmworker Partners planning meeting in
Albuquerque, New Mexico
A project of Rural Coalition in partnership with: Arkansas Land and Farm Development
Corporation, Farmworker Association of Florida, Hispanic Farmers association,
Hispanic Organizations Leadership Alliance, Milliman USA, National Crop Insurance
Services, North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project,
Organización en California de Lideres Campesinas, Rain and Hail LLC, Sin
Fronteras Organizing Project, Star Alliance Insurance Services, Dr. John Green of
Delta State University, and funded by Risk Management Agency.
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Women in Agriculture: A Needs Assessment
Taking into account that few research projects have been directed toward
developing a better understanding of the needs of limited resource and minority
farmers who are also women, this project proposes additional analysis and focus
groups designed specifically to reach women to further understand their roles in
agriculture and how they contribute to farming operations. Through this research, we
will also work to identify women farmers' needs, if they are being met by current
federal agriculture programs, and then suggest strategies to improve programs and
services. The Rural Coalition will conduct a needs assessment to identify, document
and address the potentially unique and unmet needs of diverse women producers.
Along with focus group data, addition analysis of past research will be used to
make recommendations to the Farm Service Agency for follow up research and action.
Past and Upcoming Events:
- December 5 - 6, 2003 - Project Visioning Session and Focus Group in
Covington, KY
- January 21 - 22, 2004 - Focus Group in Oxford, NC
- March 16 - 17, 2004 - Project Meeting and Focus Group in Des Moines, IA
- March 18 - 19, 2004 - Focus Group in Minneapolis, MN
- July 12, 2004 - Presentation to Farm Service Agency in Washington, D.C.
A project of Rural Coalition in partnership with the
Environmental and Community Health Organization, Inc., of Covington, KY, the
Women's Food and Agriculture Network, Atlantic, Iowa; Operation Spring Plant;
and Rural Advancement Fund, and funded by USDA Farm Services Agency.
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