Join AgrAbility on July 8th for Roots of the Soil: Land Succession Issues among African American Farm Families

Roots of the Soil: Land Succession Issues among African American Farm Families

Wednesday, July 8

3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET

This webinar will focus on the unique challenges faced by African American farm families regarding the transfer of land from generation to generation.* Program speakers will discuss the importance of and the power inherent in land ownership by African American farmers.  They will provide historical perspectives highlighting the growth of African American farm ownership from Emancipation until the 1920s, as well as the subsequent land loss since that time and the reasons for the decline.

The presenters will provide personal perspectives concerning steps that landowner heirs can take to maintain property in their family, the importance of keeping land versus the short-term financial gains from selling, and how to make the land work for the family.

Topics include:

Historical review of African American farm ownership. Challenges faced by African American farm families in retaining land for future generations. Personal perspectives from a multi-generation farm family. Threats to African American farmland ownership. Importance of keeping land over money. Strategies and steps for landowners to protect their legacy

Our presenters:.

John Jamerson is founder and project manager of Legacy Taste of the Garden LLC and Legacy Farming and Health Group. Legacy’s aim is to close the gap between local producers and the local community to help support the community’s economic vitality. They seek to help empower individuals and communities to become self-sustaining and economically sound through education, networking, and resources to promote a healthy, sustainable, empowered life.

Denise Jamerson is a 5th generation farmer who was born and raised in Lyles Station, IN, an African American farming community in southern Indiana. She is operations director for Legacy Taste of the Garden LLC and is co-founder of Lyles Station Historic Preservation Corp and Lyles Consolidated School Museum. Greer Farms is operated by her father Norman Greer, who is recognized by the National Museum of African American History and Culture as the last known African American farmer farming land that has been in his family since before the civil war.

Frank Taylor is a native of Winston County Mississippi and president of Winston County Self-Help Cooperative, Inc. This group of minority farmers and landowners works diligently to combat past problems and social ills of land loss, insufficient farm income, and lack of access to marketing opportunities. His lifework embodies the theme "Saving Rural America.” He works to connect individuals with their natural resources and foster healthy and sustainable communities through partnering and generating hope for the next generation of landowners and farmers. Taylor is a tree farmer in the unincorporated town of Greensboro, MS.

A question & answer period will follow the presentation.

To participate in this free webinar, click here to access the online registration form by Monday, July 6. Instructions for accessing the session will be sent to registrants by Tuesday, July 7. Please pass on this invitation to others you believe may be interested. Contact AgrAbility at 800-825-4264 or email agrability@agrability.org if you have questions.

*This is the first webinar in a series designed to explore farm succession planning with a special emphasis on the needs of socially disadvantaged farm families.  Future programs will explore USDA, Extension, and other resources that farm families can use to help develop a plan for successfully passing their farm business to future generations.

This webinar is sponsored by the Legacy Innovation Farming Economics (LIFE) Project, a partnership of Peoples Foundation, Legacy Farming and Health Group, and the National AgrAbility Project.  The LIFE Project is sponsored by the USDA Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program.  The Purdue Institute for Family Business is partnering with the LIFE project on this educational project.

The National AgrAbility Project is supported by USDA/NIFA Special Project 2016-41590-25880. This webinar also supported by USDA award number A0192501X443G013.

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Co-hosted by Maine AgrAbility. For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/268192794484746/

Over $245,000 Awarded to Three Maine Farm to School Projects

2020 Farm to School Grant Awardees - MAINE

“Since 2013, the USDA Farm to School Grant Program has offered annual grants to schools, school districts, nonprofits, state agencies, agricultural producers, and Indian Tribal Organizations to plan, implement, or provide training on farm to school activities. FNS is committed to working with schools and agricultural partners to ensure healthy habits take root in early childhood.” (USDA, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cfs/2020-farm-school-grant-awardees)

Cumberland County Food Security Council - $100,000

The project is based on Cumberland County Food Security Council’s unprecedented school food system assessment, which provided the proposal clear guidance and a solid foundation to support lifelong increased consumption of good local food by Portland, Maine students. The “Local Food Fuels Learning” Farm to School project will increase local procurement in Portland Public Schools by five percent. It will increase participation in school food by the 3,777 students eligible for free and reduced price meals by five percent. The project creates labor efficiencies and adds processing equipment to Central Kitchen to facilitate more local food processing. It involves students in agriculture education, “Good Food Clubs”, menu development, and taste tests. It creates a school food brand that appeals to students, parents and staff.

Gulf of Maine Research Institute - $97,391

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) will increase the amount of local seafood served in schools around New England, thus increasing access to healthy, local protein for students and 21 | Page increasing demand for fish caught by New England fishermen. GMRI will secure pledges from school districts around New England to create a community of schools committed to increasing the amount of seafood they serve. GMRI will also facilitate connections and communication between local seafood processors and school foodservice operators to improve local seafood procurement. Finally, GMRI will provide resources for schools to ensure uptake of local seafood, and will pilot education and engagement strategies to increase seafood consumption.

Maine School Administrative District 30 - $48,415

Maine School Administrative District 30 (MSAD 30) will serve as the lead applicant of a joint Farm to School planning grant for three districts in rural Penobscot County, Maine. MSAD 30, East Millinocket Public Schools, and the Millinocket School Department will use funds to increase local fruit and vegetable procurement and agricultural education for their 972 K-12 students by developing a Farm to School Action Plan.

Online Tool to Determine Leave Under Families First Coronavirus Response Act

US Department of Labor Wage and Hour launched a new online tool that guides workers through a series of questions to help them determine if they are eligible for paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). As America continues to re-open, this tool stands to help employees and employers to determine who is qualified for the FFCRA protections and benefits.

Full link: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/ffcra/benefits-eligibility-webtool.

Maine Climate Council Working Group Recommendations Presented

Working groups of the Maine Climate Council presented recommended strategies to the public through webinars held on June 17th and 18th. Working groups met between October 2019 and June 2020 to develop a core set of strategies to increase Maine’s capacity to mitigate climate change through greenhouse gas reduction and our capacity to adapt to climate change. The Coastal and Marine Working group report stressed the importance of maintaining working waterfronts, sustaining our fisheries and coastal habitats. The Natural and Working Lands Working group highlighted the importance of conserving working lands to maintain access for farming and forestry, supporting for growing practices that sequester more carbon in the soil, and increasing local food production which builds food security for all of us - we import 90% of the food we eat!

Next Steps and Opportunities for Engagement:

The Maine Climate Council will prioritize which of the recommended strategies are included in the State Climate Action Plan that will be delivered to the Governor and Legislature by December 1, 2020. Detailed feedback from the public about the recommended strategies will be sought via survey beginning in early July. Please sign up for the Maine Climate Council newsletter on our homepage to learn about the launch of this survey.

Working Group Recommendations:

Buildings, Infrastructure, and Housing Working Group recommended strategies (PDF)

Community Resilience Planning, Public Health, and Emergency Management Working Group (PDF)

• Community Resilience Planning recommended strategies (PDF)

• Public Health recommended strategies (PDF)

• Emergency Management recommended strategies (PDF)

Coastal and Marine Working Group recommended strategies (PDF)

Energy Working Group recommended strategies (PDF)

Transportation Working Group recommended strategies (PDF)

Natural and Working Lands Working Group recommended strategies (PDF)

Briefing on DACF response to the pandemic (June 11, 2020)

Read an overview of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s response to the current pandemic presented by Commissioner Amanda Beal to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry on June 11, 2020.

MFC Spring 2020 Newsletter is out!

Photo credit: Kennebec Estuary Land Trust

Learn about local food access points,

Find garden resources,

Learn about our partner Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program,

and more in our Spring newsletter.

The quick pivot of local farmers and fishermen

Here are a few of the stories from the past 5 weeks about how Maine farmers and fishermen are adapting to wholly new markets and new ways of doing business. We need local food. Perhaps this experience will make us more aware of the security and resilience that a strong local food system can provide. Thankfully, farmers largely have felt reassured by a quick show of support from consumers which allowed them to make the critical decision not to scale back planting despite all the uncertainty. As in many areas of our work recently, we are optimistic about the number of connections being built or strengthened as food producers work together to create online markets, share farm stand space, adjust distribution systems, and share information. Merry Meeting Kitchen, Farm Drop-Lisbon, and Gulf of Maine Sashimi are three examples of collaborative direct to consumer sales options being developed online. The University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Maine Farm and Seafood Products Directory which connects consumers with local food, and Farm to Institution New England’s work to connect food producers with institutional buyers are both great examples of what collaborations can achieve. The next step will be finding ways to sustain this level of connection and resource sharing within our state’s food system.

3/19 Press Herald: Without restaurants to buy their goods, farmers turn to consumers

3/23 Bangor Daily News: With restaurants shuttered, Maine fishermen and farmers pivot to sell directly to customers

3/23 Times Record: Farmers adapt to get local food to customers during outbreak

3/24 Mainebiz: Maine fishermen turn to direct-to-consumer outlets

3/26 National Fishermen: Community-supported fisheries rush to pivot models as coronavirus cuts off restaurant clients

3/26 Pine Tree Watch: When need meets need

3/26 Press Herald: MOFGA director: No Maine farm should go out of business during this pandemic

Community Garden and Grow Your Own Food Resources

While we wish we could have gathered in person this week for our Community Garden Roundtable, we have focused our efforts instead on compiling resources about community gardens and growing your own food. With seeds temporarily selling out from FEDCO, Johnny’s and other vendors and the interest we are hearing in seedling sales we know these resources will be of interest!

MFC created a Community Garden Toolkit designed to help new and existing community gardens (PDF) in this unique growing season and more typical seasons. Resources include: planning guides, garden management, useful document templates, resources and common challenges, funding ideas, and example COVID-19 guidelines. Let us know if you have additional resources to suggest! The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Garden Chat on Monday May 18th at 9 am will focus on community gardens.

MFC’s toolkit and many other resources are included on our Growing Your Own Food page with links to area community gardens, basic growing information, and information on where to buy seedlings and seeds including many seedling sales that started at local farms this week! If you are a SNAP recipient - you can use SNAP benefits to purchase food producing seedlings and seeds.

Happy Gardening.

Community Partner Spotlight: Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program

Contributed by Sean Marlin, MCHPP

4/30/2020

Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program operates seven services across eight towns serving roughly 380,000 meals annually. That is delivered through five weekly pantries, two monthly mobile pantries, a school program covering 30 schools, and more than 100 hot lunches served daily over a six-day service week. Under normal circumstances these services are fueled by 39,000 volunteer hours and a robust food system donating roughly 1.2 million pounds annually. But things have changed. Schools are closed, we can only have eight volunteers in the building at a time, and there are rumors that our food system may soon be on the brink. 

The last ten years have not been kind to the families we serve. We act as a stop gap for thousands of our neighbors. Before the pandemic we were already in the midst of a multiyear increase in visits with a gradual slowing of food donations. Those trends are likely the tip of the iceberg. We have long believed that many of our neighbors are one crisis away from not making ends meet. Those families are the most difficult to reach. That belief has been confirmed. Our agency has seen more new faces than ever before.  Families that would otherwise never visit a food pantry have needed our services for the first time. All of the pressures on family nourishment have been magnified due to the fallout from COVID-19. 

Under normal circumstances our clients often struggled to balance a family budget because of pressures like growing children, heating costs, underemployment, caretaking of relatives, lack of transportation; the list goes on. These families have the same issues except now many of them are now furloughed, and have children at home. This adds pressure for heads of households to stay healthy as they are often the primary care taker for not only children but indigent relatives. That means even short trips to the store are high risk undertakings. Food security, anxiety, and a family’s outcomes are inextricably linked. Fear resulting from the inability to work and provide has hit our population especially hard.  

But this is also a time of resilience. Our community is responding to these sobering realities. Our neighbors have been donating not just food but supplies and PPE. In the face of school closures school districts continue to prepare breakfast and lunch which is distributed through school buses. Farmers, who have lost their markets, have been reaching out to donate food. Last week the USDA introduced a program where farms can be reimbursed for donated product. You can read more about the CFAP program here: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/04/17/usda-announces-coronavirus-food-assistance-program

Our agency is also responding. We have taken decisive action to ensure not only public safety but the longevity of our services. We closed our building to everyone but staff and a small number of volunteers. We have divided our staff into three teams. Each team rotates on and off for two weeks at a time. If any member of one team falls ill we have two backup teams to run our programs. We are implementing a similar plan for volunteers. Because our building is closed we have also transitioned all of our services to be a grab and go model. Many of our services don’t even require a client to leave their car.

Flexibility is the name of the game:

Soup Kitchen To Go Meals - We have had to close our dining room to guests and with it the scores of volunteers serving 100 plus daily meals. We have transitioned to a to-go meal. All food is packaged into containers and in a grab and go model which can be picked up outside our building during our normal hours. 

Food Pantry No Touch Drive Through - Our food pantry has converted to a drive-through style service. Premade boxes are placed into the trunk of a vehicle. We also removed some key restrictions to make our Pantry even lower barrier. Currently close to half of the guests going through our pantry are new clients. We have removed a restriction related to our coverage area, anyone can visit our pantry now, and we are not requiring paperwork from new clients. Lastly, we allow pickup for multiple households by one person so high-risk individuals can stay home and still receive food. 

Expanded Mobile Pantries - We are continuing to serve Lisbon uninterrupted and have increased our Mobile Pantries to Harpswell from once a month to four times a month. Mirroring our on-site Food Pantry we are also using the drive-through model for Mobile Pantries.

School Pantry Increase - With school closures School Pantry has shifted its distributions. We are working directly with districts’ nutrition services to deliver food boxes along with breakfast and lunch. Weekly we distribute roughly 550 boxes of 10 - 15 meals in each box across five districts. School Pantry has seen a dramatic increase in food distributed. We suspect that it is serving many of the families that need food but are not visiting our Food Pantry. Pre-pandemic this program was serving roughly 4,000 meals a month. Last month it served over 100,000 meals.

Food Security Coalition Building Capacity – FSC facilitates resource sharing between food pantries in the midcoast area. Since the crisis began the Coalition has led by maintaining a listing of pantry hours for North Cumberland, Lincoln, and Sagadahoc Counties. They continue to hold regular zoom meetings with stakeholders to maintain everyone’s place at the table. FSC secured and distributed garden seeds to pantries to assist with food security over this growing season. Lastly FSC has worked closely with our food bank to increase food sharing with regional pantries. Since the start of the crisis, our agency has shared tens of thousands of pounds to those pantries. If you would like more information please reach out to Sandi Konta by emailing her at skonta@mchpp.org.

Crises often catalyze the good and bad of communities. In short, we are surrounded by neighbors of incredible character. What could have been an unmitigated disaster is turning into a story of distanced solidarity. We still have a long way to go and we won’t make it without support. You can keep up with us on Facebook or make a donation on our website. MCHPP doesn't exist without our community; without people sharing food, ideas, labor, and good will. We hope everyone is staying safe in this trying time.

Summer Farmers' Markets open with new times, locations, and policies!

Local food producers are working hard to adapt and keep our communities nourished through farm stands, pick up locations, online ordering platforms and by keeping farmers’ markets open around the state. With Midcoast summer markets opening this week we wanted to share a few tips from our local market managers and updated information on market times and locations. Read more about these changes in the Portland Press Herald.

Thank you for supporting our local farmers, fishermen and producers!

Updated market policies include:

• Follow all CDC guidelines - wash your hands before and after attending the market; bring hand sanitizer

• Stay home if you feel ill or have been around someone who is unwell

• Please wear a mask/face covering

• Stay at least six feet away from others

• Send only one person per family to shop 

• Bring exact change, checks or credit cards for payment

• Keep your visit as brief as possible to assure everyone has an opportunity to shop

• Plan Your Shopping- you can order ahead from many vendors & simply pick-up your order at market

• Be aware that some markets will be limiting the number of people out of their cars at a given time to control congestion

Image from the Bath Farmers’ Market. Signs from the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets.

-Changes are being implemented to ensure your safety and that of the vendors!

-Please be patient, and work with volunteers and vendors as these systems are worked out.

Midcoast SUMMER Markets Opening!

(Click the logos for links to each market.)

Bath Farmers’ Market

Summer Market opening May 2nd!

LOCATION: Linwood E. Temple Waterfront Park

TIME: 8:30am-12pm, Saturdays

SNAPMatch incentive program allows for SNAP shopping from all vendors

Brunswick Farmers’ Market

May- November

LOCATION: The Mall, Brunswick. Between Maine St. and Park Row

New TIME: 8 AM - 1 PM, Tuesday & Friday

New POLICIES: With a list of vendors and links to vendor pre-order forms, here

Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust Farmers’ Market

May- October

Temporary LOCATION: Brunswick High School Parking Lot, 116 Maquoit Rd.

New TIME: 8:30 - 9 AM for high risk shoppers, 9 AM - 12:30 for all other shoppers, Saturdays

Offers Harvest Bucks SNAP Incentive Program for all vendors

New POLICIES & vendor list HERE

Bowdoinham Farmers’ Market

June- October

TIME: 8:30 AM-12 NOON, Saturdays

LOCATION: Mailly Waterfront Park

Items will be available for pre-order/pick up as well as day of shopping.

Brunswick Landing Farmers’ Market

This market will not be occurring due to Covid. Orders from market vendors can be made through:

Merry Meeting Kitchen- offering no contact pickup of pre-ordered farm goods at Brunswick Landing Meeting Kitchen: https://www.localline.ca/merry-meeting.