.png)
It's Our 4th Birthday — 20% of New Subscriptions Go To Farmers Rising
- Bob Benenson
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Help Local Food Forum Grow While We Help This Great Farmer Education Non-Profit
Local Food Forum is marking its 4th anniversary today (April 1) by asking you to become a paid subscriber and help make this unique, mission-driven publication more self-sustaining.
But this isn’t just a subscription campaign. It’s a fundraiser: 20 percent of the proceeds from all subscriptions initiated through April 30 will go to Farmers Rising, the farmer education non-profit based in the north-central Illinois community of Caledonia.
I am a longtime admirer of Farmers Rising (known as Angelic Organics Learning Center until its 2023 rebranding), which plays such an important role in helping new and early-stage small farms build their businesses and grow. I have been happy to support its efforts in many ways.
There is an urgency about this fundraiser. Farmers Rising faces unprecedented uncertainty in the face of the current administration’s illegal funding cuts and efforts to subvert congressional contractual obligations to reimburse farmers and farm organizations for expenses incurred under several USDA programs—including the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LPFA) cooperative agreement.
Farmers Rising is one of 15 intermediaries statewide under the IL-EATS program, funded by LFPA, that aggregates food grown by local farmers and distributes it to needy individuals and food banks.
The program has been impacted by stop orders and conflicting directives from Washington, D.C., but most recently announced it can continue through June 30. While Farmers Rising welcomes this news, it and many other organizations and farmers are still at great financial risk.
Here is how Farmers Rising describes the benefits of its programs and the existential challenges it is so unfairly facing.
Bob Benenson, publisher, Local Food Forum
At Farmers Rising, we uplift the people doing local and regenerative agriculture. We create space for farmers to learn alongside other growers and farmers, improve business and production skills, and access affordable farmland.
Additionally, our two inspiring locations in Caledonia and Rockford transform into living classrooms for youth and adult learners alike, and enable us to fulfill our mission to build sustainable local food and farm systems.
Farmers Rising faces an uncertain future as the federal funding landscape continues to shift and change at a moment’s notice due to the new administration’s practices.
Unfortunately, this scenario puts all of our work at risk. We currently work under three federal grants, one of which is IL-EATS. A second federal grant funds our Farmer Training program that offers beginning farmer training services, including business planning, land access, network support and technical assistance, while a third funds our community food access work at Farmers Rising Rockford.
At Farmers Rising, our programs build upon one another to advocate for and build a vibrant and sustainable local food and farm system. Losing access to these funds would be devastating for our organization as a whole.
As we ramp up our busy season in the face of this uncertainty, we are immensely grateful to everyone who has joined our emergency response team so far. We appreciate Local Food Forum’s partnership and grass-roots support, which will help us weather the unfortunate chaos of this administration's policies, and which will ensure our farmers and communities continue to have access to important educational services and healthy food.
With gratitude,
Jackie de Batista, Executive Director, Farmers Rising
HOW THE SUBSCRIPTION FUNDRAISER WORKS
For each new $50 Local Food Forum subscription, Farmers Rising receives $10
For each new $100 premier subscription, Farmers Rising receives $20
For each new $5 monthly subscription, we will multiply by 12 to assume a $60 full-year commitment and send $12 to Farmers Rising.
Want to get even more deeply involved with Local Food Forum and our mission to help build a better, healthier, more sustainable, more humane and fairer food system — and provide even more much-needed funds to Farmers Rising? Please consider becoming a sponsor.
For each $250 annual sponsorship, Farmers Rising receives $25. The sponsor will be entitled to logo recognition and may post up to 12 sponsored content articles on Local Food Forum
For each $500 annual sponsorship, Farmers Rising will receive $50. The sponsor will receive logo recognition and be entitled to submit an unlimited amount of sponsored content.
Please note: If you would like to discuss a sponsorship, click below to email directly to me.
Naturally Chicago and Farmers Rising will truly appreciate any and all support. Please join us in standing for small farmers and working together to build a better food system.
Comentarios