Have you struggled to navigate the complex web of government programs available for small and urban farms? Do you struggle to negotiate the best deal or most secure land tenure arrangement for your farm? Just want to meet some peers in agriculture in your area? This Learning Circle can help!
WHAT: Negotiation Skills for Womxn-led Farms: Exploring the intersections of land tenure, conservation, and farm viability on urban farms
WHEN: 2 Sessions – July 6th and 8th, 2-4 pm Pacific
WHERE: Zoom (link to be sent, upon registration)
Urban and peri-urban farmers play a vital role in feeding communities and providing access to nature for city-dwellers, and many are led by innovative, gritty womxn producers who often face complex barriers. Negotiation skills are critical to navigating these challenges and can help producers lay the foundation to access more conservation programs for on-farm resilience and viability.
We’re partnering with local agricultural resource providers to offer this peer-to-peer learning opportunity for womxn-producers in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Mateo Counties.
Co-conveners:
Caitlin Joseph, Women for the Land Program & Policy Manger, American Farmland Trust
Alyson Aquino, District Conservationist, Alameda County – USDA-NRCS
Clarimer Vargas-Hernandez, District Conservationist, Contra Costa County – USDA-NRCS
Colleen Hotchkiss, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist, Alameda County Resource Conservation District
Adria Arko, Agriculture & Climate Programs Manager & Agricultural Ombudsman
San Mateo Resource Conservation District
Andrea Levy, Senior Associate, Land Access & Farm Business Education – California Farmlink
Description:
Learning Circles apply a peer-to-peer model, focused on participants as experts of their own experience, providing a supportive environment from which to learn collectively. American Farmland Trust has been utilizing this model across the country to engage women farmers and landowners to support their increased access to on-farm conservation support and farm viability resources. At this womxn-centered learning circle, you will be able to:
- Learn tips for successfully negotiating in a variety of farm-related scenarios.
- Dialogue about challenges you are facing & build relationships with fellow farmers in your area.
- Meet local service providers who are poised to support your conservation and farm viability goals.
- Hear from fellow urban farmers about innovative ways they have navigated the systems of support that exist, including (but not limited to) USDA, local agricultural extension and non-profit partners.
*Womxn includes women, transfeminine, and non-binary people, and anyone marginalized by misogyny or impacted by women-related issues.