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Food Sovereignty Fund

Food Sovereignty Fund

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The Food Sovereignty Fund (FSF) exists to empower farmers to partner with hunger relief projects in order to make delicious, nutritious and culturally appropriate food grown by regional farmers available to people who otherwise may not have access. The fund pays farmers, in advance, for this food. Farms are matched to community-based hunger relief projects, granting those programs access to the locally grown foods that the communities they serve need and deserve. All FSF participants, whether farmers or hunger relief workers/volunteers, are supported through technical assistance. The ultimate aim is to advance food sovereignty in the Hudson Valley by providing resources and support to farms led by and serving communities that are too often excluded from the local food system. All participating farms center the leadership of people who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, person of color), LGBTQIA+, and women.

 

History

The Food Sovereignty Fund was founded in the spring of 2020 to increase access to regionally produced food while protecting the bottom line of small, regeneratively managed farms led by people from historically marginalized backgrounds.

In the wake of COVID-19, thousands of Hudson Valley residents lost their jobs and demand for hunger relief across the region skyrocketed. At the same time, local farms saw increased demand for their products from full price-paying customers, leaving less food to flow into the emergency food system through farm donations. It was a perfect storm, leaving those living on the edge of precarity unable to afford fresh, healthy food and farmers facing mounting pressures to meet ever increasing demand.  

Local farms, hunger relief projects, and food and farming nonprofits quickly mobilized across the Hudson Valley to address this crisis. Maggie Cheney of Rock Steady Farm led weekly meetings of various representatives of this work to identify opportunities for better coordination. In a matter of weeks, this developing coalition identified a specific intervention that would serve both farmers and hunger relief projects. Glynwood raised sufficient funding to contract 10 regional farms to grow food specifically for hunger relief that year. By the end of the 2020 season, these farms had donated thousands of pounds of vegetables, meat, and dairy, dramatically improving the nutrient density, freshness and deliciousness of food available to Hudson Valley families facing food insecurity.

This quick response to the crisis has inspired an ongoing commitment to building partnerships in the food system between farmers and hunger relief projects that is now called the Food Sovereignty Fund. Building on learnings from the 2020 season and working closely with the Accountability Council formed to design and implement the project, the Food Sovereignty Fund formally launched in 2021. That year, 17 participating farms produced more than 25 tons of food, the equivalent of 44,564 meals, that was distributed through 15 community partners to thousands of households across our region. The program has since grown to include 22 farms and19 food access partners. During the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons, the program distributed a combined total of 170,000 pounds of food. 

In 2024 this project is focused on sustainable, transparent growth. This includes continuing our partnership with Episcopal Charities of New York, expanding our presence in Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester counties in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension, and maintaining three cold storage “hubs” with partner organizations that were originally constructed in 2022. 
 

Accountability Council

The members of the Accountability Council are experts in their fields who work at the nexus of regional farming and food access.

2023 Participating Farms

  • Abundance Farms
  • Angel Family Farm
  • Black Yard Farm Collective
  • Chaseholm Farm
  • Choy Division
  • Farm Fresh Caribbean Growers
  • Fresh Radish Farm
  • Hemlock Hill Farm
  • Huerta Family Farm
  • Ironwood Farm
  • Letterbox Farm
  • Mimomex Farm
  • Phillies Bridge Farm Project
  • R&R Produce
  • Rise & Root Farm
  • Rock Steady Farm
  • Star Route Farm
  • Sweet Freedom Farm
  • The Grandpa Farm
  • The Three Sisters Farm
  • Whistle Down Farm

2023 Participating Food Access Partners

  • Ascension Outreach
  • Center for Family Life
  • Church of the Good Shepherd
  • Community Center of Northern Westchester
  • Dutchess Outreach
  • Food of Life / Comida de Vida
  • Fred's Pantry / Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP)
  • Guild of St Margaret's Soup Kitchen
  • Holyrood Food Fest
  • Hudson Youth Center
  • Meals on Main
  • Mixteca
  • Mt Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry
  • North East Community Center
  • Our Core
  • St. Ann's Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen
  • The Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center
  • Ulster Immigrant Defense Network

To Join the Initiative

Hudson Valley farmers are invited to express interest in the Food Sovereignty Fund (FSF). A very limited number of farms will be added to this project in 2024. Farms are invited to express interest in participating by completing the interest form so that they may be considered for participation in this or future seasons.

Before submitting an interest form, read this FAQ. When you are ready, complete the interest form here. Note that you cannot save your work and return to it, but must complete the form. We estimate it will take about 20 minutes to complete. You can read all of the questions you will be asked in this document.

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Se invita a los agricultores del valle de Hudson a expresar interés en un nuevo programa de Glynwood, el Fondo de Soberanía Alimentaria (FSF). El propósito del programa es capacitar a los agricultores para que se asocien con proyectos de alivio del hambre con el fin de hacer alimentos deliciosos, nutritivos y culturalmente apropiados cultivados por los agricultores regionales a disposición de las personas que de otra manera podrían no tener acceso. El fondo pagará a los agricultores, por adelantado, por este alimento. Las granjas se adaptarán a proyectos de alivio del hambre basados en la comunidad para que esos proyectos tengan acceso a los alimentos cultivados localmente que la comunidad a la que sirven necesita y merece. Todos los participantes de la FSF, ya sean agricultores o trabajadores/voluntarios de socorro del hambre, recibirán asistencia técnica. El objetivo final es promover la soberanía alimentaria en el valle del Hudson.

 

Antes de enviar un formulario de interés, lea estas preguntas frecuentes. Cuando esté listo, complete el formulario de interés aquí. Tenga en cuenta que no puede guardar las respuestas y volver después, pero debe completar el formulario. Estimamos que tardará unos 20 minutos en completarse. Puede leer todas las preguntas que se le harán en este documento.

 

Historia


El Fondo de Soberanía Alimentaria fue fundado en la primavera de 2020 para aumentar el acceso a los alimentos producidos a nivel regional, al tiempo que protegía los resultados de las pequeñas granjas administradas regenerativamente dirigidas por personas de entornos históricamente marginados. A raíz de COVID-19, miles de residentes del valle del Hudson perdieron sus empleos y la demanda de alivio del hambre en toda la región se disparó. Al mismo tiempo, las granjas locales vieron una mayor demanda de sus productos de clientes que pagan precios completos, dejando menos alimentos para fluir en el sistema de alimentos de emergencia a través de donaciones agrícolas. Fue una tormenta perfecta, dejando a los que vivían al borde de la precariedad incapaces de permitirse alimentos frescos y saludables y a los agricultores que se enfrentan a presiones crecientes para satisfacer una demanda cada vez mayor.

Las granjas locales, los proyectos de socorro del hambre y las organizaciones sin fines de lucro de alimentos y agricultores se movilizaron rápidamente a través del valle del Hudson para hacer frente a esta crisis. Maggie Cheney de Rock Steady Farm y Flowers dirigieron reuniones semanales de varios representantes de este trabajo para identificar oportunidades para una mejor coordinación. En cuestión de semanas, esta coalición en desarrollo identificó una intervención específica que serviría tanto a los agricultores como a proyectos de socorro del hambre. Glynwood recaudó fondos suficientes para contratar a 10 productores regionales para cultivar alimentos específicamente para aliviar el hambre. Al final de la temporada, estas granjas habían donado miles de libras de verduras, carne y lácteos, mejorando drásticamente la densidad de nutrientes, la frescura y la delicia de los alimentos disponibles para las familias del valle de Hudson que enfrentan inseguridad alimentaria.


Esta rápida respuesta a la crisis ha inspirado un compromiso continuo con la creación de asociaciones en el sistema alimentario entre los agricultores y los proyectos de socorro para el hambre que ahora se denomina Fondo de Soberanía Alimentaria. Basándose en los aprendizajes de la temporada 2020 y trabajando en estrecha colaboración con el Consejo de Responsabilidad formado para diseñar e implementar el proyecto, el Fondo de Soberanía Alimentaria se lanzará formalmente en 2021.

 

Consejo de Responsabilidad


Los miembros del Consejo de Rendición de Cuentas son expertos en sus campos que trabajan en el nexo de la agricultura regional y el acceso a los alimentos.
 
Maggie Cheney (ellos), Rock Steady Farm and Flowers

Iyeshima Harris-Ouedraogo (ella), East NY Farms! y Green Guerillas

Christine Hutchinson (ella), Nuestro Núcleo y Agricultores del Noreste de Color Landtrust

Stiles Najac (ella), Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County

Sarah Salem (ellos), Hudson Valley Food Systems Coalition

Jordan Schmidt (she/her), North East Community Center

 

2023 Granjas Participantes

Abundance Farms

Angel Family Farm

Black Yard Farm Collective

Chaseholm Farm

Choy Division

Farm Fresh Caribbean Growers

Fresh Radish Farm

Hemlock Hill Farm

Huerta Family Farm

Ironwood Farm

Letterbox Farm

Mimomex Farm

Phillies Bridge Farm Project

R&R Produce

Rise & Root Farm

Rock Steady Farm

Star Route Farm

Sweet Freedom Farm

The Grandpa Farm

The Three Sisters Farm

Whistle Down Farm

 

2023 Organizaciones de Acceso a los Alimentos

Ascension Outreach

Center for Family Life

Church of the Good Shepherd

Communty Center of Northern Westchester

Dutchess Outreach

Food of Life / Comida de Vida

Fred's Pantry / Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP)

Guild of St Margaret's Soup Kitchen

Holyrood Food Fest

Hudson Youth Center

The Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center

Meals on Main

Mixteca

Mt Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry

North East Community Center

Our Core

St. Ann's Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen

Ulster Immigrant Defense Network