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Help a Queer Mixed-Asian Farm Level-Up for 2021!

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It's that time of year when farmers and the land rest and rejuvenate. The winter is the time to plan for the upcoming season. This is also the time farmers apply for grants that help fund needed investments for the land they tend. As we know, COVID-19 has created uncertain economic times for everyone including one of the funders we planned to apply for, thus they do not have enough resources to support a 2021 grant cycle. The other funder has a $5000 grant with an age limit of under-40. We are 43! This is a huge loss for our farm. While we applied for the USDA's CFAP2, the amount of funding is based on 2019, our 1st year farm income, and that wasn't a lot. Since these two $5000 grants are unavailable to us, we are asking our collective community to help level the playing field by helping us raise at least $5000.  The money will be used towards crew education and field equipment that will help us heal the land we tend and better meet the needs of our collective community. I know this is a difficult ask with the pandemic and the lockdowns, but if you have been unaffected financially, please consider a making a small donation to our farm. Your donations will keep crew members employed with off-season projects. If you have been affected but still want to support us, please help us by sharing widely.

In response to the "under-40" limit for the National Young Farmers Coalition Grant:

We are creating our own ask in lieu of the 2021 National Young Farmers Coalition Grant, a $5000 grant that helps farmers under-40 grow their farming business. While we value the work of this organization and applaud their intention to be inclusive of QTBIPOC farmers, we see a gross misunderstanding of the actual experiences and barriers facing many farmers like me by placing this age limit on their grant. As a child of immigrants who is a queer, gnc, mixed-Asian farmer closing out our 2nd season, it took me over 20 years to dream, think, believe, plan, prepare and finally actualize farming as a now 43 year old! As someone with intersectional identities, it's important to note that not everyone finds their dreams and goals so accessible, nor arrives at them as easily or quickly as the majority. We grapple with the historical effects of systemic racism (Local Anti-Chinese leagues, Federal Chinese Exclusion Act, State Alien Land Laws) that blocked BIPOC from farming the land they helped develop. And after navigating years of present systemic oppression (anti-LGBTQI legislation), racism, and lack of family acceptance or support, we arrive late to the game. That's my experience, anyway.

While I don't expect or even request The National Young Farmers Coalition to remove the age limit on their $5000 grant, we are simply asking our community of supporters to help us level the playing field by helping us raise at least $5000. Help us continue to invest in our farm and crew so we can collectively heal the land using regenerative, non-mechanized, indigenous practices. 

The funds for this GoFundMe will be used to:
- purchase a hoophouse,compost spreader , chipper shredder , paper pot transplanter 
- support crew in the off-season with training, education and planning
- ensure a livable wage for our farm crew and provide childcare during distance learning 
- increase home deliveries to immunocompromised, elderly or disabled members during COVID-19 
- mentor and provide opportunities to QTBIPOC and BIPOC interested in farming
- imagine and explore ways to collectivize, partner, or aggregate with neighboring farms who have similar ethos

To achieve all of the above, fundraising would have to surpass $5,000.

About Radical Family Farms:
Radical Family Farms was founded in 2019 by Sarah Deragon and Leslie Wiser, and is led by Wiser, a Queer, 1st-Generation Taiwanese/Chinese/German/Polish American. Located in Sebastopol, CA on Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo land, we work to heal the land and heal ourselves by using non-mechanized and non-extractive farming methods (aka climate smart, carbon farming, regenerative, no-till, chemical-free methods). Farming in this way is an intensely laborious process that requires the support of a large farm crew. Our farm feeds the Bay Area's Asian American communities through our mission to grow nutrient-dense Asian heritage produce and herbs as a means to explore and strengthen our cultural identities. Our Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA) delivers weekly Asian-centered produce boxes and flower bouquets to San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Sonoma County. As farmers, we create transparency and shorten the supply chain by delivering directly to our drop points and to those who are home-bound. This allows our community to receive farm flowers and nutrient dense, local, & culturally relevant produce needed to stay healthy during the pandemic. Read more here 

Asian Americans in Agriculture
Asian Americans make up less than 1% of the farmers in America due to a long history of systemic racism on local, state and federal levels. Growing Asian vegetables in Sonoma County is a significant feat considering the historical anti-Chinese sentiment here. Despite these barriers, we are very proud that the farm has become a thriving safe haven for QTAPI (Queer Trans Asian Pacific Islanders) and BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) to heal, learn and work in agriculture and farming - where see ourselves and defy white supremacy by growing the crops of our heritage.

Your donation is an investment in the future of our farm and the development of our crew. Thank you!!






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    Organizer

    Leslie Wiser
    Organizer
    Sebastopol, CA

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