Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins posted a “DOGE update” video on Instagram with a caption announcing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cancelled a $397,000 grant in the Bay Area because it aimed “to educate queer, trans, and BIPOC urban farmers and consumers about food justice and values-aligned markets.”
That grant was a 2023 award to the Agroecology Commons, a nonprofit that runs a beginning farmer training program and incubator for young farmers who are just starting out and helps them access training, land, and local markets. At the NASDA Conference two weeks ago, Rollins specifically called out the need to make it easier and more attractive for young people to farm. “We need more young farmers to carry on the proud agricultural legacy of innovation, of entrepreneurship, and of feeding our nation,” she said at the time.
That’s in line with Agroecology Commons’ mission, said Leah Atwood, the group’s director of partnerships. Atwood told Civil Eats that the grant helped fund training programs that include farmer-to-farmer skill shares on topics including composting and beekeeping. Three cohorts of beginning farmers have made it through the nine-month training that includes 12 local farm partners so far, and she estimated about a dozen are farming on their own so far. The organization also works to help farmers sell fresh food to their local communities. “There’s a focus on being able to have a livelihood in farming,” she said.
The grant was terminated because it was identified as promoting DEI efforts. Atwood said their programs are open to all farmers, especially low-income individuals, but center those from groups that have historically been left out of farming and barred from accessing resources. “You don’t have to be BIPOC or queer to be here, that’s just who we’re actively welcoming into the space because there’s a need for that,” she said.
The contract was through the Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program, a tiny grant program that got an extra $14 million allocated in 2023 through Biden’s American Rescue Plan. As to Agroecology Commons’ $397,000, “It’s a rounding error for the USDA,” Atwood said. (Link to this post.)
