For the last several weeks, ever since US Department of Agriculture cuts have put her work in jeopardy, Jocelyn Germany has been asking herself: “Is it safe for us to exist” as Black farmers?
Germany is the farmer advocate of Farm School NYC (FSNYC), an urban agriculture education center focused on food sovereignty and social, economic and racial justice. About 85% of FSNYC’s funding comes from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The center was in the process of launching a citywide pilot initiative in New York focused on food justice, crop management and urban farming advocacy. But a $300,000 National Institute of Food and Agriculture community food projects grant that would have funded it was terminated, effective immediately. Forced to scramble, FSNYC scaled down its programming and adopted a sliding scale for tuition.
The cuts affected other plans, including public courses on food stewardship. Funding that would have allowed the center to distribute mini grants and grow community capacity has also been paused. FSNYC recently discussed cutting some of its own employee benefits to free up resources for the affected programming. “Our main goal is to keep Farm School in operation,” Germany said.
The impact of USDA cuts has rippled through farming and agriculture communities, which are mobilizing to stanch the damage. FSNYC is part of the Black Farmer Ecosystem, a consortium of Black farms and entities that work on agricultural policy to strengthen local food systems throughout the US north-east. The group was founded to share resources in an already difficult funding environment; rather than compete with each other, members collaborate on joint fundraising and programming.
Now they share an estimated $1.2m gap due to defunding. For FSNYC and Black Farmers United-New York State (BFU-NYS), the USDA’s termination or freezing of National Institute of Food and Agriculture grants and Natural Resources Conservation Service contracts put programs and salaries at risk.
“We are in survival mode,” Germany said. Over the past year, FSNYC began taking baby steps to transition some of its funding away from government dollars, but “the sudden defunding was not the way we wanted to do it”, added Germany.
Made up of growers, advocates and food educators, BFU-NYS just became an independent organization after being a fiscally sponsored project under FSNYC. It lost a five-year, $660,000 contract with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service agency. The contract was to fund three annual statewide “Bridging Land, Agriculture, and Communities” conferences, with the inaugural event planned for April.
About a week after Donald Trump’s inauguration, BFU-NYS received an email explaining that because its work fell under diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming, the USDA would end its contract. This year’s conference was canceled, but BFU-NYS plans to host another in 2026 with or without government funding. The organization is seeking private donors to make that happen.
The abrupt withdrawal of funding has left the organization holding the bag for an event that was just around the corner – and for all the associated costs the conference has already incurred. “We have done the background work, got participating partners, submitted deposits and signed contracts,” said Dr Kuturie Rouse, BFU-NYS’s executive director of development.
The organization is now unable to reimburse full-time staff for extra time spent coordinating the conference or to recoup the cost of supplies. On top of that, BFU-NYS must pay vendors and other collaborators despite no longer receiving the USDA money and this year’s conference being canceled. “The organization is already at a loss,” Rouse said.
BFU-NYS also lost its Green Futures program, which helped young adults battle food insecurity, establish community gardens and pursue agriculture as a career. Last year, it launched a pilot program with a South Bronx middle school where students grew watermelon, callaloo, lettuce, and other fruits and vegetables. The students then provided that food to their school cafeteria to feed the student body. BFU-NYS now hopes to partner with other local schools to reinstate and grow the initiative.
Aside from the loss of money and programming, Rouse said that the mental health of BFU-NYS staff had taken a hit. After the inauguration, staff were bombarded with racist emails and social media comments. “It was hate mail just because of our name and who we support and sponsor.” He clarified that while “Black” is on the organization’s name and it focuses on communities of color, it is a nondiscriminatory organization that “work[s] with any and everyone”.
And at this extremely stressful time, mental health support is critical. The Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (NEFOC) supports climate stewardship and regenerative farming. It also serves as an incubator for several regional land projects. Christine Hutchinson, a founding board member of the land trust, shared that a $200,000 collaborative program focused on farmers’ mental health from Maine to Delaware has been affected by funding cuts. It will move forward despite the uncertainty. “People are really rocked,” Hutchinson said.
It’s been difficult for Monti Lawson, the founder of the Catalyst Collaborative Farm, to see so much funding halted because he encouraged many farmers and other partners to take advantage of these USDA programs. The farm, which invites queer and Bipoc people to the land to farm and organize, offers many free, donation-based or sliding-scale events – all possible due to previous funding. “For government and even philanthropy, ‘QTBipoc’ was a very sexy word,” Lawson said.
Lawson has been connecting with past funders and community members. “In this particular moment, there are so many people who are reaching out, trying to be comforted, trying to be connected to others,” Lawson said.
The NEFOC’s Hutchinson pointed out that the impact of defunding will vary. “A larger farm in a different place has access to resources that our farmers just don’t have access to,” Hutchinson said. Farmers from the NEFOC are already starting with lower levels of federal support, and their capacity to replace those funds will probably be much lower. Meanwhile, farming organizations are trying to document what is happening as funding evaporates. The Hudson Valley Young Farmers Coalition, of which Lawson is a part, is collecting New York-based farmer testimonials to track the impact of cuts. The National Young Farmers Coalition is doing the same across the country.
On the ground, though, the Black Farmer Ecosystem members and other agricultural organizations are trying to secure funding and their futures. In mid-February, FSNYC launched an emergency fundraiser to meet its severe funding gap, support its scholarship fund, launch revamped courses and pay farmer facilitators. Thus far, it has raised $750.
The precarity of federal funding has the consortium’s members looking elsewhere for funding. FSNYC has been assembling advocacy toolkits and helping facilitate contact with legislators. BFU-NYS recently launched a mobilization strategy that includes prioritizing funding from state and local government. Rouse noted that one of the non-profit’s biggest supporters is New York State representative Khaleel Anderson, who chairs the state’s food and farming nutrition policy taskforce. Through Anderson’s support, BFU-NYS has had its own line item in the New York state budget for the past three years. Right now, Anderson is pushing for BFU-NYS to get increased support. BFU-NYS also wants to tap into New York city council discretionary dollars to fund local initiatives such as its Green Futures program and social responsibility grants from businesses that remain committed to diversity and inclusion.
Some advocates believe that now is the time for those with power and privilege to march on the streets and that QTBipoc, immigrant and food justice communities – often on the frontlines – should take a step back.
One of the first things longtime food justice advocate Karen Washington – a board member and co-founder of the Black Farmer Fund and co-founder of Rise & Root Farm in Orange county, New York – did was put out a call on her LinkedIn, asking her network to donate to cover the funding gap: “There are foundations, hedge funds, venture capital groups, and Wall Street executives who can write a check in an instant without losing a cent.”
In an interview, she asked: “Where are the people that voted for this? Where is the outrage?”
