Networks & Solidarity
Strengthening a global movement for agroecology, land justice, and food sovereignty by building a network of cooperation amongst farmers, community organizers, and educators.
Social movements and cooperation are at the foundation of agroecology and food sovereignty. Agroecology Commons facilitates cooperative networks aligned with social movements. These networks are focused on production, marketing, land justice, and mentorship cooperation.
How We Organize
Global Solidarity
Solidarity is the key to what makes our movements strong. By building relationships with peasants and activists in the Global South through delegations, dialogue, and action, we are strengthening the base of food sovereignty actors to create real change for a more just food system.
Currently, we have organized international partnerships and delegations with the following comrades:
Colombia 2021- BAFFT graduates participated in the Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective’s Colombia Delegation which organizes with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities around food sovereignty sustainable farming and the resistance against corporate land control.
Nicaragua 2022- Graduates of BAFFT and farmers within our network took place in the the ATC’s (Asociación de Trabajadores Campesinos/ Rural Workers Association) food sovereignty and agroecology delegation. Participants attended La Via Campesina’s short course on Agroecology, hosted by the Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo (ATC). La Vía Campesina’s IALA Ixim Ulew is the political and agroecological training site for young farmers throughout Mesoamérica and the Caribbean. During this exchange, participants learned about Nicaragua's revolutionary history, agrarian reform efforts, holistic livestock management, youth organizing, and how farmers are defending their ancestral land practices.
Cuba 2022- Agroecology Commons collective members, BAFFT graduates, and board members, joined hundreds of small farmers, scholars, and community organizers at Cuba’s National Association of Small Farmers 8th International Encounter on Agroecology, Food Sovereignty, Nutritional Education and Cooperative Movements. Through a mix of farm visits, presentations, and discussions, we learned about Cuba’s revolutionary history and ongoing struggles on behalf of food sovereignty, land justice, agrarian reform, and farmer cooperatives. During the week-long encounter, we met new comrades, seeded new collaborations, and strengthened ongoing relationships for deeper cooperation.
Mentorship Advisors and Apprenticeship Network
Learning by doing is an opportunity we believe should be available to all beginning farmers. This network is made up of experienced farmers and organizers committed to sharing their knowledge and skills with the next generation through experiential on-the-job training and one-on-one mentorship that is compensated with living-wage stipends.
Our current farm apprenticeship mentor farm network includes: Soul Flower Farm, Kula Nursery, Raised Roots, Feral Heart Farm, Scott Family Farm, The Goat Wild Collective, Red H Farm, Cultural Roots Nuersry, and Berkeley Basket CSA.
Land Justice Network
It is estimated that as current farmers retire or pass on, 400 million acres of farmland will change hands by 2030. The majority of the land in the United States has been stolen from Indigenous people. For over 500 years, people from the African Diaspora were enslaved and exploited by people of European descent. Today, 98% of agricultural land in the United States is “owned” by white farmers while over 60% of farmworkers are people of color, the majority Latinx.
This network is just sprouting to support access to land and resources for BIPOC, queer, poor and working-class farmers. Sign up for our mailing list to stay tuned for updates.
Farmer Wellness
Farming can be a strenuous livelihood on the body, mind, and heart. So frequently, the very people that grow food to nourish our communities don’t have the opportunity to nourish themselves. Agroecology Commons seeks to change this by making space for land stewards to come together to practice mutual care, receive healing treatments, and eat nourishing food.
With the support of a network of community healers, we seek to honor the people whose physical labor and unwavering dedication to land stewardship brings food to our tables. During Farmer Wellness Days, farmers receive various kinds of healing offerings including massage, acupuncture, chiropractic care, restorative yoga, and nourishing food! We invite farmers to share space for mutual care and laughter, to exchange seeds, and receive gifts of herbal medicine and wellness products. We are so grateful to farmers’ and land stewards' commitment! May we continue to nourish the people who nourish us all! In 2022 we co-hosted a farmer wellness day in collaboration with California Alliance With Family Farmers and Berkeley Basket CSA.
