What could a non-extractive agriculture project look like? In June, Rachel’s Network visited Urban Growers Collective in Chicago to find out. Catalyst Program Director Shreya Durvasula shared observations and lessons learned from the trip to Green Era Campus and the South Chicago Farm.
Six years ago, Urban Tilth took a neglected three-acre plot of land in North Richmond and turned it into a flourishing community farm. Now, they are working to purchase land they’ve been leasing and expand programing and infrastructure. Rachel’s Network provided a grant to Urban Tilth to help make this vision a reality.
Rachel’s Network announced that it has awarded safe drinking water advocate Maria Herrera with its inaugural Catalyst Award. Maria has devoted her career to addressing drinking water challenges in disadvantaged and rural farmworker communities. As the manager of community engagement and planning at Self-Help Enterprises, she and her team pioneered the Rural Communities Water Managers Leadership Institute, a program that helps communities in the San Joaquin Valley engage with and influence regional water planning and sustainability programs.
Funding from Rachel’s Network is enabling As You Sow to engage shareholders in advocating for better corporate policies and more sustainable agriculture practices that minimize synthetic pesticide use.
Rachel’s Network has partnered with the Women, Food and Agriculture Network’s (WFAN) Plate to Politics program to help rural women access the leadership training and networks to advance their political careers. The grant will fund two training sessions in the fall and spring for over 50 women passionate about healthy food and farming to ramp up their leadership in their communities and give them tools to run for public office.
