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When you hear “small farm” or “family farm” in the news, more than likely they aren’t talking about a farm you may see at your local farmers’ market. They mean a 1000+ acre farm growing commodities like corn, soy, or wheat and huge livestock confinement operations that export to other countries.
The small farms we support don’t get the subsidies or the big payouts offered right now due to COVID-19. They rely on people who understand what it means to produce food that cares for the soil, water, air, and animals.
And they rely on organizations like us–Slow Food. If you haven’t heard of Slow Food, let me introduce you to us.
Slow Food is an international organization helping to promote good, clean, and fair food for all. It’s the opposite of fast food. There are Slow Food chapters around the world helping to promote eating better, buying from local farms, and producing food in a sustainable and environmentally respectful way.
Our St. Louis chapter has done amazing work supporting small farms with grants to help purchase heirloom fruits, vegetables, and trees and heritage breed livestock. The goal of the grant is to help farmers bring old varieties back into the local food system.
We’ve funded farmers to grow everything from quince to garlic ramps and American Milking Devon cattle to St. Croix sheep. The farmers make products available and help to educate consumers about the value, taste, and quality of these old breeds.
Slow Food St. Louis usually has a number of fundraisers throughout the year to help fund the grant. This year, due to the pandemic, we are unable to hold any events, so we created a Go Fund Me fundraiser to raise money to continue helping small farmers.
The grant recipients can use the funds to purchase seeds, plants, trees, livestock, and if needed, equipment and materials to make their project a success. There’s no other grant around to purchase these items and our farmers tell us it makes a HUGE difference in their success and ability to keep producing food for our community.
Please join us in supporting our fellow farmers by making a tax-deductible donation in any amount. Your full donation goes to grant recipients.
Please share this with friends, family, or businesses you know that may want to contribute and share on social media. We’d love to fund all requests to the fullest!
Click on the link below to donate to the Slow Food St. Louis Biodiversity Microgrant Fundraiser!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/bipoc-small-farm-biodiversity-microgrants
Thank you!
Slow Food St. Louis and past/future grant recipients.