Social Justice
Improving the Quality of Life for Southern Organic Farmers and Farm Workers
FOG was awarded a three-year
research and education grant by Southern
Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education (SSARE) in spring 2009 to
promote and improve the quality of life
of farmers and farm workers by providing
organic farms with technical assistance
and subsidizing the cost of certification
under the Agricultural Justice Project
(AJP) standards. AJP launched a successful
pilot of certification products in the Upper
Midwest in 2007. This project brings the
AJP fair food system to the South.
The AJP promotes a truly
sustainable food system that addresses
social and economic equity and protects
our environmental resources. The project will research support for and best practices of fairness and just conditions on southern organic farms. FOG and its
project collaborators will provide training
and tools to facilitate adoption of the AJP
standards on participating farms in the
South and assist in establishing contacts
with like minded-retailers to put certified
products on the shelves. One of the main
objectives of the project is to assess the
impact that this fair food system has on the
lives of farmers and farm workers. Another
objective is to research public knowledge
of and support for social, economic
and environmental sustainability in
agriculture and the full food chain and
explore commitment to pay for AJP
certified products.
This information on
public interest and knowledge will be
used to develop and implement a public
outreach and education model to raise
public awareness of quality of life issues in
agriculture and the food system.
The first phase of the project is starting
now and will include reaching out to
interested farmers and retailers in the
South.
FOG’s collaborators on this project include
the Rural Advancement Foundation
International-USA (RAFI), Farm Worker
Health and Safety Institute, Farm Workers
Association of Florida, el Comite de Apoyo
a lost Trabajadores Agricolas, Northeast
Organic Farming Association, Quality
Certification Services, Suwannee River
Area Health Education Center, Seed to Shelf, Agricultural Economist Luanne Lohr, and Independent Filmmaker Shelly Rogers.
For more information contact FOG.