Abstract
Farmers, especially those within historically underserved populations, utilize networks to access educational training, community support, and market opportunities. Through a case study of the Pennsylvania Women's Agriculture Network's three-year Women's Rural–Urban Network (WRUN) initiative, this research analyzes the process of developing solidarity across geographic and racial lines while building a statewide farmers' network. Applying White's (2018) Collective Agency Community Resilience (CACR) theoretical framework to this initiative offers a way to evaluate how socially marginalized groups in agriculture build farmers’ networks to resist oppression within the white heteropatriarchal agricultural system. This research draws on interviews with 12 steering committee members and three years of participant observation to understand how participants assessed the initiative. Findings suggest that changes to existing programming were influential in creating a place for diverse women farmers and growers to meet, thus contributing to prefigurative politics; however, the inability to form commons as praxis and economic autonomy due to divergent needs, varying roles in the agrifood system, and different levels of engagement with racial justice deterred network-building efforts. This initiative examines food justice theory through praxis. Findings offer insights for predominately white non-profits, research institutions, and activists in future anti-racism and food justice efforts in the agrifood system.
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Notes
The use of agrifood includes both inequalities in terms of production (i.e., access to farmland and capital) and consumption (i.e., food access and security).
In line with other scholars (Leslie and White 2018; Leslie 2019), I use farmers and growers interchangeably throughout to destabilize white heteropatriarchal notions of who “counts” as a farmer. Data finds that women, even when active in farm tasks, are less likely to consider themselves “farmers” (Brasier et al. 2014). Similarly, farmworkers are often active in farming, yet because many do not own the land they cultivate, they are not included in the identity of “farmer” (Leslie 2019). I embrace an understanding that those who produce food and fiber are farmers.
The use of ‘initiative’ rather than ‘project’ directly relates to participants’ concern over the short-term nature of previous research projects that failed to build lasting relationships within communities.
Black and women of color are not synonymous. The use of women of color reflects that not all of the women of color participants identify as Black. There were several racial and ethnic groups not represented on the steering committee, such as Latina. I use “women of color” in direct quotes to promote anonymity since nearly all interview participants were white.
While PA-WAgN predominantly engaged cisgender women, event evaluation data collected at the symposium shows that other gender minorities attend programming, including non-binary farmers; however, in much smaller numbers.
Abbreviations
- DEIJ:
-
Diversity, equity, inclusion, justice
- NE-SARE:
-
Northeast sustainable agriculture and education
- PA-WAgN:
-
Pennsylvania women’s agriculture network
- WRUN:
-
Women’s rural–urban network
- CACR:
-
Collective agency community resilience
- USDA:
-
United States department of agriculture
- U.S.:
-
United States
- WFAN:
-
Women’s food and agriculture network
- FAST:
-
Feminist agrifood systems theory
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Acknowledgements
I want to express my gratitude to the women farmers and growers who participated in this initiative. This was a fraught process, but many people continued to participate in meaningful ways. I am deeply appreciative of the mentors who allowed me to try to make sense of this process when they could have easily let these findings fade away. This work was supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) grant no. 70017/project accession no. 26848 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
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Hoffelmeyer, M. "I wonder if I'm being [a] Karen”: Analyzing rural–urban farmer network building. Agric Hum Values (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-024-10565-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-024-10565-4