Growing Farm Workers to Farm Owners

Where do racial justice and food justice meet? Perhaps at the point where long time farmworkers are able to buy their own land. In the United States today, 83 percent of farmworkers are Latinx but Latinx people own only three percent of the farms. Latinx farmers bring a wealth of knowledge to the US food system in terms of fresh produce, healthy techniques and a cooperative management style born out of years working as laborers—but they face unique challenges accessing the resources and aid they need to buy their land. As a generation of white family farmers ages out of the business of farming, a rising cohort of Latinx workers stands ready to take up the slack. In this episode, Laura receives a virtual tour of one organic farm from its intrepid owners and speaks with Dr. Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern about her book “The New American Farmer.” She also hears from veteran farm labor organizer Dolores Huerta about how helping Latinx farmers thrive would be good for eaters and the planet.

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