Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition Solidarity Statement

The Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition stands with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers. We come to this work with humility and open ears for feedback on how to improve. We recognize that we are currently a majority white organization, and to that end, in the immediate future, we will share resources that equip white people to do more to build an equitable food system and be anti-racist allies. Starting immediately and in the longer term, we commit to taking a more thoughtful, informed approach to all of our activities, from potlucks to policy, with input from BIPOC farmers. We are trying to be of use. We’re asking you, as someone who trusts our organization, to join us in standing with BIPOC farmers. And we’re asking for your feelings on this set of goals. We’re eager to hear from you, to stand together, and to move our farms, our food system, and our state forward. 
We are committing to the following actions:

• Our Storytelling grant from Indiana Humanities specifically aims to listen to marginalized voices. We want to listen to, center, and amplify the voices and stories of underrepresented groups in our state. The grant also lets us share those stories through a podcast that we will distribute statewide. 
• Our Fellowship program aims to propel farms to their next big step via cash resources and connections. We want to use the resources of this Fellowship to contribute to a more equitable food system in Indiana. We know that this is just a start, but we are excited to commit to providing a minimum of three (3) of our Fellowships to Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, and three (3) of our Fellowships to female-identifying, non-binary, and trans farmers. These are not mutually exclusive identity categories and should not be understood as adding up to six (6) of the seven (7)  available Fellowships.
• Our leadership team has completed an anti-racist training in 2020 and used this training to focus on making the Fellowship more equitable. In 2021, we will meet to identify action items that we can take to integrate equity and justice work into each of our programs.
• We will seek out BIPOC presenters, and invite them to share their expertise in farming, marketing, business development, community building, and other areas of the food system.
• We will share resources for white farmers to educate themselves and to take action in solidarity with BIPOC farmers, including the National Young Farmers Coalition's Racial Equity Toolkit.

​As of December 7, 2020