This is Crowdsourcing Mornings! This post takes place every weekday morning and highlights one crowdsourcing project I liked from Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or other crowdsourcing websites.
Please read our crowdsourcing guidelines at: https://geekalabama.com/media-kit-pr/geek-alabama-crowdsourcing-guidelines
For multiple years we have applied for “beginning farmer” funding, grants, micro loans, and assistance from the USDA and the FSA to help with getting RealRoots off the ground. The responses are always the same:
- You have too much outstanding debt (shoutout student loans)
- Your credit sucks (shoutout student loans)
- You don’t have farm managerial experience (what beginning farmer does?…)
- You don’t own your land (bruh, what?)
At a certain point you realize the USDA and its subsidiaries are not built to address the needs of farmers that do not fit into their ideal criteria…and they are yet another arm of a system that has categorically kept BIPOC, and new farmers in general, disenfranchised from participating. With race aside (a huge statement that is almost pointless to say) the USDA doesn’t seem very interested in funding someone with a truly unique business model/approach to farming, only in people who plan to keep kicking the can down the road, accepting government subsidies to grow GM commodity crops, till irresponsibly, and continue with murderous chemical applications.
We’ve moved on from trying to seek financial assistance from the government and have decided to make our case to the people. If we are able to crowd-source the amount of a small FSA/USDA operating loan we can build the infrastructure we need to be self-sufficient for years to come, without waiting for “approval” from the powers that be.
For RRFS to provide new ways to participate in the ever growing effort to strengthen and steward our environment with a collective, restorative farming model, while utilizing various forms of alternate exchange, and increasing access to culturally relevant foods for the BIPOC and Afro-Caribbean population in the Richmond Metropolitan area.
As of January 25th, this project has raised $38,000 of their $25,000 goal. This project has 19 days left to raise as much as it can. For a pledge of $9, you will get a laptop sticker. For a pledge of $44, you will get one embroidered patch. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rrfs/realroots-food-systems-a-step-towards-food-sovereignty?
