Farmers, Jennifer Taylor and her husband Ron Gilmore, grow organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, and cover crops all year on about four organic acres of a 32-acre organic certified farm land in rural Georgia. Jennifer’s grandmother farmed this very land before her. Lola’s Organic Farm is the only certified organic farm in the county and in surrounding counties.

The farm has a ripple effect that goes far beyond middle Georgia, as these black indigenous farmers promote the important role of resource-poor small farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers and the benefits of agroecology-organic farming systems agriculture through hands-on learning sessions at Lola’s Organic Farm. Jennifer also participates on several local, national, and international boards whose focus is organic agriculture.

Given at her organic farm, that she does not hire labor, her focus is on growing the farm, and sharing knowledge-training and learning experiences on agroecology-organic farming systems that add success and value to small farmers and their healthy foods environments, and communities. If you are interested in learning more about our work at Lola’s Organic Farm, please email: lolasorganics@gmail.com.

Soul Fire Farm, a small highly diversified farm in Grafton, New York, provides weekly doorstep deliveries of in-season, farm fresh, certified naturally-grown food to hundreds of individuals in the Albany inner city living under food apartheid and targeted by state violence. Soul Fire Farm is committed to ending racism and injustice in the food system.

“Soul Fire Farm proudly sought the Agricultural Justice Project's Food Justice Certification, recognizing that to date, it is the only farm certification that commits to an unequivocal focus on the rights of food system and food chain workers, centers farm worker-led organizations, and was developed primarily by farm workers and farmers in a participatory stakeholder process. As collaborators in a movement that honors the people whose labor has built the food system in this country, we pursued FJC in recognition of the striking significance of a certification that amplifies farmworkers voices while supporting their lives and livelihoods. In a food system founded on stolen land and labor that continues to perpetuate structural racism and injustice, we value FJC's insistence on fair pricing and fair labor practices that challenge food apartheid and the devaluing of the people who steward the land.

At Soul Fire Farm, we go beyond the organic standards and the FJC standards by working to dismantle the racist structures that misguide our food system. Through programs such as the Black-Latinx Farmers Immersion, sliding scale CSA farm share, and youth food justice leadership training, we are part of a network of farms working to foster land stewardship and leadership by Black and Brown people in the food system, reclaim Afro-Indigenous regenerative farming practices, and catalyze the transfer of resources and power from those with food system privilege to those impacted by food apartheid. In our own team, we strive to mirror the healing justice we seek in the world by uplifting radical self-care, community accountability, compassionate communication, distributed leadership, fair compensation, and commitment to personal and professional development. - The Soul Fire Farm Team

ith Food Justice Certification, Swanton Berry Farm, the first organic strawberry farm to unionize, continues to make social justice history. Based in Davenport, the farm rents land on five ranches along Highway One north of Santa Cruz to grow strawberries and other berries as well as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, pumpkins and celery. Swanton Berry offers fresh produce, jams and other value-added products at their farm store as well as selling to restaurants and grocery chains in the Bay Area. Farmer Jim Cochran explains the farm’s decision to add this domestic fair trade label to their organic certification: “The dignity of farm labor is a founding principle of Swanton Berry Farm. From the beginning, we wanted to present our customers with a product produced under the best working conditions possible. What would be the point of farming organically if the workers were underpaid, overworked or treated without respect? Just carrying the California Certified Organic label did not address these important issues.”

Jordan Brown farmed for 8 years on 25-acre farmland in Bell, Florida. His farm, The Family Garden, relocated in 2015 to Gainesville, Florida on 20-acres in the southeast of town where they are growing mixed vegetables, while maintaining their fruit production on the property in Bell. The Family Garden strives to improve the land with good environmental stewardship and to treat employees’ right, all while growing quality products at a reasonable price. “We try to have a good work environment and pay a wage people can live on.” The Family Garden produce is available locally through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, local restaurants, and farmers markets, as well as being sold wholesale throughout Florida. “As my workers and I learned together about AJP’s social justice standards, I became even more sure that I had made the right decision for my farm and the people who work alongside me and my family here,” said Farmer Jordan Brown. “We’re taking a big step together, being the first farm in the southeast U.S. to participate in this program,” said Brown. “I’ve learned a lot from the process and am excited to see the program grow.”