As we feed our gardens each year for the zinnias, cucumbers, grasses, and plums to grow, so we must feed the next generation of organic farmers to flourish. Fostering a new generation and supporting those who are advancing their careers in organic are central to advancing our movement. The CCOF Foundation is excited to announce that we’re supporting another 25 Future Organic Farmers (FOF) in 2024!
The drive and commitment to organic that the 2024 Future Organic Farmers demonstrate are a beacon of hope for our ambitious mission to make organic the norm. These folks see the big picture and embrace the holistic approach needed to truly make a difference. As 2024 FOF grantee Jose Rosas Silva states, “I want to get my family involved in my farm and also give back to the community of small growers and the organizations that support them … and to educate the public … it is important for my community to understand the value in organic for our collective future.”
Jose has dreamed of being a farmer since he was a child, and after both witnessing his family trauma and experiencing it himself firsthand working on a conventional farm, his vision to go organic became completely clear: “I knew it [conventional] was not the route I wanted to take or the values I wanted my family to have given all of the chemical hazards that come at a cost to the environment and can be damaging to our communities. I want to build an ecological farm. The most gratifying part of being an organic farmer is knowing that I grow food that’s safe and healthy for farmworkers, the environment, and for our communities.”
The FOF grant is supporting Jose’s studies at Hartnell College and the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), where he is “being given the tools and resources that will provide me to grow out my dream of building out the type of farm operation that I want to have in the future.” Jose’s goal is to have a family farm growing mixed veggies, fruits, and chickens, with his own packinghouse, selling wholesale and to different markets. He wants to stay somewhere warm like the Gilroy area in California’s Central Coast because, as he writes, “I love tomatoes and melons and want to produce and experiment.”
Like Jose, all our 2024 grantees are enrolled in agricultural college or vocational programs across the United States, from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Most are growing mixed veggies and tree fruit, and some seek to continue their family legacies in dairy production. They are also actively farming either on their educational program’s farms and/or in their burgeoning operations.
For folks like Jose, this support is “pivotal” because they “don’t have the resources to study and launch farming projects.” Farming is hard work and a challenging career path; we at the CCOF Foundation are committed to supporting Future Organic Farmers on their paths. If you want to support more future farmers like Jose, you can learn more on our website or donate.