Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (fiscal sponsor: Resist Inc)

In a state as large as New York, a steady stream of smart, innovative work is coming from NYHealth grantees and non-grantees alike that is relevant to NYHealth’s priority areas of Healthy Food, Healthy Lives and its focus area on Veterans’ Health.

These organizations should be elevating their work and informing key stakeholders at regional, statewide, and national conferences, meetings, and other convenings. Yet, because of a lack of resources, they are often unable to do so. To address this issue, NYHealth is awarding grants through its Sponsoring Conference Participation in Support of Healthy Food, Healthy Lives and Veterans’ Health Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, NYHealth is sponsoring low-resource organizations to attend and present at local, State, and national conferences related to these areas. In 2023, NYHealth awarded Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (fiscal sponsor: Resist Inc) a grant to participate in this initiative as part of its efforts to connect people to healthy food.

Under this grant, Northeast Farms of Color Land Trust sent two staff members to attend the 2023 Northeastern Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA) Regional Meeting. NEASDA is an association dedicated in influencing policy, comprised of commissioners, secretaries, and directors of agriculture from the northeastern states. Through this conference, NEASDA convened with other leaders in the agricultural sector to determine priority areas for: food safety regulation, marketing, and trade; environmental and conservation practices; animal and plant production; and federal policy in the coming years. By attending the conference, the staff members from the Northeast Farms of Color Land Trust improved their advocacy and policy work; built upon their network with other leaders in the agricultural sector; and garnered support and provided representation for the 600+ BIPOC farmers in New York State. As an organization, it continued to encourage other non-governmental and advocacy organizations to join the conversation to promote equity and sustainability in the food and farm space.