Connecticut Programs Are Empowering BIPOC Farmers for a Sustainable Future
In partnership with: Connecticut Department of Agriculture
Nationwide, fewer than 7% of farmers identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC). The numbers are even lower in Connecticut where just 1.5% of farmers are BIPOC.
“Some of the students I’ve talked to have never seen a Black farmer or a woman farmer; they didn’t know that farming was an option for them,” says Lauren Little, farmer, educator and founder of Lauren Little Edutainment. “That has to change.”
BIPOC farmers across Connecticut have created programs to provide culturally relevant education, resources and communities that create connections to their agricultural roots and inspire a new generation of farmers.
Little created Lauren Little Edutainment to teach schoolchildren about growing food and received a CT Grown for CT Kids Grant from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to support the farm-to-school programming.
But planting school gardens is about more than providing hands-on education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Little believes it introduces children to new foods and encourages them to diversify their diets, which offers myriad additional benefits.
“When there’s more nutrient-dense locally produced food, students have a higher chance to learn and be better environmental stewards,” Little says. “We need more farm-to-school programs to create the next generation of farmers.”
Empowered Education
Elizabeth Guerra and Hector “Freedom” Gerardo uncovered the need to provide education and resources to BIPOC farmers after starting a farm in Danbury. Through their nonprofit organization, 1 Freedom for All, the pair are partnering with UConn Extension to offer two innovative programs for BIPOC farmers.
The Leaders of Color in Conservation Training Project launched in 2023.
During the 10-week program, which included virtual lessons, field days and a visit to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) field office, participants learned about addressing natural resource concerns through conservation practices.
The goal of the program, which was funded with a $55,000 grant from the USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants Program, is to train a cohort of people of color to conduct conservation outreach with an emphasis on introducing BIPOC farmers to the USDA’s ability to provide technical and financial assistance.
In 2024, 1 Freedom for All and UConn Extension launched the Venture Farming Institute, an 18-week intensive “farm school” targeting BIPOC beginning farmers in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Funded by the USDA NIFA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, the course features online training and farm field days building skills in production, farm finance, marketing, mental health and well-being, and how to access federal farm programs.
“As BIPOC folks, there’s this history that we can’t walk away from, which prevents many of us from moving forward with the idea of creating a farm business,” Guerra says. “We apply a racial justice lens to this entire farm school.”
Rooted in Resilience
Applying a cultural lens to farming was also the goal of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The tribe established a Department of Agriculture and began farming on a 600-acre parcel of land in North Stonington in 2016.
UConn Extension, the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program, and the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture provided funding and technical support to Meechooôk Farm, which grows fruit, lettuce, maple syrup and tomatoes and raises livestock.
“The farm is important to the tribe because of food sovereignty and self-sufficiency,” says Jeremy Whipple, farm manager for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. “It’s also important to us to pass this knowledge and our traditional ways on to the next seven generations.”
Recently, the tribe was awarded two grants from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture: a grant to transform shipping containers into growing units to increase lettuce production for their farm-to-school program and a Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry Grant to purchase no-till equipment to grow traditional corn that will be made into cornmeal.
Whipple notes that the farm has helped restore lost traditions and brought the tribal nation one step closer to its goal of food sovereignty.
“We need more farm-to-school programs to create the next generation of farmers.”
– Lauren Little, educator and founder of Lauren Little Edutainment
Additional Investments
Other agencies across the region are focusing on supporting BIPOC farmers in Connecticut. Discover a few other investments in diversity within the agriculture industry.
Southern New England Farmers of Color Collaborative
The Southern New England Farmers of Color Collaborative (SNEFCC) is a microgrant program for beginning farmers of color to help them pursue new farming opportunities. Stipend recipients receive $500 to $1,000 microgrants to put toward seed, compost, equipment rental or purchases, offset land lease fees, and other areas where needed.
This program also provides them necessary skills and capabilities to build and sustain their farming enterprises. So far, the program has contributed more than $30,000 to new farmers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. To learn more or apply online, visit snefcc.carrd.co.
Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Enhancement Grant
The Agricultural Enhancement Grant awards recipients matching funds for projects that directly impact or foster agricultural viability.
Each grant value is dependent on the project but can be as high as $49,999.
To learn more or apply online, visit portal.ct.gov/doag/services/grants.
New England Food Vision Prize Program
The New England Food Vision Prize Program is awarded each year by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation to projects building resilience, relationships and capacity within New England’s academic institutional food supply chain. These projects will result in increased preparation, sourcing, serving, or use and consumption of local and regional food in schools. Winning teams can receive grants up to $200,000 and in 2023, the foundation awarded nine prizes totaling $1.4 million to nine teams. To learn more, visit kendall.org/our-work/food-vision-prize.