Rural Mississippi Farms Receive Support for Eco-Friendly Practices
In partnership with: Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce
Farmers across rural Mississippi are finding connection and support while growing and marketing their farms. The Alliance of Sustainable Farms, founded in 2011, has created a network of small farms that benefit from shared resources, including everything from education to technical assistance.
Small-Scale Sustainability
After a career in international development work, Keith Benson eventually found his way back to his home in Holmes County, Mississippi, and founded the Alliance of Sustainable Farms.
“Our main focus and mission is really to demonstrate and promote sustainable practices with a target of smaller-scale, limited-resource beginning farmers,” Benson says.
After connecting with farmers in the region, Benson discovered a need for educational resources surrounding sustainability practices, especially in rural and underserved communities that receive less economic and technical support.
“I think local, sustainably grown food can really change not only the health but the economic landscape of these communities,” Benson says.
The Alliance began hosting monthly “field days” at local demonstration farms, which have reached thousands of farmers since 2012. The field days allow farmers to learn about sustainable and organic practices, food safety and the importance of marketing. In a market dominated by wholesale goods, smaller farms can struggle to secure the necessary resources to succeed.
“It costs money for a small-scale farmer to be more sustainable,” Benson says. “When resources come down the pipe, very little is left when it gets to these small farms. Let’s try to get more of that money in the hands of the small-scale operators.”
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Local Support Systems Created by the Alliance of Sustainable Farms
Through its Cluster/Anchor Farm Initiative, the Alliance focuses on building a support network for small-scale farms in rural areas. Each “cluster” of three to five farms is supported by an “anchor” farm, usually a local farm with more resources. The anchor farm provides stability and support for the farms in its area.
Robbie Pollard’s Start 2 Finish Farms LLC in Panola County is one of those anchor farms. Having grown up around many of the farmers in his community, Pollard now shares resources and provides support to farmers at all levels.
“I’m just happy to be able to help some of the older farmers and to show some of the beginning farmers that they can make a living growing produce,” Pollard says.
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A Healthier Economy
Pollard’s farm provides produce for prescription food programs through the University of Mississippi and Tougaloo College, which deliver local produce to community health centers and housebound medical patients.
“The opportunities are there for these farmers to make money, for folks to buy good healthy food,” Benson says. “And I think we just need to keep walking down this path because it’s going to be a win-win for everybody.”
Through a series of grants, the Cluster/Anchor Farm Initiative will soon have a presence statewide. This kind of support can prove essential for farmers who are just starting out or who don’t have the economic means to grow their farms. As part of these support efforts, the Alliance purchased and started seeds for its farmers in 2022, and provided organic insecticides and fertilizers that farms might have otherwise gone without.
“If you have the resources to be able to help another farmer, why not do it?” Pollard says.
To learn more about the Alliance of Sustainable Farms, visit facebook.com/AllianceOfSustainableFarms.
Alliance of Sustainable Farms Partners
- Brewer Vegetable Farm, Greenwood
- Choctaw Fresh Produce, Choctaw
- Colemans Farm, Carroll County
- Davis Farm, Winona
- Galloway Family Farm and Education Center, Ocean Springs
- High Hope Farm, Cedar Bluff
- Levee Run Farm, Greenwood
- Ole Brook Organics, Brookhaven
- PJ Farm, Saucier
- PL88 Farm, Prentiss
- Sipp Culture Community Farm, Utica
- Southern Cultured Orchards & Nursery, Carrollton
- Start 2 Finish Farms, Marks
- Triple Eaton Farm, Mount Olive
- 34th Street Wholistic Gardens and Education Center, Gulfport