A local non-profit that connects communities with rural farmland is pushing back against the cancellation of its federal grant funding. Providence Farm Collective is appealing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's determination that the Collective's Incubator Farm Program is "a DEI initiative and, therefore, discriminatory and unconstitutional."
In an appeal filed on May 15, PFC's Executive Director Kristin Heltman-Weiss wrote the termination contained "no factual findings." The Collective said its incubator program provides farmland access, shared equipment, and other resources to new-entry farmers.
When the news broke earlier this month, PFC on an episode of BTPM NPR's 'What's Next?,' said the loss of the grant would have a major impact on its mission and the communities they serve. That interview can be found here.
According to its website, Providence Farm Collective is the only incubator farm program in New York west of Ithaca.
The Collective began in 2017 as a three-year pilot program called the Somali Bantu Community Farm, but has grown to include many other cultural groups. They now have 30 farms, with over 200 farmers involved, and have donated over 10,000 pounds of fresh produce to date to those in need.