HEAL Food Alliance, RAFI-USA, and other partner organizations are collecting personal stories of discrimination due to race or gender in commercial agricultural lending to help prevent further discrimination. Do you have a story to share?
We’ll share your stories with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – a U.S. government agency dedicated to making sure you are treated fairly by banks, lenders, and other financial institutions. Our organizations are working on this effort because we know the problem exists and because we believe your stories can influence change. We are looking for both written and verbal stories, and you can remain anonymous if you choose.
We know many farmers go to the USDA or local agricultural agencies for financial support after being rejected by commercial banks. While discrimination at the USDA has also been a problem and is something we continue to work on, for this effort, we are focusing on commercial financial institutions (like Farm Credit or private banks), rather than FSA (Farm Services Agency).
We’d love to speak with you by August 26, to have enough time to share these stories with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Please schedule a time on Margaret Krome-Lukens’ calendar here: schedule a time!