Our Come to the Table project recently launched a video series highlighting community-based food justice work throughout rural North Carolina. (Click here for the full series.) Today, we present a lively and poignant interview we conducted with Neftali Cuello, a young farmworker and activist in rural North Carolina.
Neftali is a prominent youth leader in her rural community of Pink Hill, NC. She is the vice president of Poder Juvenil Campesino (Rural Youth Power), a group of youth farmworkers and activists. Children as young as 6 years old work in North Carolina fields. Farmworker youth have the highest high school dropout rate in the nation.
Neftali and her peers could use your support today! They began handing out seedlings this past Palm Sunday, encouraging their families and neighbors to grow fresh food in their backyards. Despite the fact that they work 12-hour days in the fields, farmworkers in NC are the most food-insecure population in the state. These gardens are an opportunity for multiple generations of farmworkers to grow, share and eat healthy food–on their own terms.
NC FIELD is a semi-finalist to win $7,000 for this initiative, and you can help!
Click here to vote for NC Field to win the Opal Apple Youth Make a Difference Award. Cast your vote this week and share with friends and colleagues.
PJC is organizing at home and on the policy level for the empowerment of their community and their families. Watch her speak about her experience advocating for change in Washington, DC, and at home, and PJC’s exciting new projects ahead!
Neftali Cuello, Poder Juvenil Campesino (Rural Youth Power) and NC Field
Neftali Cuello, Poder Juvenil Campesino & NC Field from RAFI-USA on Vimeo.