For all press inquiries, including the use of images, please contact:
Beth Hauptle – Senior Communications Manager, [email protected], 919.903.2525

Recent Press Releases

• Finalized USDA Rule Would Increase Transparency in Poultry Industry (11/9/2023)
• Sen. Fetterman Introduces S.2792 in Collaboration with RAFI (9/15/2023)
• FOCN 2023 Infrastructure Grantees (7/7/2023)
• 102 Groups Urge Congress to Choose Farmers over Big Meat in Ag (6/14/2023)
• RAFI-USA’s 2023 Farm Bill Priorities (5/31/2023)
• RAFI-USA Joins A Greener World in a Climate-Smart Partnership (3/28/2023)
• RAFI-USA TO ATTEND “FARMERS FOR CLIMATE ACTION: RALLY FOR RESILIENCE” (3/3/2023)
• RAFI-USA Comments on “Poultry Growing Tournament Systems: Fairness and Related Concerns”  (9/28/2022)

Recent RAFI Media Coverage

2023

• USDA rule helps transparency in poultry industry, advocacy group says, High Plains Journal, November 13, 2023
• USDA Rule to Benefit North Carolina Farmers, Strengthen Competition, Southern Farm Network, November 13, 2023
• Ag Organizations React to USDA Announcement on Competition in Agriculture, Morning Ag Clips, November 9, 2023
• Strengthening Local Meat Economies Act Promotes Fairness in Procurement, PerishableNews.com, September 23, 2023
• Planting Seeds of Help, SARE, Sept. 15, 2023
• Brown announces introduction of additional agriculture bills to support Ohio farmers, The Ironton Tribune, August 23, 2023
• What’s Happening in the 2023 Farm Bill?, Legal Reader, August 2023
• The Farm Bill Uprooted Podcast – Episode 3: Discredited, Institute of Agricultural Trade Policy, August 2023
• How churches can work to make the demand for food pantries obsolete, Faith and Leadership, David Allen, July 2023
• VI Good Food Offering Help to Farmers Seeking USDA Funding, Virgin Islands Daily News, Alexandra Bhola, July 7, 2023
• RAFI Web Tools Encourage Farm Bill Engagement, Lancaster Farming, Dan Sullivan, June 7, 2023
• Reversing the decline in numbers of Black farmers, Spectrum In Focus, May 7, 2023 (Featuring two members of our Farmers of Color Network: Kamal Bell and Julius Griffin, and Ray Jeffers, Director of RAFI’s Farmers of Color Network.
• Edna Rodriguez Profile, Chatham Magazine, March/April 2023
• Nonprofits secure $4M in USDA Climate-Smart Commodities funding, The Packer, March 28, 2023
• armers March for Urgent Climate Action in DC, Civil Eats, March 9, 2023
• Black Farmers Call for Justice from the USDA, NPR, Ximena Bustillo, February 12, 2023
• Communities, Farmers Want Say in Farm Bill Priorities, Public News Service, Nadia Ramlagan, January 31, 2023
• NC farmers aim to make agriculture inclusive for underrepresented, Daily Tar Heel, Eliza Benbow, January 18, 2023
• As Grocery Stores Get Bigger, Small Farms Get Squeezed Out, Civil Eats, Lisa Held, January 17, 2023

2022

• North Carolina Local News Lab Fund Awards more than $1.5 Million to 31 Local News Organizations, Representing Largest Round of Funding to Date, October 27, 2022
• Farm Aid brings music, agriculture relief efforts to Raleigh, ABC News Channel 11, September 23, 2022
• Farm Aid comes back to Raleigh, putting the issues of NC farmers back in the spotlight, Raleigh News and Observer, Martha Quillin, September 21, 2022
• Creating new business opportunities and fostering hope, W.K. Kellogg Foundation News, June 15, 2022

Policy and Challenging Corporate Power

• How it works: The risky business of contract poultry farming in North Carolina, Charlotte Observer, Ames Alexander, December 7, 2022
• Aaron Johnson talks with Melinda Hemmelgarn on Poultry Tournament System, Food Sleuth Radio, October 28, 2022
• Chesapeake Conservation Corps delivers results – and expands, Bay Journal, October 24, 2022
• USDA to Tighten Protections for Contract Farmers, Public News Service, Nadia Ramlagan, October 14, 2022
• Chicken industry, reform advocates clash over proposed transparency rule, Agri-Pulse, Amy Mayer, August 31, 2022
• ‘Big Chicken’ Merger Moves Ahead Despite Investigations by the Biden Administration, Daily Yonder, Claire Carlson, August 23, 2022
• AG Stein supports proposed USDA rule to increase transparency in poultry industry, Kyle Ingram, News & Observer, August 10, 2022
• Big U.S. chicken company, Mountaire, asks contractors to oppose transparency rule Reuters, Leah Douglas, August 5, 2022
• USDA seeks comments on proposed changes to poultry contracting and tournaments, Agri-Pulse, Amy Mayer, June 22, 2022
• USDA Releases Long-Awaited Poultry Tournament Rule, RTF-TV, June 13, 2022
• USDA Promotes Transparency in Poultry Contracts, Lancaster Farming, Philip Gruber, May 31, 2022
• Biden Administration Announces Plan to Make Chicken Industry More Transparent, Food Print, Ryan Nebeker, May 27, 2022

Farm Advocacy & Resource for Resilient Farms

• V.I. Good Food Coalition Launches Program to Help Farmers Apply for Funding, The St. Thomas Source, December 5, 2022
• More Black Farmers Use Farm Service Agency Services, Public News Service, Nadia Ramlagan, September 12, 2022
• Farm Aid 2022 Brings Environmental and Social Justice Messages to Raleigh, NC, Lancaster Farming, Dan Sullivan, July 26, 2022
• “It Tears You Apart Mentally and Physically”: The Health Crisis Afflicting Black Farmers, In these Times (reprint from The Counter), May 11, 2022 ​
• Panel Highlights Ways for Farmers to Tap Into Federal Aid, Public News Service, Jonah Chester, April 14, 2022
• Lisa Misch, Director of Farmer Outreach and Technical Assistance Gives RAFI-USA Overview, Fresh Take Podcast, April 4, 2020
• Can Farmers Help Each Other Navigate Mental Health Crises?, Civil Eats, Lela Nargi, February 1, 2022
• 3 nonprofits serving Puerto Rico get USDA conservation assistance grants, News is My Business, January 11, 2022

Farmers Markets and Double Bucks

• NC Farmers’ Markets Double Buying Power for Food-Insecure Households, Public News Service, Chance Dorland, May 24, 2022

Come to the Table

• Can Food Justice Be a Religion? Food Tank, Danielle Nierenberg, December 2022
• Bridging the Gap: From Farm to Church, Stories @ Duke Divinity, October 2022
• As Costs Rise, Opportunities Dwindle for NC Small Farmers, Public News Service, Nadia Ramlagan, March 28, 2022
• Promoting Food Access in Rural Communities through Churches, Daily Yonder, Olivia Weeks, March 18, 2022
• Debt, racism, and fear of displacement are driving an overlooked public health crisis among Black farmers, The Counter, Safiya Charles, March 17, 2022
• Faith and Food Justice Conference Highlights Root Causes of Unfair Food Systems, Food Tank, Vicky Brown Varela, March 16, 2022
  

2021

• The Chicken Farmers are Pushing Back, Mother Jones, October 6, 2021, originally published on Capitol Forum and FERN
• Sowing Seeds of Change: America’s Female Horticulturists, Bronze Magazine, August 2021, Pages 14-19
• Produce boxes available to active Senior Center members this week at nutrition sites, Stanly News and Press, July 19, 2021
• Chicken Farmers are Speaking Out Against the Rise of Corporate Agriculture, Sentinent Media, July 16, 2021
• More Than 25 Organizations File Amicus Brief To Release Wisconsin Order Halting $4 Billion In Loan Forgiveness For BIPOC Farmers, Idaho State Journal, June 24, 2001
• News Briefs: RAFI-USA announces ‘Come To The Table’ conference speakers, Chatham News + Record, June 24, 2021
• What will happen to USDA’s loan forgiveness for BIPOC farmers?, The Counter, Lela Nargi, June 18, 2021
• Triangle Farmers of Color Respond to Delayed Federal Aid, Indy Week, Ellie Heffernan, June 16, 2021
• Black And Minority Farmers Will Receive $4 Billion In Debt Relief. For Some, It’s A Lifeline. For Others, Too Little, Too Late, Forbes, Elena Botella, June 4, 2021
• What’s new in food: Green acres, green students and a Baby Bull on the loose, Mountain Express, Kay West, June 1, 2021
• Double Your SNAP dollars at the Wilmington Farmers Market at Tidal Creek, Star News Online, May 31, 2021
• Industry groups ask Congress to invest in climate ag package, Farms.com, May 31, 2021
• Reidsville Prepares for New Normal, Rockingham Now, May 9, 2021
• Regenerative agriculture needs a reckoning, The Counter, Joe Fassler, May 3, 2021
• After a Century of Dispossession, Black Farmers Are Fighting to Get Back to the Land, May/June issue, 2021
• Salisbury Human Relations Council offering online Racial Wealth Gap Simulation, April 23, 2021
• Summer Camp helps feed food insecure seniors, WITN-TV, April 20, 2021
• Farmers’ market set to open for season, The News Herald, April 15, 2021
• Challenging the Root Causes of Unjust Food Systems: A podcast interview with RAFI-USA Farmer Advocate Craig Watts, American Family Farmer, April 8, 2021 [NOTE: Interview 8:47-30:18]
• Black-Owned Farmland Is Disappearing. A New Wake County CSA Is Helping Stem the Tide, Indy Week, March 31, 2021
• Elizabeth Cook: Beloved dialogue brings races together, Salisbury Post, March 28, 2021
• The Climate Connection: Saving and sharing seeds: A local — and global — effort promotes resiliency, Napa Valley Register, March 22, 2021
• Come to the Table’s new CSA pairs three local farmers with eight Wake County churches, Talk of the Triangle: Cary and Midtown Magazine newsletter, March 11, 2021
• In March, Congress authorized a multibillion-dollar bailout for farms suffering losses because of the coronavirus pandemic, NeighborWebSJ, March 10, 2021
• Tahz Walker, Farmers of Color Network Senior Program Officer, talks to Food Tank Live’s Danielle Nierenberg, February 23, 2021
• Black-Owned Farms Are Holding on by a Thread, Eater, February 23, 2021
• Farmers Voice Support for Bill Tackling Monopoly Power, Public News Service, February 19, 2021 (distribution through Southeast U.S.)
• Biden’s Pick for Agriculture Secretary Splits Farming Community, Zenger News, February 19, 2021
• Pittsboro’s RAFI calling out antitrust violations in farming, Chatham News + Observer, February 17, 2021
• 2021 Farmers of Color Network Infrastructure Grant, Team Agriculture Georgia, February 16, 2021
• Senate Democrats Take Aim at Antitrust and Lack of Competition in Ag Markets, Daily Yonder, February 11, 2021
• How Will Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s Antitrust Bill Affect Agriculture?, Modern Farmer, February 11, 2021
• Grants to Church Food Pantries Promote Purchases from Local Farmers, Restaurants, Daily Yonder, February 5, 2021
• Farmers-of-Color Grant Program Triples Funding Pool and Expands Focus in the Southeast, Daily Yonder, February 4, 2021

2020

• I’m a former poultry farmer. The meatpacking industry has failed workers during the pandemic and I’m not surprised by the deadly consequences, Business Insider, December 6, 2020
• NSAC Co-hosts Webinar on Black Farm Cooperatives, NSAC Blog, October 28, 2020
• Biden is Courting Black Farmers, but They’re Paving their Own Way to Justice – FoodPrint, October 20, 2020
• After Cooper backs down on executive order, NC worker advocates push for protection, News & Observer, September 18, 2020
• For Small Farms Surviving the Pandemic, Co-ops Are a Lifeline, Civil Eats, September 14, 2020
• Lawmakers, farmers of color criticize USDA’s new funding initiative, PoliticoPro, August 20, 2020
• Small farmers left behind in Trump administration’s COVID-19 relief package – NBC Universal, August 9, 2020
• Pittsboro-based advocacy group subsidizes local farms hurt by pandemic – Chatham News and Record, July 29, 2020
• Farm Aid distributes $400,000 to strengthen farmers impacted by COVID-19 – Agri News, June 30, 2020
• The government has earmarked billions to help farmers. There will be winners and losers. – NBC Universal, May 19, 2020
• Special Episode: Cultivating Resilience In Our Food System, NPR, May 15, 2020
• How farmers, consumers are rising to coronavirus challenges – AP, May 10, 2020
• How some NC farmers, and consumers, are rising to the challenges of COVID-19, News & Observer, May 4, 2020
• Open Markets and Allies Demand Antitrust Enforcement in Meat Industry to Protect Workers, Farmers – Common Dreams, May 1, 2020
• Op-ed: Don’t Blame Farmers Who Have to Euthanize Their Animals. Blame the Companies They Work For. – Civil Eats, April 30, 2020
• Faith leaders call for stronger worker protections at meatpacking plants – Fern Ag Insider, April 29, 2020
• When meat plants shutter, what happens to market-ready animals? – Food and Environment Reporting Network, April 28, 2020
• Dear governor: Farmworkers need your help – My Daily Record, April 24, 2020
• As growing season commences, health pandemic raises big concerns for NC ag industry, farmworkers – NC Policy Watch, March 26, 2020
• Small Farmers Hustle to Address Economic Fallout of Coronavirus – Daily Yonder, March 26, 2020
• Rising N.C. farm bankruptcies could signal broader rural crisis – Independent Tribune, February 7, 2020
• USDA focuses on meat markets – Arkansas Online, January 14, 2020

2011 – 2019

• Farmers of Color and Buyers Connect, Morning Ag Clips, November 17, 2019
• Opinion: To Win in Rural Areas, Dems Must Take on Ag Monopolies – Daily Yonder, May 29, 2019
• Anchor Institutions of North Carolina: Rural Faith Leaders Gather in Burlington – EdNC, May 22, 2019
• Benny Bunting, Making Sure Farmers Have the Right To Survive – Farm Aid, Apr 23, 2019
• The Crazy Food Fight Over The Future of Vegetables – Men’s Health, Mar 28, 2019
• Building a just food system for all: Notes from RAFI’s Come to the Table conference – EdNC, Mar 25, 2019
• Farmers confront a mental health crisis – The Gazette, Mar 24, 2019
• Members of IEI Attend RAFI’s Come to the Table Conference in Charlotte – Institute for Emerging Issues, Mar 20, 2019
• American Farmers Confront a Mental Health Crisis – Bloomberg, Mar 20, 2019
• Organic Farmers Association Announces Newly Elected Governing Council and Policy Committee – Capital Press, Mar 11, 2019 
• The Race to Relearn Hemp Farming – Scientific American, Jan 18, 2019
• Nathaniel Rateliff’s Marigold Project Announces 2018 Grant Recipients – Westword, Jan 16, 2019
• As a New Congress Takes Office, it’s Time to Hit the Pause Button on Big Ag Mergers – Civil Eats, Jan 4, 2019
• Hurricane relief concert raises $325,000 – The Reflector, Nov 27, 2018
• Avett Brothers headlining Florence benefit concert Tuesday – WITN, Nov 13, 2018
• Five charities to benefit from Tuesday’s Avett show – The Daily Reflector, Nov 9, 2018
• What to Do With 4.2 Million Dead Poultry After Hurricane Florence? Turn Them Into Compost. – North Carolina Health News, Nov 5, 2018
• Avett Brothers’ hurricane relief concert will help the place they once called home – The News & Observer, Oct 30 2018
• In Sprawling Farm Bill, a $200 Million Corporate Research Subsidy Goes Unnoticed – The Progressive, Sep 25, 2018
• Here and Now September 24, 2018: Hour 2 – WBUR, Sep 24, 2018
• For Farmers, Florence Means Years Of Recovery And Loss Of Resilience – WBUR, Sep 24, 2018
• Hurricane Florence Threatens to Spread Hog Poop Over North Carolina – Wired, Sep 14, 2018
• For Farmers, the Impact of Florence Will Linger for Years – Daily Yonder, Sep 14, 2018
• Relief for Hurricane Florence – Charity Navigator, Sep 14, 2018
• The Rise of the Zombie Small Businesses – The Atlantic, Sep 4, 2018
• SNAP Expected to be Harder to Use at Some Farmers Markets – North Carolina Health News, July 18, 2018
• Starting In August, Farmers Markets Will Need Alternative To Process SNAP Benefits – WUNC, July 18, 2018
• RAFI’s Equity at the Table Speaker Series Comes to Wilmington – Dub City Heartbeat, March 22, 2018
• The Government’s Own Watchdog Says Massive Poultry Companies Are Exploiting Small Business Loans – Mother Jones, March 16, 201civ8
• Seeds Only a Plant Breeder Could Love, Until Now – New York Times, Feb 27, 2018
• Organic farmers launch effort for add-on label after disappointing NOSB actions – IEG Policy, Feb 26, 2018
• A learning ‘Agritunity’: Statesville event connects growers with experts – Statesville Record & Landmark, Jan 26, 2018
• Craft Brewers and Hop Industry Collaborate with Public Breeding – The Daily Yonder, Dec 18, 2017
• Analysis: The big consequence of the Amazon-Whole Foods deal no one’s talking about – The Chicago Tribune, Jun 30, 2017
• Valuing Farmers in the Whole Foods Acquisition – Food Tech Connect, Jun 21, 2017
• How Chicken Farmers Are Getting Clucked in a Supermarket Near You – Truthout, Jun 02, 2017
• 22 Inspirational Women in Food and Agriculture – FoodTank.org, Jun 2017
• Farm Aid highlights heroic work of farm advocates – Farmers Advance, May 31, 2017
• Randolph County farmer using pigs to clear land for cattle pasture – Fox News 8 (Greensboro, NC), May 30, 2017
• Film celebrates ‘farm advocates’ who fought back against rural crisis – The News & Observer, May 18, 2017
• Farm Aid Co-Founder John Mellencamp Hosts Premiere of ‘Homeplace Under Fire,’ Film Profiles Farming Activists – Billboard.com, May 18, 2017
• Farm advocate testifies on importance of USDA financing – Hortidaily, May 5, 2017
• Many Crop Farmers Searching for a Way to at Least Break Even – Agrinet News Network, May 2017
• Lowcountry growers could face the next flood with crop insurance – The Post and Courier, Oct. 14, 2015
• Poultry Farmers Watch the Sky – Coastal Review Online, Sep 9, 2015
• 3 Questions for Benny Bunting, Farm Advocate – Orion Magazine, Sep 3, 2015
• Autryville’s Buzz – The Sampson Weekly, Jul 17-23, 2015
• Summer Fare: Farmer’s market brings garden varieties downtown – The News Herald, Jul 18, 2015
• Save Your Seeds with Help from Olympia Food Co-op – Thurston Talk, Jul 6, 2015
• Eating in the Meantime: Food Justice Advocates Urged to Probe Deeper – NC Health News, Jun 10, 2015
• Judge Says No to Fracking – Eco Watch, May 21, 2015
• The Color of Food – Natasha Bowens, May 5, 2015
• Vendors to accept SNAP at Morganton Farmers Market – The News Herald, Apr 23, 2015
• There’s a Place That’s Nearly Perfect for Growing Food. It’s Not California. – Mother Jones, Apr 20, 2015
• Conference digs towards the root of hunger in WNC – Smoky Mountain News, Apr 1, 2015
• New Book Tells of Small, Rural Farmers Beating the Odds in Tobacco Country – Seedstock, Mar 12, 2015
• Florida Organic Growers to host agricultural cooperative planning meeting in Live Oak – Suwannee Democrat, Mar 9, 2015
• Railey: Farmer Pushes on for all the right reasons – Winston-Salem Journal, Feb 28, 2015
• Battle Over Breakfast: Consumer Groups Fight Cereal Merger – DailyFinance, Feb 20, 2015
• Conference on hunger at Elon next week – Times-News, Feb 19, 2015
• Advocates Urge FTC to Reject Post-MOM Brands Cereal Merger – Food Consumer, Feb 18, 2015
• Scene & Heard: On small beginnings and great achievement – Winston-Salem Journal, Feb 8, 2015
• SOS: Save our seeds – Sustainable Food Trust, Jan 23, 2015
• Seeds–The Battle for Sustainable Agriculture – Revolve Media, Winter 2014/15, Revolve #14
• Participants express concern over USDA’s coexistence meeting – Agri-Pulse, Dec 24, 2014
• New Report Finds Farmers Harmed by Decline in Seed Supply – ProAg News, Nov 5, 2014
• Project aims to increase sales, food stamp use at farmers markets – Smoky Mountain News, Oct 29, 2014
• ASAP, RAFI-USA launch program to increase farmers market sales – Mountain XPress, Oct 20, 2014
• Food Justice Certified label aims to verify fair treatment of farm laborers, others in food chain – Food Navigator-USA, Sep 26, 2014
• Farm Aid comes to North Carolina – Carolina Connection, Sep 13, 2014
• Market’s Double Bucks program helps feed families – Chapel Hill News, Aug 19, 2014
• Driller apparently wants to frack Meadowmont in Chapel Hill – INDY Week’s News Blog, Jul 23, 2014
• Fracking company makes offers in Durham – INDY Week’s News Blog, Jul 22, 2014
• The Future of Food: Six things you should know about the state of the American farm – OnEarth Magazine, Jul 7, 2014
• Interview with RAFI Just Foods Director Michael Sligh – Lexicon of Sustainability, Summer 2014
• First Food Justice Certified Farm and Food Stores in New York – Cornell Small Farms Program, Summer 2014
• DFM seeks to help SNAP/EBT Customers – The Herald Sun, Jun 7, 2014
• Tyson Foods Chairman Joins Billionaires Club, While Wages For Chicken Farmers Wane – BuzzFeed, May 13, 2014
• Two farmers’ markets in Durham begin accepting SNAP benefits – The Herald Sun, Apr 26, 2014
• Lee County landowners fight fracking – Carolina Connection, Mar 27, 2014
• As Commodity Farmers Shift Course, a Library to Collect Their Stories – Civil Eats, Mar 25, 2014
• Like Sustainable Food? Support Public Plant Breeding. – Civil Eats, Mar 5, 2014
• The Future of Farming is Open Source – MAKE Magazine, Mar 3, 2014
• The System Supplying America’s Chickens Pits Farmer Vs. Farmer – NPR Morning Edition, Feb 20, 2014
• This Holiday, Farmers Report Consumers Are Shopping Locally for Food – Public News Service (radio), Dec 13, 2013
• Government Shutdown Harms Family Farms – Huffington Post, Oct 2, 2013
• GMO Field Trials: Contamination Concerns – The Epoch Times, Sep 11, 2013
• Fracking rule gets new scrutiny – The Pilot, Sep 3, 2013
• Dixon Family Farms – Our State Magazine, Aug 13, 2013
• Scott Marlow Discusses Global Food Security – CCTV America, Jul 22, 2013
• Put it in your pipe and grow it: Former tobacco farms evolve – Grist Magazine, May 17, 2012
• Our Dwindling Food Variety – National Geographic, Jul 2011