SAAFON

USA

SAAFON (Southeastern African-American Farmers Organic Network) is a network of small and heritage Black farmers in the Southeastern United States who are “committed to culturally relevant, ancestrally guided, and ecologically-sustainable agricultural-based living”. Since 2006, they have worked across 10 states and the US Virgin Islands to strengthen Black farmers’ “collective power to build an alternative food system rooted in progressive values… that places the wellbeing of Black farmers and Black communities at its center.” SAAFON emphasizes these values for reimagining and rebuilding the food system: prioritizing long-term sustainability over maximizing profit; expanding the definition of sustainable agriculture to include economic, social and ecological health; being in right relationship with the land; transferring traditional knowledge and renewing agrarian lifeways across generations; uplifting the deep wisdom of the healing power of land; and decommodifying food so that it is accessible to all. The network currently counts 19 legacy elder farmers and 24 new/beginning farmers. Learn more from the SAAFON website.