Rock Steady Farm is much more than just a farming operation.
Beyond growing vegetables, we offer innovative programs that further our mission and serve our community:
Food Access
Many folks who find us are familiar with our sliding scale CSA, and our Food Access Fund, which sponsors shares for those who could not otherwise afford our produce. Through that program and a wide network of community partnerships and distribution channels, we provide free and subsidized produce to low-income community members, including queer, trans, BIPOC folks, seniors, families with young children, immigrants, and people living with serious health concerns.
In the last several years, we’ve distributed 70 - 75% of all food grown at Rock Steady Farm for food access. Food Access will always be a key component of our social justice mission, but it doesn’t stop there.
Training and support for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC farmers
From the jump, we have strived to center farmers and farmworkers, particularly LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC folks. Starting with our own team: we raise wages consistently, prioritize skill sharing & training, and invest in our team culture. As an “out” farm, we’ve connected with queer farmers across the world who share with us the impact of seeing representation in a male-cis-white dominated industry.
Unlivable wages, harmful work cultures, exploitative apprenticeships, and lack of access to land and capital are just a few of the barriers to entry for beginner QTBIPOC farmers. We disrupt and address this web of interconnected systemic barriers, by training QTBIPOC farmers and supporting their ventures to ultimately help feed our communities. Our training offerings for farmers include:
Pollinate! is our paid farmer apprenticeship program
Tractor Training retreats & workshops
Educational workshops regarding business and supplemental skills
Furthermore, we have always understood our Food Access work to be critical, yet ultimately a band-aid approach to addressing food insecurity. However, with a growing community of Pollinate! alumni and our tested-and-true Food Access systems and partnerships, we are working to support a more systemic solution to food insecurity: by growing a larger network of QTBIPOC led, community-based farms. To this end, our supportive offerings include:
The HIVE offers connection, 1:1 technical support, and customized workshops to Pollinate! alumni and new farms receiving Rock Steady assistance
Guaranteed income for local beginner QTBIPOC growers through sourcing their produce for our distribution network
Collaborating with longstanding partners to expand community-held regional distribution networks and to envision a new incubation program to seed local QTBIPOC-led farming ventures
Community building & Advocacy
Since the beginning, our work has been community-driven and community-accountable. Members of our staff come from and thus reflect the communities we work to serve. Every season, we welcome community members to the farm to connect them to where their food comes from. Community celebrations such as Pride and autumn-time convenings and festivals nourish our community, ground our work, and connect our collaborators and partners.
Advocacy and organizing has long been baked into our work alongside our farm operations and training programs, as RSF was built around a long-term vision of QT BIPOC farmers feeling safe and welcome within agriculture. Our core staff are life-long advocates with regional networks, informal coalitions, and organizing allies.
We organize to elevate queer farming and queer identities within a number of capacities and spaces, including the Federation of Worker Co-ops, Seed Commons, International La Via Campansia, URGENCI (an international network of CSA farms and support agencies), North East Farmers of Color Network, Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, National Young Farmers Coalition. Rock Steady was involved with the founding of the Northeast Queer Farmer Alliance and Food Sovereignty Fund. In addition, we have built relationships with leaders of Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, and regularly attend local town meetings in our area to advocate for farmers, such as advocating for affordable housing.
We continue to find and assume our role in advocacy for food justice, land sovereignty, and the multitudes of intersecting issues, both locally and globally. Finally, we capture and amplify the stories and perspectives of queer and trans Black, Indigenous, and people of color farmers through documentary films like our latest, Pollinate.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
This work relies on financial support of our community — individual donors, community foundations, and grants. Click here to learn more and join us!
