A just food system for all

Partnerships between the accredited Kestrel Land Trust and two nonprofit groups that work with refugee and immigrant farmers — All Farmers and the Pioneer Valley Workers Center — are helping to build a more just food system in Massachusetts.

Secure access to land is the number-one barrier that refugee and immigrant farmers face. Structural inequalities and wealth disparities often prevent first-generation farmers from purchasing farmland. Kestrel’s professional expertise in land conservation and securing land can prove beneficial in helping farmers overcome these barriers.

The partnership with PVWC helped establish La Colmena (The Hive) Community Farm in Hatfield and Northampton, where its members—many of whom have experience as farm and food service workers in the region— can further their traditional farming practices, acquire skills and better meet the needs of their communities.

In another collaboration, Kestrel Land Trust helped the primarily East African and Bhutanese members of the All Farmers organization purchase and conserve a beautiful 6-acre farm field along Paucatuck Brook in West Springfield. It will be developed into a community garden that provides local immigrant and refugee farmers with a place to grow their own food. Being near a bus route makes the area more accessible to those without their own vehicles. Kestrel is also helping All Farmers secure a much larger farm property near downtown Springfield, which will serve as All Farmers’ primary base of operations and support local communities for generations to come.

“We’re so honored to be part of this important effort to integrate food justice, equity and land conservation in our region,” says Kestrel Land Trust’s Executive Director Kristin DeBoer.