Dear friends and family,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of peaceful time to enjoy good food and good people. For this week only, December 1-7, I am asking you to join me in supporting the people who raise much of our good food: farmworkers.  I'm volunteering for Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF), with the goal of raising $1,000 to support SAF's work for greater respect and justice for farmworkers. SAF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring students and farmworkers together to learn about each other’s lives, share resources and skills, improve conditions for farmworkers, and build diverse coalitions working for social change. I'm excited about the work SAF does -- and I need your support for this grassroots campaign! 

Why support farmworkers?
I work on a farm.  I love the work. It's hard work, but I chose it, because growing good food in a healthy way, and sharing it, is the most joyful and meaningful work I can imagine. But even if my heart is jumping for joy when I pull sweet rainbow carrots from the ground, I know that much of the food we eat -- that we just feasted on at Thanksgiving -- is raised through 12-hour days paid at below minimum wage, chemical poisoning, heatstroke, little or no healthcare, and also through the work of young children. Last fall, I accompanied a legal aid outreach team to visit farmworkers where they live, to share materials about the farmworkers' rights and how they can advocate for themselves. I learned that nearly five out of ten farmworker families cannot afford enough food for the family -- even though they grow the food for our families. I learned that a farmworker in North Carolina needs to pick and haul 2 tons (4,000 pounds!) of sweet potatoes just to earn $50. There's got to be a better way. There's got to be a way to feed ourselves without destroying the health and disrespecting the dignity of other people, and without poisoning the world around us. I committed to sustainable agriculture so that I could feed people on a community scale, but it's also vital to understand and change what's happening on the commercial scale that feeds much of our country. 
 

Why Student Action with Farmworkers?
When I moved back to North Carolina to learn how to farm sustainably, I felt compelled to pay attention to larger-scale agriculture and farmworkers' lives. As I researched every farmworker advocacy program in North Carolina, I was struck by how faithfully Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) organizes side-by-side with farmworkers to campaign for better living and working conditions. SAF student interns support rural health clinics, legal aid offices, migrant education programs, community-based programs, and farmers' unions. Through SAF's Levante Leadership Institute, farmworker youth and parents come together to become leaders in their communities and to support the youth to go to college.  I've attended SAF workshops and met students and farmworkers alike who've worked with SAF -- and I'm inspired by the deep, truly grassroots level of organizing.  You can see the vision in the name itself: action not for farmworkers, but with farmworkers. In SAF's 20 years of work, over 80,000 farmworkers have gained access to health, legal, education, and organizing support. Over 150,000 people have advocated for farmworker justice through SAF's campaigns.

This is my week dedicated to supporting grassroots organizing through grassroots fundraising! My goal is to raise a minimum of $1,000 to support SAF's work with farmworkers. My campaign begins today, December 1, and ends Sunday, December 7. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, $100, or more, for farmworker justice. I'm excited to see how the individual contributions, from so many people I love, can add up and become part of a greater effort. 

You can click here to donate now. Or simply click on the green "DONATE" button!

With love and thankfulness,
Julia