The U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending $1.5 million to create a center in Portland to support urban farmers
Ecotrust will also distribute $150,000 in microgrants to urban producers during the next three years to support the purchase of farm equipment, for projects to improve soil health and to adapt to climate change.
By Alex Baumhardt
Oregon Capital Chronicle
July 25, 2023
Excerpt:
The nonprofit environmental and social justice group Ecotrust will partner with federal agencies to serve urban areas in Oregon and parts of Washington.
The specific location and start date of Portland’s Urban Service Center has not been announced yet, according to Natalie Crofts, a spokesperson for Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici.
Ecotrust’s role will be to grow access and trust in USDA programs among farmers who’ve been historically underserved or discriminated against by the agency, according to Jamese Kwele, Ecotrust’s vice president of organizational and food systems equity.
A recent investigation by NPR found white farmers were twice as likely to get a direct farm loan from the USDA as Black farmers.
“These challenges are decades in the making, and in some cases centuries in the making. It’s going to take time and effort to rebuild those relationships and change outcomes,” Kwele said.
The group will collaborate with a number of other state and local groups, including Oregon State University’s Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Multnomah County Health Department’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program and the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition.
