“We saw a global decline in the rights of farmers – to have a fair contract, the right to save seeds, to negotiate a good price in the marketplace, the right to organize… the right really to be an independent farmer.”
In our week in NC, we spent quality time with farmer advocates at RAFI-USA who have invested their careers in pushing for policies, market development and agricultural research that will benefit farmers. Michael Sligh is the Director of the Just Foods Program at RAFI – he explained to us why RAFI got involved in the contract production issue – and why working on this is critical for American farmers and rural communities.