Apprentices in action

In October, our Organic Vegetable Farm Manager Apprenticeship program apprentices and farmer educators gathered at Full Circle Community Farm to learn, connect and celebrate. We had the pleasure of hosting SG of SG Tractors who led our group through a workshop on tractor parts, maintenance, and troubleshooting. 

SG introduced our field day group to the different tractor engine parts and expertly guided us through how the engine parts work together to power the engine. Apprentices and farmer educators then delved further into tractor systems and safety practices, and got to perform maintenance on the Kubota MX6000 tractor - changing engine oil, greasing joints and more! 

Each host farm in the apprenticeship program is so unique - in its scale, location, land, crew, history, culture and any/all choices farmers make to run their farm, which is something that makes this program so special. That also means that even while the program’s on-the-job training is guided by a standard job book of competencies, each apprentice’s experience is going to vary based on their host farm. 

Some farms use tractors regularly and some more frequently lean on hand scale tools. This tractor workshop was an opportunity to supplement the skills that apprentices are learning during their time with their farmer educators by deepening their training and knowledge on tractors. We’re grateful SG was able to come to Wisconsin to shepherd us through this important learning.

During our day-long workshop, we were able to take a mid-day moment for a tour of Full Circle Community Farm, led by Isaac (apprentice) and Scott (farmer educator). We got to see everything from their packshed - with their innovative and cost-efficient pulley racks for drying produce - to their hoophouses, greenhouses and fields. We were joined by some furry friends on the tour as well!

Finally, we came together in the hay loft under twinkling lights to celebrate our graduating apprentices, who shared about their highlights and future plans. Sabee Culinary Services catered our lunch and dinner with a delicious seasonal menu developed using local produce - including Full Circle’s veggies! The night completed in a ceremony where our graduating apprentices made their congratulatory walk and received a small gift from FairShare - a polaroid photo and a branded harvest knife and sheath. 

We thank everyone there and behind the scenes who made this a magical October Apprenticeship field day.

A Message from FairShare on SNAP and food security

To our FairShare community: 

As we enter the month of November, we are immediately seeing the impact of the loss of SNAP (food stamp) benefits on food assistance programs and the emergency food system. 

Through the Partner Shares program, 53 people use SNAP to pay for their CSA shares directly. An additional 30 participants receive SNAP benefits and pay for their shares through alternate payment methods. 

This is a small example of how the SNAP program directly impacts our local food economies. People who receive SNAP get to choose where to spend their food dollars, and many choose to support local farmers - through CSA with programs like the Partner Shares Program or farmers markets with the support of the Double Dollars program. 

SNAP benefits also help limited-income households increase their overall purchasing power. By providing more resources for households to access food, SNAP helps free up cash to buy other essential items. Each dollar in federally funded SNAP benefits generates $1.73 in economic activity. 

With the current lapse in SNAP benefits, pantries are seeing exponential growth in requests for assistance. SNAP, along with programs that help recipients of federally funded benefits maximize their purchasing power, takes the pressure off emergency feeding programs like food pantries. 

Loss of SNAP affects so many in our community - from families and children who receive SNAP, to local farmers and the small retailers who accept it, to the food pantries that fill the gaps when need increases. We are all seeing the shift of where people access food and how their buying power is affected. 

In a country of abundance where so many people face hunger and poverty, we will continue supporting farmers and eaters as we all navigate the changing landscape of food access work.

Dignity in the fields

The U.S. food system is the largest industry employer in this country, with more than 28 million individuals laboring across production, processing, distribution, and more. Across these sectors, food workers experience some of the lowest wages and rates of unionization in the country, and some of the highest rates of injury and food insecurity.

Zooming in on agriculture in particular, we see a long history of exploitation that has gone hand-in-hand with federal legislation that has served to set the ag industry apart as “exceptional.” In particular, two New Deal-era laws excluded farmworkers from many of the workplace protections extended to other industries – like the right to organize and collectively bargain, the observation of the 40-hour work week, and the payment of overtime wages. 

Too often, agricultural labor is regarded as unskilled, dirty, and uneducated labor - which serves the double purpose of keeping the experiences of agricultural workers far from the public view.

These conditions and views, which are interwoven with long histories of creating workforces of immigrant labor through colonial economic and migration policies, have further primed agricultural workers for exploitation. And with more federal resources being poured into ICE raids, farmworkers with marginalized status and precarious protections face threats of deportation, family separation and direct physical violence. 

And yet, we also see communities taking action everywhere to support and protect each other, share resources, show solidarity and demand to be treated with dignity. Growing food for our communities is truly noble and crucial work despite voices who may say otherwise.

We also sometimes hear the message that immigrant labor is valuable because immigrants do work that U.S. citizens don’t want to do as a way to justify protecting immigrants from deportation.

We want to push back on this framing and instead recenter the larger vision: that all people deserve dignity and protection regardless of the work they engage in; that we can move toward the vision that every labor experience in farming can be dignified, honored, protected and recognized; and that what matters is building a world where people can grow food for themselves and their communities, connect to land, and sustain themselves. 

Additional resources:

• Video: Protect Workers From ICE

• ICE Toolkit for Employers

• Private / Not Open to the Public signs/stickers

• Printable “Know Your Rights” cards

  • Dual-language (English, Spanish) card template

  • Dual-language (English, Hmong) card template 

  • How to use your red card

• A Guide for Employers: What to Do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace

• Impacts of Deportations on Food Supply 

• Immigration Reform, H2A, and Justice for Farmworkers (2023)