The Marin Post

The Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM), an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the San Francisco Bay Area through nine Certified Farmers Markets and other food- and hunger-related social programs, launched a new Racial Equity Fund, a first of its kind fund that seeks to create a model to increase representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers, food producers, and artisans at the farmers market.

AIM announced this fund to kickoff National Farmers Market Week, an annual opportunity to celebrate how much farmers markets bring to our communities. AIM is raising $20,000 this week to support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers, food producers, and artisans who are getting started at the market.

“The farmers market does not fully reflect the diversity of our food and farming communities, in part because the start-up costs of joining the market can create a critical barrier-to-entry with a disproportionate burden at a community level for BIPOC small business owners. Given our location in Marin County, a predominantly white and affluent community, we understand that we are part of a system that gives us unearned status and privilege. As an organization, we have a responsibility to use that privilege to support producers of color here in the Bay Area.” said Andy Naja-Riese, AIM’s Chief Executive Officer.

The Racial Equity Fund will provide stipends to BIPOC producers to help cover critical start-up costs such as: tents, booth signage, online marketing, registration fees and stall fees for six months, organic certification(s), and other critical but sometimes hidden costs of starting and expanding a food-related business. For small businesses with narrow profit margins, these start-up costs can make or break their success at the market. By helping cover these costs, AIM is opening more opportunities for BIPOC-led farms and food businesses to thrive at the market, an especially important part of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pablo Muñoz Ledo, Co-founder and CEO at INTO and member of AIM’s Board of Directors said,

“For years, I had the privilege of supporting many initiatives of Mexican and other Latin American purpose-driven farmers. Often, they could not overcome the many adversities they faced as small-held farms in their own countries and ended-up looking for a minimally viable livelihood elsewhere. In an interesting turn of events, after relocating in the Bay Area, I have met several such farmers here and became familiar with their dreams and struggles. I am happy and excited about AIM’s Racial Equity Fund. This is a great opportunity to see Latin American and many other BIPOC farmers’ efforts acknowledged, and a viable path to reach their full potential.”

More about the Racial Equity Fund

In 2020, AIM went through a strategic planning process and deeply reflected on our systems, structures, and mission. From this work emerged AIM’s Path to Racial Equity plan, outlining our path for improving racial equity in all aspects of our work.

The Racial Equity Fund is a key component, which will lower the financial barriers that can disproportionately burden BIPOC food producers who lack wealth or capital needed to start at the market.

AIM understands our food and farming system is built and maintained on a foundation of historical and current oppression and systemic racism toward Black people, Indigenous peoples, and People of Color. Ninety-one percent of California farmers are white; whereas only 1% are Asian; less than 1 % are Black or African American; less than 1 % are Pacific Islander; and 1 % are multi-race.Black farmers are denied USDA loans at higher rates than other groups, and have had to wait four times longer to receive farm loans than white farmers.

After raising $20,000 in year 1, AIM will keep growing this fund to make this support a regular part of our applications process for new producers.

BIPOC includes Black people who have African or Caribbean ancestry; Indigenous Peoples who are native to the Americas who were here before the colonization by Europeans; and People of Color, which is an umbrella term for people who have Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Pacific Island heritage, among others.

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