The Worker Co-op Farm Peer Network is a space for worker coop farms from across the U.S. to share stories, do peer advisory, communicate, and share strategy and resources.
On May 19, 2020, the Worker Co-op Farm Peer Network met. Here’s what we talked about:
COVID-19 Check-ins
We checked in about how our farms have been doing during the pandemic – a lot of folks have seen upswings in demand for CSA shares and are figuring out how to scale up, accomodate pre-orders and online orderings, and organize inventory for pre-sale while also figuring out how likely it is that this increase in demand will continue into future years.
Messaging the need for local, healthy food
Many expressed the desire to continue the conversation about how to approach this moment where there is an increase in interest and need for local, healthy food and channel a narrative and message that communicates to the wider world the value of local food and farming, and how important it is to support it beyond this year. People also talked about the importance of framing the worker coop model in farming in this discussion. And, people talked about how hard it continues to be to earn living wages as farmers, make the work financially sustainable, and grow their coops.
Takeaway questions that were shared with the group:
– What are you thinking about?
– What conversations should we be having as worker coop farms in the coming months?
– What questions do you have for other coop farms about how they are adjusting sales, inventory, pre-orders, CSA orders, market delivery, and anything else?
If you are a worker co-op farm that is not yet a part of our peer network, email us at membership@usworker.coop to learn about this group.
