By Lauren Kobley for Cronkite News.
Broadcast version by Alex Gonzalez for Arizona News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration
Jesse Garcia was first introduced to farming in his grandmother’s garden. As a child, he recalls not quite understanding the true purpose of growing and how important it is.
It was in high school that he first started taking an interest in farming and agriculture. After graduating, he had a number of jobs, but he did not feel passionate about any of them. It was then that he found the Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
Arizona farmers are aging. With a hope to sustain farming practices in the state, particularly within Indigenous communities, the co-executive directors of Ajo CSA, Sterling Johnson and Nina Sajovec, are training the next generation of growers through their beginning farmer apprenticeship program.
As of the 2017 Census of Agriculture from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 59% of farmers in Arizona were Indigenous, more than any other state. The vast majority of farmers in the U.S. are over the age of 35, with an average age 57.5. With the average age of farmers increasing, advocates say it is important to train the next generation of farmers to maintain the state’s agriculture industry.
“Arizona did things backwards. We became a state. We created a job force. But, we didn’t include farming,” Johnson said. “The wrong assumption was that farming was going to stay within the family, but things have changed. The ways of thinking have changed, the way we do things have changed and there’s no one else to take over.”
The Ajo CSA program trains three to five aspiring farmers like Garcia each cycle in Ajo and on the Tohono O’odham Nation. The eight- to 11-month program allows apprentices to visit local farms, establish their own growing space and attend workshops to learn about local sustainable farming techniques.
The apprentices practice growing and harvesting different varieties of crops each season, including lettuce, tomatoes, chiles, squash, beans and corn. Because the farm is a teaching farm, the produce is not sold, but the organization saves the seeds to distribute throughout the community and use for later growing periods.
Johnson was born and raised on the Tohono O’odham Nation in a ranching and rodeo family. He has overseen more than 40 apprentices and youth interns, 70% of whom are Tohono O’odham.
“I’m very excited that we get to teach them (the apprentices) our ways, and we get to promote our ways. Not just to the outside, but to our people. They should be proud of who they are and where they come from,” Johnson said.
On the Tohono O’odham Nation, the apprentices practice climate-smart agriculture and dryland farming. The three main objectives of climate-smart agriculture are to sustainably increase productivity, adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Dryland farming is the practice of producing sustainably by using the soil’s own moisture and limited irrigation to plant and grow.
“The soils are the key factor in order to have a good nutritious crop. If you overtax those soils, you lose all the nutrients and all the natural things that are in the soils that would be healthy for us as people,” said Michael Kotutwa Johnson, a Hopi farmer and professor at the University of Arizona.
Indigenous farmers have developed and practiced these sustainable farming techniques for generations and they were almost lost, he said. One of the reasons they are successful is because of the adaptation seeds have undergone through the years to grow in desert-like climates.
“Our seeds are like us. They are human beings to the same extent that they also need to be out and adapt to these different environmental conditions. You have organizations … and they’re just holding on to those seeds. They’re also not raising them in the places where they’re from, so they’re losing their chance to adapt,” UArizona’s Johnson said.
Opportunities like the Ajo CSA apprenticeship program give young farmers the chance to get hands-on experience to develop climate-smart agricultural skills and get in touch with Indigenous culture.
“Farming’s a tradition, just like Grandma’s recipe. You don’t want Grandma’s recipe to die out and go away. You got to pass it on,” Gilbert Villegas Jr., an Ajo CSA apprentice, said.
Not only does the apprenticeship build their skills, it prepares them to farm their own land and grow on a larger scale.
Since finding Ajo CSA seven years ago, Garcia said he has learned invaluable information about farming that he has been able to apply to his own farm on the Tohono O’odham Nation.
“Working with Ajo kind of gives you the whole insight of how to run the business: How to apply for grants, how to get partners, how to use those partners, how to organize events – anything that can kind of help your business grow,” he said.
He said building his roots in farming has been a challenge, but he has had incredible mentors like Sterling Johnson that have helped guide him along the way. Garcia now comes back to Ajo CSA as a volunteer and mentor. He hopes to have an impact on those who are in the program now.
“It starts with you as a person. You have to want to change and try to bring everything (the farming techniques) back. If you don’t see the big picture then what’s the point of you trying to spread it?” Garcia asked. “There’s always somebody out there you can go and keep passing it on … hopefully somebody hears.”
Looking toward the future of the program, Sterling Johnson hopes that Native American traditional agricultural practices are given their proper recognition, acknowledgement and respect.
“This is our way of keeping our traditions alive. … We pray for those who are on the ground and those who are on top guiding in this modern world as we need agriculture to have a future for all of us,” Johnson said.
Lauren Kobley wrote this article for Cronkite News.
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Recent editorials in The New York Times and Washington Post defending factory farms make one critical mistake, according to environmental advocates: They both assume there is no other option.
Peter Lehner, sustainable food and farming program managing attorney for the advocacy group Earthjustice, said industrial agriculture does not feed the world. It feeds itself, perpetuating a cycle of overproduction, sickness, and environmental degradation. And U.S. taxpayers foot the bill, sending tens of billions of dollars each year to large corporations.
"There are huge numbers of subsidies to the livestock industry," Lehner pointed out. "The hamburger that you pay for is only a fraction of the true cost as reflected by what taxpayers pay."
The New York Times editorial argued the crop yields of smaller-scale family farms are insufficient to meet the world's daily caloric needs. The Washington Post editorial urged readers to save the planet by not eating free-range beef, arguing moving millions of livestock off pastures and into high-density operations, where in many cases animals cannot even move around, conserves valuable farmland.
Lehner contended a better way to make more farmland available is to stop growing inefficient crops. For example, it takes 15 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef.
"We use almost 60 million acres, an area the size of Indiana and Illinois combined, to produce biofuel," Lehner noted. "Where we could produce the same amount of energy with a couple hundred thousand acres of solar panels."
Lehner worries doubling down on industrial agriculture, which mostly produces commodity crops like corn, soy and sugar for highly processed foods, ignores other meaningful reforms like reducing waste. One third of all food produced in the U.S. ends up in landfills.
"Let's try to not have taxpayer subsidies for inefficient products," Lehner urged. "Ensure that we have a food system that produces nutritious food, not one that gets us sick, and we spend a trillion dollars a year in our health care system because of diet-related disease."
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Food advocates are calling on lawmakers to help jump-start the state's SNAP Stretch program, which was paused last year due to budget constraints.
The program, developed in 2018 by the West Virginia University Extension Service Family Nutrition Program and the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition allowed SNAP participants extra dollars for every dollar spent toward locally grown produce at farmers markets statewide.
Kristin McCartney, associate professor and public health specialist for the extension service, said SNAP Stretch also benefited local producers and businesses.
"Not only to drive consumers to eat healthier foods but also this extra money is also going to fund people who are growing food in the community," McCartney explained.
Local produce is fresher and more nutrient-dense than food shipped into grocery aisles from other states or countries, and keeps money circulating in local economies, according to the Natural Agricultural Law Center.
SNAP Stretch has generated more than $4 million in economic impact, returned $3 million to the local agricultural sector and supported 79,000 Mountain State families.
The average benefit for SNAP Stretch is around $1.29 per meal. McCartney pointed out the federal food assistance program on its own is not designed to ensure people are receiving essential nutrients.
"Snap is supplemental," McCartney emphasized. "It's not there to cover everything you need. Every additional dollar that can be given and used to promote those healthier choices is a benefit to those individuals."
McCartney added while eating fresh whole foods regularly can be daunting, purchasing frozen fruits and vegetables can help fill the gaps and reduce prep time.
"You're still getting all the nutrients," McCartney noted. "But it takes a lot of that prep out, and they're still pretty budget friendly."
According to the nonprofit Feeding America, more than 266,000 West Virginia residents are facing hunger, and more than 73,000 of them are children.
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By Sophie Kevany for Sentient.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Kentucky News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration
Fifteen development banks and a fund tasked with supporting sustainable economic growth are investing billions of dollars to expand factory farming in the global south and other lower income countries, a new analysis from the non-profit Stop Financing Factory Farming finds. The lower income countries where banks are funding industrial agriculture are often the same countries that are more vulnerable to the extreme weather linked to climate change, which itself is fueled by industrial meat and dairy operations. The analysis finds 15 banks and one fund, including the World Bank Group and the United Nations' Green Climate Fund, invested just over $3 billion on animal agriculture in 2023, with over three quarters of the funded projects described by the researchers as factory farms. Another $3.4 billion was marshaled from other private and public funders.
Factory farms are responsible for between 11 and 20 percent of global greenhouse emissions, as well as a host of other impacts like water pollution, pandemic risks and animal suffering. The analysis is based on data from a civil society database called the Early Warning System, which collects funding information from project websites.
Development Bank Investments May Contradict Climate Goals
A number of climate models predict populations in developing countries will consume more meat as incomes increase, yet the new analysis finds the investments from development banks encourage the production of feed crops for farm animals, not humans, worsening food insecurity. Many of those animals are exported: a 2021 paper found developing countries provide nearly 80 percent of international poultry exports by volume, for instance.
"These investments often generate negative consequences for local communities and for animal welfare... [creating] hurt at many levels, locally, globally and for the environment, the climate, people and animals," Alessandro Ramazzotti, a researcher with the International Accountability Project, tells Sentient. The International Accountability Project is a member of the Stop Financing Factory Farming coalition.
Factory farm investments hurt the financiers themselves, as well, Ramazzotti says. "Development banks have climate change goals and if they keep investing in animal agriculture, especially when this is industrial, large-scale, they are not going to meet those commitments."
This tension is especially clear at the World Bank Group, the largest development investor by volume in factory farming projects. The bank says it is aligned with the Paris climate agreement goal of keeping warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also published a report suggesting subsidies be redirected away from "emissions-intensive, animal-source foods," which account for almost 60 percent of total food-related emissions.
Despite its climate goal and the report, one of the World Bank's members, the International Finance Corporation, invested $501 million in factory farming in 2023, including a $47 million loan for a multi-story pig farm, the analysis finds.
A statement from the International Finance Corporation reads in part: "Animal protein is important for nutrition, especially in several of our client countries where early childhood and maternal undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies remain pervasive and animal-source foods consumption is far below the recommended amount. There are 1.3 billion people whose livelihoods are tied to livestock and we also know this sector is responsible for over 30 percent of the global GHG emissions...IFC works with livestock clients that are committed to enhancing animal health and welfare, protecting the environment, and promoting food safety...By investing in sustainable solutions that intensify production and improve efficiency in livestock operations, it is possible to reduce global GHG emissions and eliminate deforestation in direct and sourcing operations while providing affordable and safe food in emerging markets."
Shifts from Beef to Pork Present Risks and Tradeoffs
In the past several years, analysts for development banks have also argued for shifts from large-scale beef operations to pork and poultry, citing the lower emissions associated with these foods. A 2021 document drafted by the European Investment Bank, described non-ruminant meat - essentially pork and poultry farms - as a climate-friendly investment option. Last year, the same bank invested $427 million in factory farming, the new analysis says.
Shifting factory farms from one animal to another because they produce lower emissions does not make it a good idea, says Ramazzotti. "In the case of the multi-story pig farm in China, that is supposed to limit the environmental impact, yes, but then what about animal welfare?" There are other impacts to consider, Ramazzotti adds. "Farms like that are a big risk for human health, because they are a great place for viruses to develop."
A spokesperson for the European Investment Bank responded in part that "EIB Group's lending policies for farming, agriculture and the bioeconomy are fully aligned with the EU's strict legal framework, including European Green Deal policies, as well as with legislation regarding animal welfare." The full statement is here.
The spokesperson also criticized the report's characterization of some projects as "entirely unrelated to animal production."
In an email to Sentient, Ramazzotti provided a specific description of each of these projects, and responded more generally: "those three projects have been included because the EIB's project disclosures are among the worst of all MDBs in terms of transparency - and therefore one of the most challenging institutions to analyze and hold accountable." The full response is here.
The contradiction between climate goals and climate investments are not unique to development banks. The United Nations has reported that animal agriculture is a disproportionate threat to biodiversity and the environment, and that eating more plants would reduce those threats, improve human health and lower the risk of pandemics. Meanwhile, the United Nations' Green Climate Fund, an initiative that aims to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries, invested $175 million on industrial animal agriculture last year, the analysis finds.
Funding Better Projects
In Mongolia, Ramazzotti highlighted the irony of development bank funding for an industrial cattle project in a country already suffering from extreme weather known as the dzud. The dzud is characterized by dry summers and freezing winter temperatures, heavy snow and frozen ground. "And here, the International Finance Corporation is proposing an investment in an industrial cattle farm. As I understand, the investment is not likely to benefit, or only marginally, local people and it will increase the pesticides on feed crops and the methane produced by cattle, plus the farm is near a coal producer, and in a valley, which makes everything worse for the local people," he says.
Stop Financing Factory Farming is asking the financiers to stop funding industrial livestock operations at this scale, and instead shift investments toward farming systems that put "communities first and protect the planet."
In response to Sentient's request for comment on the report, the United Nations, the Green Climate Fund and the African Development Bank did not immediately comment on the analysis.
Yet a change of direction is entirely possible, the analysis finds, citing the same Green Climate Fund for supporting some low-carbon projects. One example is a fund to help women farmers in Cote D'Ivoire adapt to climate change in a variety of ways, including boosting financial literacy and knowledge of land rights.
Sophie Kevany wrote this article for Sentient.
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