Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

REGIONAL OPPORTUNITYIII. D. BRIDGING SOCIAL,ECONOMIC, ANDGEOGRAPHIC DIVIDES:KENTUCKY’S COMMUNITYFARM ALLIANCEFunder Highlighted:Ford Foundation“Public markets can serve as engines of economicgrowth for urban and rural communities andtherefore as regional bridges crossing over theurban-rural divide.”— Miguel Garcia, Ford FoundationIt is an unfortunate fact that in a nation such as theUnited States, the lack of food security and accessremains a common struggle for low-incomecommunities. The struggles of disenfranchisedminorities and the working poor are reflected by highrates of disease that could decrease with educationand improved access to nutritious foods. This profileillustrates the successful redefinition of a farmers’market into a vehicle for community revitalizationand organizing where urban-rural and racial dividesare confronted and increased equity is pursued.Project ProfileIn 2000, the state of Kentucky received $3.4 billionin tobacco settlement dollars. Given directly to thestate, and under the control of the Governor’s Office,these funds inspired considerable debate regardingtheir use and the potential recipients. TheCommunity Farm Alliance, a group with a history oforganizing and policy work, advocated for makingdollars available to help family farmers transition outof the tobacco economy that accounts for roughlyone-third of a typical farm’s income. At the sametime, the Alliance successfully proposed that fundgovernance happen at the local level, with localcommunities setting their own goals for their fundallocations. This proposal provided an initial fundingbase to change the way family farms did business.Located in Kentucky, the Community Farm Alliance(CFA) is, “A statewide grassroots organization ofpersons committed to family-scale farming as themost efficient and sustainable form of producing thebest quality food, while protecting the environmentand strengthening rural community life.” 47Family farmers needed to become entrepreneurs inorder to survive. Agricultural markets were changing,and family farms needed to follow suit by identifyingnew customers/markets and developing products tomeet those customers’ needs. The Community FarmAlliance began working with its membership toidentify these new market opportunities. One keyopportunity was the city of Louisville, Ky., home toone million people—almost one-quarter of the state’stotal population.Community Farm Alliance members speak-out against tax incentives for outof-statecorporations and confined animal feeding operations. (Source:Community Farm Alliance).Thus, in 2002, longtime CFA staff member andfamily farmer Ivor Chodkowski applied for a sixmonthCFA fellowship, an internally-offered sixmonthleadership development opportunity.Chodkowski’s fellowship proposal focused onidentifying connections through conversations inLouisville and with farmers in adjacent ruralcommunities for joint economic opportunities. Thiseffort led him to the Portland neighborhood.Western Louisville’s 12 neighborhoods, whichinclude Portland, are disproportionately low-income,with 38 percent of the residents living in poverty, andhome to disproportionately high numbers of AfricanAmericans. One major equity issue that became clearto Chodkowski was that the residents of westernLouisville lack access to healthy and nutritious foods.For example, there are 105 grocery stores inLouisville, a ratio of one grocery for every 6,100Louisville residents. But the circumstances in these47www.communityfarmalliance.org/about.htm/.107Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities