Stories from the Field

11 posts

Puerto Rico Farmers Learn Solar Pumping Techniques

August 5, 2025
On July 30, RAFI hosted a field day at Finca Don Cotto in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, where about 20 farmers learned to install and use solar-powered water pumps. Led by RAFI staff and a solar electrician, the hands-on workshop addressed irrigation challenges and cost barriers. RAFI is helping reduce equipment costs through bulk purchases. More field days are planned to expand access to sustainable, affordable water solutions across the island.
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Birthing Sovereignty: Soul Fire Farm’s Model for Land-Based Liberation

July 31, 2025
What does it mean to return to the land — not just to farm it, but to reclaim it? Hope Ostane-Baucom of RAFI’s Farmers of Color Network reflects on her powerful week at Soul Fire Farm’s BIPOC farmer immersion, where farming becomes a practice of healing, resistance, and liberation. This is not just a training — it’s a homecoming.
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Volunteers work together to build a high-tunnel during an educational farmer-brigade event at Fairpoint Farms in Kittrell, NC on February 27, 2023.

Building a High Tunnel, Building a Community

April 3, 2023
In late February, 31 volunteers gathered to build a high tunnel at Fairpoint Farms in Kittrell, NC. During the ten hour work day, there were educational talks and a general theme of building something much more than a high tunnel together.
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WATCH: A Day at the Farm to Clinic Pop-Up Market

July 1, 2022
On June 6, 2022, RAFI-USA visited the Farm to Clinic Pop-Up Market at Piedmont Health, organized by the Carrboro Farmers' Market with support from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. This program is a part of RAFI-USA's Expanding Farmers Market Access.
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Tierra Fértil: Growing Food and Co-operative Power

April 19, 2022
Tierra Fértil is a worker-owned, Hispanic cooperative in Hendersonville, NC. They are not only growing food, but creating a tangible impact in their local community through a mutual aid model that values collective power, solidarity, and entrepreneurship. 
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Communities Coalescing to Build Resilience

September 20, 2021
Learn about a great example of community collaboration between Steve Moore, a farmer in Harnett County, NC, and Veronica Watson, a Master Gardener and parishioner at McQueen Chapel UMC in Lee County, NC.
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Introduction: Flaws in the Food System - 2020 Was Just an Alarm Bell

June 28, 2021
RAFI-USA's new blog series, Flaws in the Food System - 2020 Was Just an Alarm Bell, will lift up the stories of farmers, farmers markets, and other stakeholders who have received direct service support or grant funds from RAFI-USA over the years. Their stories illustrate how systemic and institutional inequities affect their lives and work.
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