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CISA Emergency Farm Fund

This week, CISA and partners launched the CISA Emergency Farm Fund, a revolving loan fund designed to help farmers recover from Hurricane Irene. The Fund will offer quick, zero-interest loans to assist farmers and farm businesses in the aftermath of the storm and flooding. Thanks to an anonymous donor who has put up a $50K match, CISA hopes to raise at least $100K for the fund, which will help farmers now and in the future.

CISA’s partners, Whole Foods Market, Equity Trust, and the anonymous donor, have made the launch of the Emergency Farm Fund possible. But a much wider circle of community support was also critical to our efforts. In the days following Hurricane Irene, a wide variety of people called the CISA office, asking how they could help farmers whose crops or land was damaged by the storm. Callers volunteered to help with clean-up or spread the word for impacted farmers. Several people suggested that a revolving loan fund could help farmers survive this and future emergencies.

As we began to consider the logistics and challenges of a loan fund (Where does the money come from? What kind of loan review allows a prompt and responsible response? What’s the legal structure?), the calls kept coming.

Whole Foods Market called, wanting to help set up a relief fund.  So did NOFA Massachusetts, the organic farming organization, and the state Department of Agricultural Resources. At our annual feast and fundraiser, a donor approached me, suggesting a revolving loan fund and offering to kick it off with a $50,000 match.

As the loan fund began to take shape, generous contributions continued to make each next step possible. Jim Oldham, of Equity Trust, offered to assist with the management of the loans. Dave Jackson, of Enterprise Farm, attended meeting after meeting, helping to shape the structure and process. CISA Board members Greg Melnik and Mark Tanner offered their legal and financial expertise. Each person we invited to sit on the loan review committee said yes.

We all know that local farms feed us in many ways. We’re in the middle of the season of harvest festivals, which remind us that farms and food undergird many of our community activities, our social spaces, and the beautiful vistas of our Valley. As a community, we support farm businesses in many ways as well: by making choices with our food dollars, by preserving farmland, by advocating for farm policy that supports local and regional farms, and now by strengthening the safety net that keeps farms operating through good weather and bad. Thanks for all of your help.

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