Farmers Watch “Under Contract “ For Free

RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International) is a non-profit organization out of Pittsboro, NC, that works to cultivate markets, policies, and communities that sustain thriving, socially just, and environmentally sound family farms. They work nationally and internationally, focusing on North Carolina and the southeastern United States. For years RAFI has worked with contract livestock producers across the southeast to understand the good and bad experiences of contract farming.

Drawing primarily from farmers’ experience with poultry production contracts, RAFI provides analysis of the long-term social, legal, and economic impacts of the contract agriculture system and possible viable alternatives. In collaboration with other national farm and community organizations, RAFI works for reforms to protect the family farmer who turns to contract production.

Last February they released a one-hour documentary “Under Contract: Farmers and the Fine Print”. The film is available online and on their website. For the first time in a full-length documentary, contract farmers tell their stories and industry experts reveal how the corporate production model pits farmer against farmer.

Under Contract: Farmers and the Fine Print takes audiences on a road trip across the American South and to Southern India to understand what’s happening to farmers living under contract and what we can do to change our food system for the better. In the U.S. alone, 97% of the chicken produced is raised by family farmers under contract with large companies. Around the world and all across agriculture, contract farming is taking hold. But farmers who sign contracts often face unfair challenges and hidden risks under the terms that are offered by large firms. Under Contract provides a timely glimpse into the little understood fine print of modern agriculture.

RAFI encourages farmers to feel free to watch the film for free, as their way of saying hanks to the farmers who provide so much to our communities. The film can also be rented online or purchased. You can access the film at https://vimeo.com/r/1UIE/ejNiZ2RtcD.

You must have or create a Vimeo account (there is a Basic option for free) and hit rent and a promo code automatically pops up.

You can also go to http://rafiusa.org/farmers-watch-under-contract/.

Please note that all proceeds from this film will support RAFI’s direct work with farmers in financial crisis and their work to level the playing field for farmers under contract.

KRC will also have a couple copies available for showing. Contact Mary Fund at mfund@kansasruralcenter.org.

Before you Sign a Poultry Contract: Consider Your Risk

Before signing for a loan of any kind or signing a contract to raise poultry, make sure you know what you’re getting into! You are committing your family’s financial security to this investment for the next several decades, so carefully weighing your decision is critical.

RAFI-USA and the Farmers Legal Action Group (FLAG) have developed a document entitled “Questions to Ask Before You Sign a Poultry Contract”. We attach a short excerpt from their longer document. Click HERE for the short version.

You can download the full document and other resources at http://rafiusa.org/programs/contract-agriculture-reform/for-contract-farmers-resources-and-guides/.

For a more detailed explanation of potential risks in poultry contracts, email: sally@rafiusa.org, call 919-323-7587.

Socially Responsible Agriculture Project Offers Communities Resources

The Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP) works throughout the U.S. helping communities protect themselves from the negative impacts of factory farms, officially called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). SRAP gives family farmers, ranchers, and other rural citizens the tools needed to develop and sustain ecologically sound, economically viable, humane farming alternatives to industrial-scale agriculture.

SRAP is a grassroots organization that educates about the impacts of factory farms while working directly with the communities most heavily impacted. Through education, advocacy, and community organizing, SRAP provides guidance and assistance to communities seeking to develop healthy, sustainable alternatives to industrialized livestock production. Learn more at their website at www.sraproject.org.