Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural

Founded in 1978, Rural Coalition is an alliance of farmers, farm workers, indigenous, migrant, and working people from the United States, Mexico, Canada, and beyond, working together toward a new society that values unity, hope, people, and the land.

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(Photo: Blanding Family Land, Clarendon County, SC)

latest news from rural coalition

13 June, 2023

150+ Organizations Call Out USDA for Exacerbating Environmental Injustice in Energy Grant Program - We joined 150+ organizations to call on Secretary Vilsack to revisit changes USDA made to the Rural Energy for America Program that will exacerbate environmental injustice and hasten the climate crisis. Learn more from this press release from RC Member Friends of the Earth.

11 June, 2023

Nikki Budzinski introduces Increasing Land Access, Security and Opportunities Act to help the next generation of farmers - Budzinski’s proposal includes a $100 million increase in funding for the program per year for the next five years. The Increasing Land Access, Security and Opportunities Act has received support from National Young Farmers Coalition, the American Farmland Trust, the National Family Farm Coalition, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Rural Coalition. Read more about the proposed legislation from The Daily Illini and AgDaily.

**June 8, 2023**
**Rural Coalition is one of 9 USDA-awarded cooperating organizations offering free Technical Assistance on** **Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2** - ERP Phase 2 is designed to provide financial assistance to eligible crop producers who experienced revenue loss due to a natural disaster in 2020 and/or 2021. For free Technical Assistance applying for ERP Phase 2, please fill out our TA Request Form and/or sign up for TA Office Hours. Applications are due **July 14th**.

**May 25, 2023**
**Beware of Fraud** for Food & Farm Worker Relief Program & the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Section 22007 Discrimination Relief Process - There is no cost to apply for either program, and anyone who charges a fee for access to relief is enacting fraud. Please report fraud for FFWRP & Discrimination Relief by taking photos of fraudulent FFWRP or discrimination claims processes & sending them to us at farmers@ruralco.org.

**May 25, 2023**
Cuidado con el Fraude para la Programa para Trabajadores Agrícolas y de Alimentos y la Ley de Reducción de la Inflación (IRA) Sección 22007 Proceso de Alivio de Discriminación - No hay costo para solicitar cualquiera de los programas, y cualquiera que cobre una tarifa para acceder al alivio está cometiendo fraude. Denuncie el fraude para FFWRP y Discrimination Relief tomando fotos de FFWRP fraudulentos o procesos de reclamos por discriminación y enviándonoslas a farmer@ruralco.org.

**16 May, 2023**
**Broad Farmer and Rural Coalition Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Constitutionality of Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s Funding Structure** - Last week, we, along with our partners at Farm Action, the HEAL Food Alliance, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and Partners for Rural Transformation, submitted a brief to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) supporting the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding structure. Read more about our brief in this feature by the Democracy Forward.

View the latest RC updates

Updates from Rural Coalition Members

**Black Farmers Struggle in the Face of Structural Racism and Economic Headwinds**

PBS has released this report on the challenges faced by Black farmers in the US, featuring several of our members, including Board Member Willard Tillman of Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project.

**Fridays on the Farm: Creating Wildlife Habitat in South Carolina**

Rural Coalition member Nathaniel Rhodes of Rural Advancement Fund of the National Sharecroppers Fund is being featured by USDA for Black History Month!

**Building Resiliency in Disadvantaged Communities**

Administrator Marcia Bunger of the Risk Management Agency at USDA shared an inspiring reflection from the Risk Management Assessment Program we facilitated just before our 14th Annual Winter Forum.

Building a Movement

For over 45 years we have worked to assure that diverse organizations from all regions, ethnic and racial groups and genders have the opportunity to work in solidarity on the issues that affect us all. The foundation of this work is strong local, regional, and national organizations that work to assure the representation and involvement of every sector of this diverse fabric of rural peoples.