Local Emergency Assistance Farmer Fund
If you’re a small-scale farmer who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color (BIPOC), within 200 miles of the Twin Cities and you have lost markets or sales due to the pandemic or unrest in the wake of protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul, please consider applying for the LEAFF program. LEAFF is not a grant, but a guarantee to buy a specific dollar amount of produce from each accepted farm during the farm season, dependent on funding. Farms are accepted into the program by filling out the application below. Right now we are only accepting emerging and BIPOC farmers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! To have this page translated to Somali, Hmong or other Southeast Asian languages, contact Tou Xiong. For Spanish, contact Aaron Blyth.
The application is currently open to any farmer who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color, including Hmong or other Southeast Asian whose gross farm sales are less than $100,000 and whose farm income is at least 25% of their household income.
If accepted in the LEAFF program, The Good Acre will purchase at least $2,500 of produce from your farm, and potentially more depending on program funding.
Yes, the intention of the LEAFF program is to assist BIPOC farmers who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and have lost markets.
Farmers will be notified if they have been accepted into the program by June 1st.
We will begin accepting produce the week of June 7th, 2021.
LEAFF will buy whatever produce you wish to sell each week, provided it is on the LEAFF Accepted Produce List.
Produce must be packaged according to the LEAFF Accepted Produce List. All produce is priced by the full box. Smaller quantities and mixed boxes cannot be accepted at this time. Packaging will be provided for those participating in the program.
Produce is delivered to The Good Acre, 1790 Larpenteur Ave. W. Receiving times for the LEAFF program are on Wednesdays from 8am-4pm.
Not seeing your question answered here? Check out our regularly updated Supplemental F.A.Q.
Apply for the LEAFF Program
The LEAFF program is currently accepting applications for the 2021 growing season, please click the button below to begin your application.
Are you a community member wanting to join us in supporting farmers?
Program Contacts
For questions about the program or application, contact David Van Eeckhout.
To have this website translated to Somali, Hmong or other Southeast Asian languages, contact Tou Xiong, or call HAP: 651-495-9160.
To have this website translated to Spanish, contact Aaron Blyth, or call LEDC: 651-253-7268.
Equity in the Food System
LEAFF partners recognize that our food system was built through the systemic oppression of BIPOC communities, farmers and consumers, and continues to be inequitable. Our goal is to provide resources and support to BIPOC farmers to ensure COVID-19 does not create additional barriers to success, and provides connections to new wholesale markets and technology for longer-term sustainability. We are committed to providing purchased produce to organizations supporting those facing hunger and food insecurity, whether it’s people impacted by COVID-19, communities rebuilding from protests following the murder of George Floyd, or communities that have been oppressed throughout our cities’ history.
LEAFF by the Numbers
Meet the LEAFF Partners
Thanks to These Supporters
