Our Goal

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation recognizes that gender and racial equity in the food system is intimately tied to gender and racial justice. Women are under-represented in the agricultural industry [1]: only 36% of agricultural producers are women. Even fewer are women of color and/or immigrant women, who face additional barriers in the industry.

This funding area is intended to address the specific needs of women and gender-expansive individuals in the agricultural industry, with a focus on equitable pay, safe and fair working conditions, and well- supported routes to farm ownership for women of color and immigrant women farmers.

Women farmworkers face multiple overlapping forms of discrimination and exploitation at work, and are “often given the least desired, lowest-paying jobs, are the first to be laid off, receive fewer opportunities to advance, and face a culture of discrimination and machismo in the workplace” [2]. Women farm workers are subject to racial, gender, and economic injustices in their workplaces, including high rates of men committing sexual harassment and sexual violence against them [3] and earning an average of $4,700 per year less than men farmworkers [4].

“I’ve faced discrimination as a female immigrant farmer. I want to have a better future for my family. When it comes to my business and sales, the biggest challenge is that the quality standards keep getting higher, but sometimes the prices that we get paid are not even enough to cover what we put in.” –Elda*

“I want to teach my kids the value of being a farm worker. I don’t want them to see farm workers as being worth less because without farmers there would be no food on our table.” – Ana Maria*

“The biggest challenge has been the toll this labor has taken on my body. Sometimes we are at the farm at like 1 or 2 am. But I guess I would have to say that, as a mom, the hardest thing has been leaving my kids behind.” – Mayra*

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation seeks to support women and gender-expansive individuals of color in the agricultural industry by providing funding to support nonprofit organizations that focus on one or more of the following: 1) offer professional development programming for women and gender- expansive individuals of color who are seeking to become, or have recently become, farm owners; 2) provide labor rights education and/or legal support to women and gender-expansive farmworkers; 3) support women and gender-expansive farmworkers who are experiencing sexual harassment, sexual violence, and/or other forms of gender-based harm at work; 4) advocate for system-level change regarding racial and gender equity in the agricultural industry.

In crafting this RFP, we reviewed resources from and consulted with Kitchen Table Advisors, Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), Santa Cruz Community Ventures, and El Pajaro Community Development Corporation.

*Direct quotations are from women farmers who participated in the Organic Farm Incubator Program at Alba Farmers.

What We Look For

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation would like to support programs, organizations, and initiatives that incorporate the following components through existing guidelines:

Please note: The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is not afraid of the word feminism! We encourage you to openly discuss your intersectional feminist programming, goals, or approach.

To Apply

Unsolicited propoals will not be accepted.