ASAN and the Forum aim to create community. Even though that community is coming together online this year, still, in order for it to be a reflection of our deepest values and best selves, we must adhere to some shared agreements about HOW we come together and how we engage. Below are the agreements that guide [...]
TYPES OF SESSIONS: Campfire sessions - full-network, big-picture gathering spaces meant to grow our shared understanding of the work before us as a movement, the legacies we've inherited, and the vision we have for a just, sustainable, resilient future "Hands-on" skillshare sessions - panels, roundtables, demos, and more, on a wide variety of practical skills [...]
This fall, ASAN will begin a state-wide farmer needs assessment (FNA) of fifty sustainable producers and aspiring producers in Alabama, and we need your help to make it possible! During the fall and winter, our Farmer Support Coordinator Charlotte, along with three FNA Fellows, will visit producers on their farms and hold two-hour interviews with [...]
As the events of 2020 have made the need for human connection more acute, we understand that the desire for the Food & Farm Forum is ever stronger; its usefulness more apparent. And yet we know we cannot simply move our Food & Farm Forum onto Zoom; we have to completely reimagine and reconfigure the [...]
ASAN welcomed Marian Mwenja to the team in early August 2020. Marian has a multi-layered role, serving both as an Admin & Communications Assistant, and as our first-ever Justice Fellow. As Admin & Communications Assistant, Marian manages ASAN's social media, contributes to e-blasts/newsletters, and makes sure the organization's gears stay running smoothly. As the Justice [...]
Arlo Pate joined the ASAN team in early August 2020 as our new (and first-ever) Farmer Support Coordinator. Arlo is the first point of contact for farmers and aspiring farmers seeking support from ASAN. Arlo coordinates the Alabama CRAFT Network and they led our statewide Farmer Needs Assessment in 2020-21. Arlo graduated as a Community [...]
ASAN unequivocally affirms that black lives matter, and that the work we do must actively seek to dismantle white supremacy. Our organization’s vision is of a resilient agricultural system in Alabama, and our core beliefs affirm that a resilient agricultural system is and must be just. Building a just agricultural system in Alabama will require [...]
** CLICK ON THE ISSUE "TITLE" (Year and season) to open the full PDF! ** ** Clicking on the image will only open an enlarged version of the image. ** 2020 FALL/WINTER (click title to open PDF) Statewide Farmer Needs Assessment: Calling all producers and aspiring producers! Join us for the Reimagined 2020 Food & [...]
With support from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, ASAN is offering mini-grants to farmers and farmers markets in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker Counties, to cover costs associated with adapting to COVID-19. These mini-grants -- averaging $500 or less -- can cover the cost of safety and accessibility upgrades, as well as any adaptive [...]
ASAN RESOURCE PAGE FOR COVID-19 PANDEMIC: This page will be updated as new resources become available, so check back periodically! LOCAL FARMS/MARKETS DIRECTORY: These are difficult, uncertain times, and many of our typical supply lines are strained or cut off. But local farmers are here for you! Many are needing your support more [...]
