Devastation at Flats Mentor Farm + Governor Healey Visits
Updates from Flats Mentor Farm, A World Farmers Organization Member
July 21, 2023
A message from Maria Moreira, founder of Flats Mentor Farm
All 270 immigrant and refugee farmers in our Flats Mentor Farm program have experienced significant or total crop loss from the excessive rainfall and flooding this season.
Please consider providing a gift to help farmers recoup a portion of their losses.
The impact of the rains has been, once again, devastating, with a total flood at Flats Mentor Farm in Lancaster, our largest landsite, and near total flooding at our second largest landsite.
All fields were completely submerged at Flats Mentor Farm (FMF), and all 214 farmers who plant on the 70 acres at FMF have lost 100% of their crops, and the 87 farmers supported on our second largest landsite have experienced 65% crop loss. The value of the loss is immeasurable and impacts not just the farmers’ livelihoods and food security, but also the communities who depend on the cultural variety of FMF crops.
The immigrant and refugee FMF farmers engage in labor-intensive farming with minimal machinery, and travel many miles to their farm sites weekly. The flooding has put their businesses and livelihoods at risk. The loss of income is compounded by the fact that at this point in the season, there may not be enough time left to replant. With how early the floods came, many were only able to get one harvest off the land, if that. Many FMF farmers were only a few weeks away from harvesting and selling their crops at local farmer’s markets and wholesale outlets. The sad reality is that FMF farmers are experiencing the second total loss of their crops in just three years.
Governor Healey Visited Flats Mentor Farm
On Thursday, Governor Maura Healey visited Flats Mentor Farm to witness firsthand the impacts of the flooding that submerged all 70 acres of Flats Mentor Farm. Her visit is part of a week-long assessment of the damage on farms throughout the Commonwealth to discuss recovery and mitigation efforts. FMF farmers gathered to meet with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, and other state officials to describe their losses - “the worst” they’d experienced in their many years of farming.
The official visit highlighted the need to establish adequate support systems for all Massachusetts small-scale farmers as climate disruptions become more and more frequent. Without sufficient crop insurance, small-scale farmers like the FMF farmers have minimal to no means to recoup loss after a disaster. This season’s loss is compounded by last year’s extreme drought, excessive rains the year before, and market disruptions in 2020.
No single effort will make the farmers who have lost so much whole, but continued focus on addressing ways to protect small-scale agriculture will lessen the blow and assist farmers as they try to sustain their livelihoods and feed our communities.
Please consider supporting the immigrant and refugee farmers of the FMF program by donating today. Your gift will help them attempt to recover and return next year to grow food for our communities. One hundred percent of all proceeds raised will go directly to the farmers, and will be distributed by the farmer-led FMF Farmer Committee.
You can give through our GoFundMe page, by donating directly on our website, or by sending a check payable to World Farmers, Inc. mailed to our offices at 769 Main Street, Box 112, Lancaster, MA 01523.
With Gratitude,
The World Farmers Team
