FARMER-TO-FARMER MENTORSHIP

AUA’s Farmer-to-Farmer Mentorship Program seeks to match beginning farmers with experienced farmers to share in their wealth of knowledge and foster mutually beneficial relationships. This program seeks to expand: educational opportunities for growing food, flowers, medicine, farming animals and bee keeping in Chicago; access to quality, safe food; skills for environmental conservation of soil, water, and air in our region; and the web of collective power and solidarity amongst Chicago area farmers. 

Program Description

This is a space for growers, farmers, and earth stewards – centering BIPOC folks – to grow the web of collective power and solidarity amongst each other. Through skill building, resources sharing, and relationship cultivation we are creating a space for growers to have the necessary tools to shape our local food system.

We are looking for individuals who are committed to learning from each other, can provide hands-on experience, and are open to traveling to farms.

Adrienne Maree Brown’s book Emergent Strategy introduced the phrase “moving at the speed of trust.” With this in mind, AUA decided to postpone launching our signature Farmer to Farmer Mentorship Program (F2F) until later in the year to take the necessary time to re-envision, increase capacity, and incorporate feedback from the last three years. We thank all the amazing growers in the last three years who have participated as mentors and mentees! Once the program relaunches we will announce it via our newsletter and social media platforms so make sure you are following us. If you are interested in joining F2F this year, you can fill out our interest form so we can directly send you the application once we relaunch.

Equal Opportunity Statement: AUA works affirmatively to foster inclusive programming and does not discriminate in the selection of participants on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, income, marital status, or any other dimension of identity. AUA strongly encourages applications from candidates and individuals with voices that have been historically under-represented in the food system, including but not limited to women, people of color, Black and Indigenous people.