SAAFON values relationships with farmers and organizations to have a greater impact in the preservation of Black agrarian culture and society

We believe in accountability.

We believe in a variety of production methods that achieve truly environmentally sustainable and ecological agriculture, including but not limited to biodynamic, organic, agroecological growing and heritage and/or
ancestral techniques.

We believe that race and place matter, that being Black farmers in the Southeastern United States (including the US Caribbean Territories) have unique legacies and heritages that must be acknowledged, honored, and engaged.

We believe in justice
for Black and indigenous peoples require redressing past and current harms. This starts by recognizing the historical and systematic devaluation of non-White people and cultures.

We believe in transparency.

We believe in state alliances with indigenous communities to inform our analysis and work around land access.

We believe in self – determination – the right of Black farmers to define their own truths, priorities, needs, and strategies.

We believe self – sustaining agrarian rural societies are the foundation of self – determining land based Black futures.

We build our work by doing, by going deep, by serving; going through it together, boots on the ground, hands in the soil.

We believe in a just food system that is based on cooperative ownership models, non – exploitative labor practices, ecologically regenerative practices, affordability, holistic human development.

We believe in Black land ownership.

We believe that land is power.

We believe in Black land collective stewardship models, including legal ownership as a mechanism for access and social / cultural care and use.

We believe in being in partnership with the land for shared goals.

We believe in restorative work that regenerates the land, heals our people through reconnection with natural systems, and creates just alternative social relationships.

We believe in Black farmer prosperity that provides economic self – sufficiency, allows production to feed their families and communities, and to achieve a level of well – being and self – actualization that they vision for themselves.

We believe in subsistence as resistance.

Subsistence = living from the land and prospering from it.

We believe in Diasporic relationships.

We believe in building and deepening relationships with other Black-identified folk located in other regions, countries and cultures who are also engaged in transformative land based work.

We believe in producing clean food that is ecologically healthy, not subject to genetic modification, and is affordable and widely available in order to sustain our families and communities.