The 138th Real Farmer Care recipient is Anita Adalja of Ashokra Farm @ashokrafarm in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Anita writes, “My name is Anita (she/they) and I'm a queer Indian farmer. I co-founded Ashokra Farm in Albuquerque, NM in 2020 with Ash Abeyta. We expanded this year, hired some part-time co-farmers and hope to become a cooperative farm in the future. We are a queer poc farm growing veggies for our community. Ashokra is named after my father, Ashok, and my love of growing okra. This is my 12th season farming, and during that time, I have had a range of experiences spanning from complete joy and wonder at the natural world to relentless exploitation, racism, sexism and homophobia. My experience is not unique - there is a big problem of power dynamics between workers and owners in this country that plays out in incredible exploitation and abuse on farms. I believe this reality is protected by the myth of the "heroic" small family farmer. I think farm owners need to be held accountable and to a much higher standard - success of a farm should not solely be measured in profit margins, productivity, farmers' markets stands, but by the health and wellbeing of the workers whose hands' hold up the farm day in and day out. To learn more about the farm worker storytelling and advocacy project I began a few years ago, please follow @notourfarm.” #ashokrafarm #queerfarmers #pocfarmers #notourfarm #realfarmercare
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