In 2011, the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) reported significant economic impacts from its small grants to farm entrepreneurs, generating over $733 million in economic activity and creating 4,100 new jobs. The organization also worked on protecting farmers' rights and advocating for food justice by developing certifications that ensure fair treatment along the supply chain. With growing concerns about genetic diversity and the pressures from genetically modified organisms, RAFI emphasized the need for public systems that support seed diversity and farmer autonomy.

1. Annual Report
2011

2. Small Investments
Big Benefits
W
e are a growing community of neighbors
feeding neighbors with fresh local
food. In 2011, our second year, we created
$300,000 in farm income and sold fruit and
vegetables from 25 farms to 1,250 subscribers
- 3.5% of the people in our rural county.
-Fenton Wilkinson, Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative,
owned by farmers, consumers, & staff. RAFI grantee &
workshop leader
Our Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund gives
small grants – an average of $10,000 – to farm enterpris-
es that are modeling creative new ways to make a living
on the farm. In 2011, RAFI granted $1.9 million to 181
innovative farm entrepreneurs.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro evaluated the impact of those grants over a
three-year period. What they found was staggering.
• Each of our grants created an average of 11 new jobs
within one year.
• For every one dollar awarded to a farmer, $205 new
dollars of economic activity took place in the state
within one year.
• In total, the program awarded $3.6 million in three
years to 367 farmers, created 4,100 new jobs, and
had an economic impact of more than $733 million.
Why does it work? We believe it’s because farmers know
their business, know their communities, and have a lot at
stake. They already have equipment, buildings, land, and
expertise that they can re-purpose. And there’s another
benefit for rural economies: family farmers don’t pick up
and move overseas.
If you want to have a big impact on the economies of
rural communities, it’s hard to find a better bet than a
family farmer.

3. At Happy Land Farms, Harold Wright is using a RAFI grant to add pastured poultry to his diversified farm, where
he already raises pastured pork, row crops, and berries. “My grandchildren will be the fifth generation on the land my
grandfather farmed in 1910. I’m just trying to keep it in good shape and pass it on,” Wright says.
I
n the first year of operation,
we bought over $50,000 worth
of food from local farmers,
hired six people, and stimulated
the local economy through rent
and other operating expenses.
Since then, we opened the Harvest
Moon Grille at the Dunhill, a
brick-and-mortar restaurant,
where we have a staff of 49 folks
and have spent over $164,000
directly with local farmers
in only nine months. Given the
multiplier effect, each of those
dollars has the impact of $7
being spent in the local economy.
In only two years, the impact of
that little $10,000 grant we got
has been over $1.5 million.
-Cassie Parsons, Executive Chef and
Proprietor of Harvest Moon Grille at the
Dunhill and farmer at Grateful Growers
Farm

4. For 12,000 years, slow, careful selection by farmers has
improved wild plants and animals into the crops and
lievestock we recognize today. Each variety of seed and
each breed of animal carries thousands of particular genes
that combine to produce its unique traits – resistance to
disease, ability to cope with too much water or too little,
ability to weather frosts or scorching heat, unique tastes
and textures, and more. These diverse traits are necessary
for our food supply to adapt to changing conditions and
future diseases. Now global climate change is making
them more important than ever.
But these resources are disappearing fast. RAFI’s 1983
study, which received its own full-page spread in the July,
2011, National Geographic article on dwindling crop
diversity, found that about 93 percent of seed varieties
sold in the US in 1903 were extinct by 1983.
These diverse, publically-owned varieties are being
replaced by corporately-owned, patented crops. We
need a parallel public system that values and improves
publically owned seeds and breeds, which belong to
everyone. Public ownership allows farmers to save seeds.
Because of RAFI and our coalition partners, the 2008
Farm Bill prioritized funding for the development of
public, open-source varieties through classical breeding
- but according to a May, 2011 report by RAFI and the
National Organic Coalition, only one of 168 grants from
the USDA AFRI program supported this research. After
releasing the report, RAFI met with Deputy Secretary
of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan and the head of the
USDA research division to discuss solutions.
In June, we joined the National Cooperative Grocers
Association in convening more than 60 organizations in
Boulder, Colo., to agree on a shared strategy to protect
public plant and animal varieties, prevent contamination
from GMO crops, and ensure fair choices for farmers
and consumers. Attendees included such organic and
sustainable agriculture industry powerhouses as Organic
Valley, the Organic Trade Association, and Clif Bar.
Saving Seeds

5. Whether we be scientists or politicians, farmers
or factory workers, gardeners or teachers, we each
have a role to play in passing this gift on to the
next generation. The manner in which we meet this
challenge will largely determine how – or whether –
future generations will live on this planet.
“Shattering: Food, Politics, and the Loss of Genetic Diversity” by Cary Fowler & Pat
Mooney, RAFI, 1990
Farmer Kenny Haines and RAFI’s Michael Sligh talk in front of seed cleaning equipment, purchased with a
RAFI grant. Kenny and his son Ben operate Looking Back Farm, where they grow organic grain, participate
in a breeding project with RAFI and North Carolina State University, and work with their neighbors to co-
operatively sell organic wheat to a local flour mill. Hear Ben talk about his project: bit.ly/lookingbackfarm.

6. Food, Faith &
Community“Food ministry is secondary. The real issue is
who we are in community with,” wrote one
of the participants in facilitated discussions at
the Come to the Table Conferences in North
Carolina in early 2011. The Project’s third
biannual conference series brought together
almost 400 faith and community leaders for
workshops, meals, field tours, and discussion.
Our community of participants included
farmers, farm workers, clergy, nonprofit and
church leaders, state employees, professors,
dieticians, and leaders of local ministries.
In 2007, the program’s first conferences had
a goal of bringing leaders in farming, hunger
relief, and faith to the table to identify
opportunities for ministries that would benefit
both farmers and families in need.
Four years later, the conference agenda was
full of successful ministries ready to share their
work - buying local for institutional events,
hosting congregation-supported agriculture
sites, teaching healthy cooking, growing
gardens, hosting donation stands at farmers’
markets, making healthy local food accessible
for EBT customers, donating land, and
supporting new food and farm entrepreneurs.
The Project has now worked with more than
700 people across the state. It is a national
model for fostering community food security
through faith-led action. In a recent survey,
more than 50 percent of respondents said they
had been inspired to start or grow a ministry in
their home community because of the Project,
and more than 80 percent said they had made
changes in their personal relationship to faith,
farming, and food.

7. Guillermina Garcia of Mujeres sin Fronteras, a group of women farmworkers, leads a seed-planting field day with
students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, farm worker group NC FIELD, and youth members
of Coley Springs Missionary Baptist Church, as part of the Eastern North Carolina Come to the Table Conference.
Faith communities can adopt
and promote the idea of food
sovereignty - that it is the
human right of every person to
be able to feed themselves.
Faith communities’
longevity, land holdings,
capital, infrastructure,
and outreach capacity can
make food projects not just
local but sustainable and
perennial.
Food ministry is secondary.
The real issue is who we
are in community with.
The theological
underpinnings of this work
are stewardship, justice,
delight, creation, abundance.
Food is a bridge and a
celebration. Food is a
commonality, a shared
connection. Food is
spiritual. Food is a right.
Notes from Participants

8. Food Justice
The Agricultural Justice Project, the gold-
standard food justice labeling initiative led
by RAFI and three partners, liscensed its first
certifiers in May, 2011. The kick-off training
hosted 20 participants, a combination of
organic certifiers and representatives of
farmworker organizations.
AJP standards certify fair treatment for all who
labor in agriculture - workers, farmers, and
food business employees alike. The project
builds a chain of honest, open, and respectful
relationships from farm to table. Food Justice
Certification is open to any farm or food
business. AJP’s label, Food Justice Certified,
rewards businesses for a deep commitment to
fairness and transparency, empowers people
who labor at all points on the supply chain
to advocate for their own rights, and enables
consumers to choose food that was produced
with dignity and respect for human rights.
The certification process is developed to
integrate with the process for organic and other
certifications, enabling farms and businesses
to add Food Justice Certification to their
products without an unnecessary burden of
dealing with separate certifiers. A farmworker
organization participates in every certification.
RAFI is proud to
be a founder and
board chair of the
Domestic Fair Trade
Association, which
promotes and protects
the integrity of
domestic fair trade
principles and
practices through
education, marketing,
advocacy and
endorsement.

9. Certified
AJP certifier events train staff
and farmworker inspectors
in the project’s rigorous
standards, and then let them
apply what they’ve learned
on visits to real farms and
businesses undergoing
the certification process.
Participants leave ready to
carry out certifications in
their home communities.

10. Protecting
Landowners from
Exploitation
2040 people attended community
education meetings in 2011. Here,
RAFI’s Jordan Treakle explains
the kind of clauses landowners
can expect to find in a gas rights
lease.
Thinking about leasing your
mineral rights?
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS1) Talk to a lawyer
• Gas leases are BINDING LEGAL CONTRACTS. They are usually
WRITTEN TO BENEFIT THE COMPANY not the landowner.
• CONTRACTS TAKE PRECEDENT OVER any VERBAL AGREEMENT
that you may have with the company.
2) Don’t accept responsibility for the
gas company’s actions.
• Mineral rights leases may put LIABILITY for ENVIRONMENTAL
HARMS or other liability issues ON THE LANDOWNER, not the
drilling company.
• Make sure that the company is responsible for complying with
local regulations, paying any fines and compensating you for lost
income from government conservation programs.
3) Know the impact on your land
• Some contracts ALLOW COMPANIES leasing mineral rights to
BUILD BUILDINGS, pipelines, and ROADS or to USE A WELL on
the property even if it interferes with other activities such as
farming or hunting.
For help finding affordable legal representation contact Jordan Treakle at RAFI at (919)
444-1321 or jordan@rafiusa.org. More informatio at www.rafiusa.org/gaslease.html
Thousands more
landowners in
affected regions
of North
Carolina were
reached through
flyers and
mailings.
Before July, 2011, landowners who signed a gas lease in
North Carolina were often signing away their right to
go to court, authorizing company personnel to enter
their property without any notice, and agreeing to
receive no compensation and take legal responsibility
for damages resulting from the gas companies’ actions.
Gas companies began signing leases with North
Carolina landowners in 2010, after studies showed
that natural gas in shale under Lee, Chatham, and
Moore Counties would be able to be extracted using
hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.
Although fracking was not yet legal, gas companies
had filed more than 80 lease agreements in Lee
County alone by late 2010. Often, landowners signed
away gas rights at $1-2 per acre, a sharp contrast with
states where fracking is legal, where landowners often
get $2-5,000 per acre.
RAFI began the year with intensive outreach to
landowners and local residents, educating them
about exploitative contract terms and urging them to
seek legal advice before signing a contract. After our
education meetings and media campaign began, only
four new leases were filed.
RAFI also began to work with legislators in order to
better protect the rights of rural landowners. In July,
the Governor signed a law that protected landowners
from some of the most immediate concerns. The bill
also charged the state Department of Energy and
Natural Resources and Department of Justice with
researching the possible impacts from fracking. The
bill named RAFI as the sole nonprofit that the state
was required to consult when writing the report.
Learn more at www.rafiusa.org/gaslease.

11. The Right to a
Fair Contract
A USDA Grain Inspectors, Packers, and Stockyards rule,
finalized in 2011, extended new rights to contract poultry
farmers, who often incur hundreds of thousands of dollars
in debt and have contracts that may last only a few months:
• Companies can no longer force farmers to spend money
on expensive equipment upgrades, which often have no
financial return for the farmer, in order to keep their
contracts
• The federal Packers and Stockyards Act, which has pro-
vided some key protections for broiler chicken farmers,
now protects pullet growers and breeders as well.
• Farmers have some protection from financial loss when
they receive a flock late through no fault of their own.
Find out more at www.rafiusa.org/rule.
There is still work to be
done. But for now at least
some ground rules have been
established.
- Craig Watts, poultry farmer

12. The Long RoadIn 2011, contract poultry farmers won
important new federal protections from unfair
treatment (see previous article.) The victories of
2011 were only possible because of decades of
advocacy from farmers and supporters like you.
RAFI’s Becky Ceartas
and growers Mike
Weaver, Mickey
Box, and Craig
Watts outside a
Congressional office
building during a day
of Senate visits.
Because RAFI stood with farmers
to reform contract agriculture:
RAFI’s Contract
Agriculture Reform
program founded
to organize
contract poultry
farmers.
The Campaign for Contract
Agriculture Reform begins
to advance national policy
that protects contract
poultry growers.
1990
1998
2008
USDA publishes draft
rules, which are written
based on input from
RAFI and the Farmers’
Legal Action Group.
500 growers in
eight states come to
community meetings
about the rule.
USDA/Justice Department hearings
on concentration in agriculture
include a special session on
poultry. More than 60 growers
testify. They get coverage in news
outlets like BusinessWeek, the
Associated Press, and the Washington
Post.
More than 1,200 people
send comments in support
of a strong poultry
section of the rule. More
than 425 growers risk
retaliation to send a
letter.
7,000 people, supporters
of RAFI and coalition
partners, call the White
House to ask for the
rule to be issued.
2011
Growers hold a
D.C. briefing for
Congressional
staff

13. This ad ran in local papers throughout
North Carolina during President
Obama’s visit to the state in mid-2011.
to Reform
The Farm Bill directs
the USDA to write
a rule protecting
contract poultry
farmers from unfair
treatment.
Dudley Butler, long-time
supporter of contract
growers, is appointed to
a key USDA post and meets
with growers.
2009
2010
Growers visit 55
Senate offices in
three days and
hold a second
briefing for
Congressional
staff.
Growers speak out
in letters to the
editor, opinion
editorials,
and calls to
legislators.
An attempt to kill
the rule through
the US Congress’s
Appropriations
process is
defeated although
the USDA is
prevented from
finalizing
certain parts of
the rule.
The USDA issues the final
rule, giving poultry
growers historic new
protections from unfair
treatment.
Growers recieve information
about their new rights.
RAFI continues to monitor
enforcement and defend the
rule.
190 farm
organizations
sign a letter
in support of
the rule

14. Genetically engineered crops can contaminate
organic or other non-engineered crops through
the movement of pollen or seed. Pollen and
seeds from GMO crops can travel miles,
contaminating the fields of nearby farms.
Current U.S. regulations fail to prevent or
mitigate this contamination. Farmers whose
crops are contaminated may lose substantial
income. Many markets do not accept GMO
crops or non-GMO crops contaminated with
GMO material. For instance, worldwide
organic farming regulations prohibit the use
of genetically engineered seeds or feed, and
many non-organic import markets will not
accept GMO foods. In addition, farmers with
contaminated crops be held liable for growing
patented crops without paying the patent-
holder - even if they were unaware of or unable
to prevent the contamination.
RAFI and the National Organic Coalition co-
authored GMO Contamination Prevention and
Market Fairness: What Will It Take?, a white
paper that lays out 11 principles that should
guide strategies to protect farmers from the
impact of unwanted GMO contamination of
their crops, including protecting consumer
choice, defending farmers’ ability to choose the
crops they grow, assigning liability fairly, and
protecting genetic diversity.
The paper was written in response to testimony
and questions at the US Senate’s hearing on
the 20th anniversary of the organic program,
which made it clear that the interactions
between organic agriculture and genetically
modified crops would become a major issue for
American farmers. It laid the groundwork for
the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill campaigns. Read
it at bit.ly/gmofairness.
Fair Markets,
Farmer Choice, and
GMO Contamination
Preventing contamination is a two-way street.
Those who own, promote, and profit from GMO
technology must be held responsible for the economic
and market harm their products may cause.
- from GMO Contamination Prevention and Market Fairness

16. A Lifetime of Service
to Farmers in Trouble
In 2011, Benny assisted
86 families facing
financial crisis and
saved $14 million in
farm assets.
For more than 20 years, farmers facing
bankruptcy or foreclosure have called
RAFI’sBennyBuntingforhelp. Whenthe
poultry plant in Siler City, N.C., closed
its doors last summer, almost 200 farmers
lost their contracts. Benny was there to
help. By the end of the year, Benny had
twice his normal caseload, and 70 percent
of farmers receiving intensive assistance
were poultry farmers. In November, RAFI
added a full-time position assisting the
former poultry growers, increasing our
capacity to offer advocacy and support.
Benny Bunting with
Farm Aid President Willie
Nelson. Benny recieved a
Certificate of Honor from
Farm Aid for his years
of service to America’s
farmers. RAFI’s founding
director, Betty Bailey; Just
Foods Program director
Michael Sligh; and current
director, Scott Marlow,
were also honored.
I
still don’t understand what was wrong with me farming. If I was good enough
to drive a tractor, why couldn’t I farm? If I could drive the big trucks to the
grain elevator, why couldn’t I farm? If I hadn’t had Benny, I would have been
like a fish on the riverbank. I couldn’t have done it without him. I didn’t have a
penny to pay him. I am sure he was having a hard time, too. But he would stop his
life to help other people, and one of them was me.
-Margaret Odom, Georgia farmer, Farm Advocacy client, and one of the lead
plaintiffs in a women’s discrimination lawsuit against the USDA

17. More than 100 farm advocates and advo-
cates-in-training from around the nation
joined RAFI and Farm Aid in Kansas for the
first National Meeting of Farm Advocates.
This year’s gathering was the first time since
the farm crisis of the 1980s that a national
group of advocates like Benny came together
to tell old stories and new ones, and continue
the work of advocating for farmers.
The three-day gathering included workshops
on lessons learned for the next generation
of farm advocates, what discrimination
looks like today, and new initiatives in farm
finance. Discussion group topics included
Farm Bill 2012, young farmer initiatives,
federal resources, and land loss prevention.
A Gathering
of Advocates
Veteran advocates Betty Puckett, Ben Burkett, Benny Bunting,
Linda Hessler, Lou Ann Kling, and Shirley Sherrod

18. A
t times, it is difficult to put
into words what RAFI has done
and continues to do for us. At
one point during my life on the farm,
things seemed devastating. But through
RAFI’s involvement, we now have a very
successful dairy operation and we have
been able to bring a son and daughter
back to the farm. RAFI’s encouragement,
RAFI’s continued support, and RAFI’s
belief in our efforts to make things
better have been an immeasurable
factor in our ability to contribute to
the farming community.
- Tom Trantham, farmer, RAFI donor and
board member
RAFI is supported by:
Anonymous
Alces Foundation
BB&T
Clif Bar Family Foundation
Corporation for National and Community Service
C.S. Fund
The Duke Endowment
Elise Jerard Environmental and Humanitarian Trust
The Episcopal Church of the Advocate
The F.B. Heron Foundation
Farm Aid
The Fenwick Foundation
First Citizen’s Bank
Gaia Fund
GBL Charitable Foundation
Golden Leaf Foundation
Hillsdale Fund
Lawson Valentine Foundation
Lefort-Martin Fund
The Mary Lynn Richardson Fund
The Mary Norris Preyer Fund
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
The New York Community Trust
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services
North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission
The North Pond Foundation
Oak Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation
Park Foundation, Inc.
Patagonia
Presbyterian Hunger Program
Dan and Sue Rothenburg
Rural Economic Development Center
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Southern Risk Management and Education Center
Tivka Grassroots Empowerment Fund of Tides
Foundation
Unitarian Universalist Funding Program
The Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Inc.
...and the generosity of
more than 500 individual
donors.

19. Putting Dollars to
Work for Farmers
Expenses
Farmer
grants
Programs
Administration
& fundraising
9%
50%41%
Income
13%
Other
Foundation &
government
grants
59%
Individual gifts
Contracts
9%
22%
91% of RAFI’s budget
goes straight to programs
and grants that support
family farms.
Individual donations
give RAFI flexibility
to invest in cutting-
edge work, while grants
and contracts enable
us to provide diverse,
nationally recognized
work for socially-just,
environmentally sound,
thriving family farms.

20. Scott Marlow, Executive Director
Alix Blair, Information Specialist, Tobacco
Communities Reinvestment Fund
Regina Bridgman, Director of Annual Fund &
Major Gifts
Benny Bunting, Lead Farm Advocate
Becky Ceartas, Contract Agriculture Reform
Program Director
Sarah Gibson, Come to the Table VISTA
Claire Hermann, Director of Communications &
Come to the Table Project Director
Francesca Hyatt, Field Coordinator, Tobacco
Communities Rienvestment Fund
Sally Lee, Just Foods Program Associate
Carmen Moa Rivera, Crop Insurance Project
Coordinator
Robin Iten Porter, Financial Officer
Jackie Murphy Miller, Program Assistant,
Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund
James Robinson, Development & Research
Associate
Edna Rodriguez, Grants Officer
Joe Schroeder, Tobacco Communities
Reinvestment Program Director
Michael Sligh, Just Foods Program Director
Julius Tillery, Field Coordinator, Tobacco
Communities Reinvestment Fund
Jordan Treakle, Mineral Rights Project
Coordinator
Kathy Zaumseil, Director of Administration
2011 Staff
Scott Marlow, RAFI’s newest Executive Director, has been at RAFI for 17
years. Most recently, he directed RAFI’s Farm Sustainability Program and
oversaw work on crop insurance, risk management, access to credit, food and
faith, and advocacy for farmers in financial crisis. He has served on the steering
committee of the National Task Force to Renew Agriculture of the Middle, the
Organization Council of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the
Board of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, the Board of the
NC Farm Transition Network, and serves on the NC Agricultural Advancement
Consortium and the Advisory Committee of the NC Agricultural Development
and Farmland PreservationTrust Fund. He has a Masters Degree in Crop Science
from NC State University, and a BA in Political Science from Duke University.
We’re proud to have him as RAFI’s third Executive Director.
Announcing Scott
Marlow, Executive
Director

21. Board of Directors
Archie Hart, President
Special Assistant to the NC Commissioner of
Agriculture, Knightdale, N.C.
Alex Hitt, Vice President
Farmer, Peregrine Farms, Graham, N.C.
Randi Ilyse Roth, Treasurer
Attorney at law, St. Paul, M.N.
Alton Thompson
Provost, Delaware State University, Summerfield,
N.C.
Mary Hendrickson
Director, Food Circles Networking Project; Associate
Director, Community Food Systems and Sustainable
Ariculture Program and University of Missouri
Extension; Associate Professor, Rural Sociology,
University of Missouri, Columbia, M.O.
Tom Trantham
Farmer, 12 Aprils Dairy & Happy Cow Creamery,
Pelzer, S.C.
RAFI staff at work: (clockwise from left) Claire Hermann at a Come to the Table Conference work day; Julius
Tillery, Joe Schroeder, and Francesca Hyatt advising farmers on distaster assistance programs; Sarah Gibson
returning from a farm visit; Becky Ceartas speaking on a Farm Aid panel.

22. MAILING ADDRESS
P.O. Box 640
Pittsboro, NC 27312
STREET ADDRESS
274 Pittsboro Elementary School Rd.
Pittsboro, NC 27312
Phone: (919) 542-1396
Fax: (919) 542-0069
Email: communicator@rafiusa.org
Website: www.rafiusa.org
RAFI cultivates
market,
policies and
opportunities
that support
thriving,
socially just,
environmentally
sound family
farms.