The MYFC was started was because many young and beginning farmers need:

1. Access to Land:
• land that is affordable
• land located in a place where the farmer can be a part of some kind of community (farming/otherwise)
• healthy, or able to undergo remediation
2. Financial Support
• Communities that support and encourage local agriculture
• Help with debt/credit/financing to get started
• Support in maintaining good/sustainable business practices
3. Business Support
• Help with learning the business side of the trade
• To develop appropriate partnerships with other farmers, local gardens, clients, communities, etc.
4. Network & Community
• A network of other folks in the same/similar situation
• A forum for voicing ideas, concerns, and need for collaboration
• A way to promote and celebrate projects and successes of young & beginning farmers

Other goals of the MYFC:

1. To create and/or facilitate the creation of affordable or free programs that allow young people to enter farming as a viable profession (training, space, network, mentorship, etc.)
Related Project: HAVEN
Related Project: Young Farmer Focus Group
2. Build/facilitate the development programs that build leadership & organizing (community-development) skills among young & beginning farmers as a way for us to take responsibility for building awareness and momentum for support in our own communities across Michigan.

We feel that if we could help 2 young farmers in each regional hub learn how to do (or develop existing skills in) organizing their communities, we would greatly impact our own network of young and beginning farmers as well as the people and communities in which we live and work.

Related Project: Roots of Radical Change Exchange