NFFC | 27 November 2012
The National Family Farm Coalition is excited to announce the launch of its new Land Monitor site, an online hub for documenting on-the-ground stories of farmland grabs. Since the housing crash of 2008, farmland has become the next big ticket item for financial exploitation by intermediaries like pension funds, hedge funds, and investment bankers. Through the Land Monitor, we seek to use the wealth of family farmer knowledge (and the help of their allies) to elevate the trend of land grabbing in the U.S., generate concrete evidence around the methods, contracts, and companies involved, and build small farmer resilience against loss of land to financial intermediaries. The only way to combat land grabs is by raising family farmers’ voices!
The need to document land grabs is becoming alarmingly necessary as agribusiness and financial institutions escalate the rush to purchase farmland and capitalize on high land, commodity, and crop prices. Within the past 6 months, the financial powerhouse, TIAA-CREF, has invested $2 billion in U.S. farmland and vows more investments as water and farmable land becomes scarcer. Meanwhile, very little is known about the downstream impacts of these investments and additional information is obscured by the investors.
Adding Your Information:
To add any information to the site, such as newspaper clippings, an anecdote about land grabs near you, foreclosure documents, etc., simply click on “Stories,” click the "Add a Story" button in the upper left corner, and select the format you would like to use (it can be a video, document, or just a quick note). It will prompt you to create a PlaceStories account and, after entering your information, will return you to the “Stories” page.
Important: Please note that as the site is a public forum and anyone can both post and view information. If you would like to post information anonymously, please email your story and documents to the site moderator at [email protected] and it will be posted by NFFC.
Otherwise, please join our community! Create a PlaceStories account for yourself or your organization and help us spread the word on land grabbing! We will continue to update folks as this project evolves and grow.
Questions/Feedback:
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Ariana de Leña with the National Family Farm Coalition at [email protected] or (202) 543 – 5675.
Funding for the Land Monitor is provided by the Institute for Emerging Issues’ Rural Digital Advocacy Grants.
The National Family Farm Coalition is excited to announce the launch of its new Land Monitor site, an online hub for documenting on-the-ground stories of farmland grabs. Since the housing crash of 2008, farmland has become the next big ticket item for financial exploitation by intermediaries like pension funds, hedge funds, and investment bankers. Through the Land Monitor, we seek to use the wealth of family farmer knowledge (and the help of their allies) to elevate the trend of land grabbing in the U.S., generate concrete evidence around the methods, contracts, and companies involved, and build small farmer resilience against loss of land to financial intermediaries. The only way to combat land grabs is by raising family farmers’ voices!
The need to document land grabs is becoming alarmingly necessary as agribusiness and financial institutions escalate the rush to purchase farmland and capitalize on high land, commodity, and crop prices. Within the past 6 months, the financial powerhouse, TIAA-CREF, has invested $2 billion in U.S. farmland and vows more investments as water and farmable land becomes scarcer. Meanwhile, very little is known about the downstream impacts of these investments and additional information is obscured by the investors.
Adding Your Information:
To add any information to the site, such as newspaper clippings, an anecdote about land grabs near you, foreclosure documents, etc., simply click on “Stories,” click the "Add a Story" button in the upper left corner, and select the format you would like to use (it can be a video, document, or just a quick note). It will prompt you to create a PlaceStories account and, after entering your information, will return you to the “Stories” page.
Important: Please note that as the site is a public forum and anyone can both post and view information. If you would like to post information anonymously, please email your story and documents to the site moderator at [email protected] and it will be posted by NFFC.
Otherwise, please join our community! Create a PlaceStories account for yourself or your organization and help us spread the word on land grabbing! We will continue to update folks as this project evolves and grow.
Questions/Feedback:
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Ariana de Leña with the National Family Farm Coalition at [email protected] or (202) 543 – 5675.
Funding for the Land Monitor is provided by the Institute for Emerging Issues’ Rural Digital Advocacy Grants.
