Approximately half of North
Carolina counties make ˝ the national median income and many of those county’s residents
make use of food banks, soup kitchens, food pantries, and mobile soup
kitchens. Meanwhile land owning farmers
who seem to have a lot of assets, are in the same boat as poor families whom
hunger organizations serve. Farmers may
have valuable assets, but because of declining prices, excessive debt loads,
increases in property taxes, loss of income from tobacco, development pressures
on farming operations, the need to accept an alternative farming paradigm, and
transfer of farms to a younger generation of farmers who aren't interested in
working for minimal wages, they are in fact poor.
Various
financial mechanisms exist, such as buying clubs and revolving loan funds, to
facilitate complex purchases for congregations who desire to help poor local farms
while supporting those who are most in need of food. Congregation Supported
Agriculture (CoSA) is a prototype of such a mechanism for local/regional
inter-faith communities to participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
- a direct contract relationship with farm community members - while also
supporting those who are most in need of food.
CoSA is conceived for Food-Faith-Farms stakeholders and for
community sustainable development by the Leaflight, Inc. We
envision CoSA as developing into a full-fledged Food-Faith-Farms international
program over the many years to come. We
seek interested graduate students, PhD candidates, and post doctorate students
who will work to educate, increase awareness, and ultimately sustain CoSA
through participation as Community Health program planners, educators, and
researchers for this focus area.
Students may also further expand existing Food-Faith-Farms projects such
as Food Stamps at North Carolina Farmers’ Markets.
Interested applicants may submit their
resume and cover letter, or request additional information about the position
by email to Click to email me
by fax 702 995 8861 or by phone 919 619
8119
The
Leaflight is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
WOMEN AND MINORITIES ARE
ENCOURAGED TO APPLY