Scholarship for New BIPOC Farmers Joining TFM

Due to generous community backing of the Texas Farmers’ Market (TFM) Ag Producer Support Fund, TFM is expanding the fund to include a scholarship for new Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) farmers who would like to become vendors at our farmers’ markets. Through this scholarship, TFM recognizes the institutional barriers that farmers of color have endured for centuries, from access to credit, land and resources, as well as discriminatory practices at the USDA (source), and is working to do our part in expanding access to sales channels for BIPOC farmers.

TFM understands that for some farmers the initial costs of starting at a market is too large of a burden when trying to get their business off the ground and this scholarship hopes to provide financial support in reducing barriers for BIPOC farmers at the market level. The $1,350 scholarship will cover the initial annual fee for agricultural producers joining TFM and 6 months of booth fees. All sustainable fruit and vegetable farmers that self-identify as BIPOC and are located within 150 miles of Austin are encouraged to apply. Read our official press release here.

If you are interested in learning more or applying for the grant, please send an email to info@texasfarmersmarket.org with the subject line BIPOC Scholarship and include the following information: name(s) of owners, phone number, email, a brief summary of how you got into farming, how many years your farm has been operating and which of the following describes the primary owner of the business (Ownership refers to the equity, interest, or stock of the business.)