Sustainable Economies Law Center - Refugee Farmer Project

Over the past year, SELC has been researching the employment law barriers to cooperative enterprise and family farming. Over 1300 Hmong and Lao family farms operate in and around Fresno. Many of them face costly fines due primarily to the involvement of family members in farm work, and due to cooperative labor exchanges among farmers (old fashioned "barnraising").

From now until May, SELC has a wonderful team of four Berkeley Law students who are: 1) Developing instructional materials and videos for farmers, 2) Developing sample partnership agreements and other legal documents for farmers to use in overcoming certain legal barriers, 3) Researching the legal arguments that may be helpful to farmers, and 4) Developing educational materials for the public and policy-makers. SELC needs to raise $4000 to fund our travel to Fresno in coming months, which includes a presentation at the National Hmong American Farmers Conference, and to support the translation of educational videos in the Hmong language. Please consider making a tax-deductible financial gift to support this ongoing project!