Peb Lub Neej Women’s Food & Medicinal Sovereignty Cooperative - Seeds of Care

Background

Hmong and Southeast Asian farmers are among those most deeply impacted by the federal government’s invasion of Minnesota. These farmers are not only food producers but economic anchors for their families and communities. When a family member is detained or deported, farm operations are destabilized overnight—income is lost, labor is disrupted, and remaining family members must shoulder legal fees, detention costs, caregiving responsibilities, and basic household expenses with fewer resources.

We know that by the time planting season arrives in MN, many immigrant and refugee farmers and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities will withdraw from public life. Out of concern for their safety, some will avoid traveling to their farms, participating or shopping at local farmers’ markets, or putting in the long hours needed on remote farms. Any place that lacks secure facilities for our community members to retreat from federal agents will be unsafe. This fear-driven withdrawal leads to lost income, community hunger and food waste, and increased risk of land loss at the very moment families need stability most. Supporting farmers who are afraid to show up visibly in public spaces is a necessary harm-reduction strategy that helps families remain housed, continue farming, and survive periods of forced separation with dignity.

Without targeted investment and protection, these farms risk collapse—compounding economic harm across generations and eroding culturally rooted food systems that have sustained BIPOC communities for decades. We have seen this play out before in American history: when BIPOC communities have built some measure of stability or wealth, it is ripped out from underneath them through acts of kidnapping, internment, displacement, intimidation, and outright violence. Supporting Hmong and Southeast Asian farmers is not charity; it is a just and critical intervention to preserve family stability, community resilience, and local food access during this crisis, and safeguarding Minnesota’s food system as a whole.

Our Community-Based and Community-Driven Action: Seeds of Care Program

Anticipating the federal invasion and continuing the evolution of our mutual aid work, our farmer-led cooperative named Peb Lub Neej Women’s Food and Medicinal Sovereignty Cooperative was launched in 2026. This new co-op reduces risk and generates income for Southeast Asian farmers. Co-op members engage in culturally responsive small business programming, as well as, have access to shared value-added processing equipment that allow them to prevent spoilage, diversify product offering, and keep their families fed during the off-season. Within the first quarter of 2026, we have acquired for the co-op’s use: flash chillers for safely preparing and selling ready-to-eat and prepped meals, freeze dryers for producing shelf-stable products, and essential oil distillers that allow farmers to process easy-to-grow herbs into high-value products. By removing the steep cost of equipment acquisition and sharing infrastructure, farmers will be able to diversify income, work collectively, and maintain livelihoods even during periods of fear and disruption

Our deep relationships with Hmong and other BIPOC farmers, communities, and organizations will ensure that our solutions and the co-op will be embraced and successfully meet this moment of crisis. Farmers already know us because of the advocacy and technical assistance we provide; the healing gatherings we convene; and the value chain coordination we conduct. Organizations know us because of the local, fresh, nutritionally dense, and culturally significant produce that we make accessible to clients and community members. We are Southeast Asian farmers feeding BIPOC communities leveraging 1000+ years of agricultural skills and mutual aid culture.

Our Collective Ask

We ask that foundations, donors, and other organizations support our the Seeds of Care Program:

Put in place forward contracts with 10 farmers for the 2026 growing season;
Rent kitchen and storage space for value added production to prepare and preserve food;
Coordinate volunteers to help safeguard farmers by reducing their time in the fields, in transport, at markets, and to get food to vulnerable community members; and
Conduct training and healing convenings for our farmers and volunteers that will promote solidarity and educate them on evolving safety protocols.

Sustaining Farmers, Healing Communities

By Peb Lub Neej Women's Food Sovereignty and Healing Cooperative

Sustaining Farmers, Healing Communities

Team Members