When Small Farmers Go to Washington
Most small farmers never get a seat at the table in Washington DC. We did — twice. Greg and Carole Lolley of Mayim Farm in Crenshaw County, Alabama traveled to the nation’s capital to do what farmers do best: tell the truth about what life looks like on the ground in rural America, and advocate for the people and programs that matter most to our communities.
Both trips were sponsored by Bread for the World, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger whose advocacy work connects farmers, faith communities, and legislators around the shared goal of food security for all Americans. We are grateful for their partnership and for opening doors that most small farmers never get to walk through.
Trip One: Advocating for GusNIP
Our first trip to DC was focused on advocating for the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program — GusNIP — a federal initiative that doubles the purchasing power of SNAP recipients when they buy fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables. For small farmers like us operating in USDA-designated food deserts, GusNIP isn’t just a policy acronym. It is a direct lifeline connecting our harvests to the families in our community who need them most.
We met with the offices of our Alabama congressional delegation including Katie Boyd Britt, Barry Moore, Shomari Figures, Tommy Tuberville, and others. We brought with us the real stories of rural Alabama — the diet-related health crises, the food access gaps, the small farmers who want to serve their communities but need functioning market structures to do it. These are not stories that often make it into those rooms. We made sure they did.
Trip Two: Defending SNAP and GusNIP
Our second trip to Washington came as SNAP benefits faced serious proposed cuts that would have stripped food assistance from millions of low-income Americans — including many in rural Alabama. We returned to Congress to make the case again: that SNAP is not just a nutrition program, it is an economic engine for small farms and local food systems. When SNAP participants can afford to buy fresh produce at local farmers markets, small farmers win. When SNAP is cut, rural communities pay the price twice — once at the kitchen table and once at the farm gate.
We again advocated for GusNIP’s continued funding and for the elimination of the matching fund requirements that make it nearly impossible for under-resourced rural organizations to participate in the program. In persistent poverty counties like ours, a dollar-for-dollar match requirement is not a barrier — it is a wall.
Why This Work Matters
When two farmers from Opp, Alabama walk into a Senate office and speak plainly about what food insecurity looks like in Crenshaw County — about the diabetes rates, the empty produce sections, the families choosing between utilities and vegetables — something shifts. That is the power of direct advocacy. Policy is made by people, and people are moved by stories.
We believe small farmers have a responsibility to use whatever platform we are given to speak up for our communities, our land, and the food systems that sustain both. Going to Washington was not glamorous. It was work — the same kind of work we do every day on the farm. But it mattered, and we will keep going back as long as the doors stay open.
Follow our Washington DC - Advocacy journey at #lolleylobbyist and #mayimfarm.