Save Ilokano Family Farm

Save Ilokano Family Farm USDA, investigate the Orosi Public Utilities District! Ilokano Farms is a 20 acre farm situated in the rural community of Orosi, Tulare County.

It's agricultural storage building and pump shed are solar-powered, and its water comes from its deeply-dug well and its irrigation water from the Alta Irrigation District. HISTORY

Orosi, the last remaining Filipino Farming Community in the United States, sits at the foothills of the Sierra Mountains with a clear view of Mount Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an e

levation of 14505 feet. The majority of Orosi's Filipino residents are Ilokanos from the northern province of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. They come mostly from remote rural villages where farming has been a way of life for thousands of years. Most immigrated directly from the Philippines are by way of Hawai'i. Many work on their own farms or on the farms of other Filipinos. Those who are landless farmers and referred to as farmworkers often times work for agribusiness or in low-wage jobs in surrounding towns. The community is predominantly low-income immigrant and people-of-color, rich in it's people and cultures of Mexico/Central America, the Philippines, China, Japan, the Middle East. STRUGGLE

The legal battle between this small town's only municipality and Ilokano Farms goes back to 2001 when 88 sewer assessment liens were placed against the farmland. Since then Ilokano Farms has survived three-3 foreclosures. On December 28, 2011, the Orosi Public Utility District proceeded with its fourth foreclosure action against Ilokano Farms. It has a year from this date to redeem the farm. These serial-foreclosures has kept Ilokano Farms embattled. We DEMAND the United States Department of Agriculture:
1) Investigate how the Orosi Public Utility District uses USDA funds;
2) Protect small farms from real estate development pressures that want to turn Ilokano Farms into an 88-housing subdivision
3) Examine the district's pattern of discrimination towards her and the residents of Orosi, which are predominantly non-english speaking people of color.

05/01/2013

Thank you all for calling in today - we filled USDA Secretary Vilsack's message box and got our message over that Filipino Farmers are facing serious challenges which needs the USDA's immediate attention.

Last Wednesday, Mary Jane paid $10,622 to the Orosi Public Utilities District (OPUD) for water capacity that she doesn't...
04/02/2013

Last Wednesday, Mary Jane paid $10,622 to the Orosi Public Utilities District (OPUD) for water capacity that she doesn't want and will never use. Thousands of dollars that should have been used to grow FOOD. We're hearing more and more stories from folks in Orosi about avoiding foreclosure and struggling against paying unjust and confusing fees from OPUD. When will this injustice end?

What can you do today to help spread the story and get the attention the USDA to investigate OPUD?

Share our petition!
http://www.change.org/petitions/usda-protect-family-farms

Ilokano Family Farm, owned by Mary Jane Galviso, a Filipino-American, is located in Orosi, Tulare County, California. Today, Orosi is the Last...

02/08/2012

The small town of Orosi located in Northern Tulare County in the California Central Valley is now the Last Remaining Filipino Farming Community in the U.S. I am Mary Jane Galviso, the owner of Ilokano Farms. Our rural community is in crisis because each year we see fewer Filipino farmers continue to farm. There are many reasons for the loss of Filipino farms. Our older generation is getting too old to continue the daily physical labor of farming. And our younger generation have their eyes not on farming, but employment in the big cities and surrounding towns. We need help to re-establish the link between Filipinos in the urban areas and those of us who live in the rural communities.

12/03/2011

Address

Orosi, CA

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