3/3/2026
Written by K. Johnson, MDes
There are moments in this work when the scale of what we're up against becomes impossible to ignore.
And then there are moments that remind you that none of us are carrying it alone.
In February, I traveled to Capitol Hill with the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) to advocate for policies that support equitable access to farmland and strengthen the future of family farming. As an integrative designer working at the intersection of land, food systems, and community, much of my work happens through listening, relationship-building, systems mapping, and helping communities imagine new possibilities together. This experience placed me in a different kind of design space—one where farmers, advocates, and organizers were collectively shaping the policies that influence who has access to land and who does not.
Throughout the week, I met with legislative offices representing Michigan, Georgia, and states across the East Coast. Together, we discussed policies including the Farmland for Farmers Act, the New Producer Economic Security Act, and legislation addressing heirs' property. While each proposal approaches a different challenge, they share a common purpose: creating pathways for farmers to access, retain, and steward land in a time when ownership is becoming increasingly concentrated.
What stayed with me most, however, was not the legislation itself. It was the people. It’s always about people + environment.
Being alongside members of the National Family Farm Coalition offered a powerful reminder of what collective action looks like in practice. This is a community carrying generations of knowledge about land, advocacy, stewardship, and repair. Their work is rooted in lived experience and sustained commitment. The conversations I witnessed reflected a deep understanding that the challenges facing farmland today are connected to broader questions of housing, wealth, community stability, and self-determination.
Farmland loss, heirs' property issues, and corporate land acquisition are not isolated concerns. They are part of a larger pattern that continues to separate people from the resources they need to thrive. Naming these connections matters because it helps us see that the work of land justice is about more than acreage. It is about belonging, opportunity, and the ability of communities to shape their own futures.
This experience also reinforced something I have come to believe through my design practice: design does not sit outside movements for change. It lives within them.
Design shows up in how we convene people, how we build trust across differences, how we make sense of complex systems, and how we create pathways toward futures that are more just and life-giving. The most meaningful change rarely comes from a single solution. It emerges through relationships, shared learning, collective imagination, and sustained action over time.
I left Capitol Hill with a deeper appreciation for the people doing this work every day and a renewed commitment to designing alongside communities working to keep land in the hands of those who care for it.
The future of our food systems, our communities, and our collective well-being depends on it.
Land justice requires all of us.
Learn more about the policies shaping the future of farmland access:
Stay connected to the work of Agrarian Trust and the National Family Farm Coalition. Share these resources, engage with your elected representatives, and support efforts that protect farmland, strengthen local communities, and expand access to land for future generations.
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