Education
Lyons College: Degree in Mechanical and Architectural Graphics
State Director, Federation of Southern Cooperatives//Land Assistance Fund
Quinby, South Carolina
Leon Crump was born the son of a sharecropper in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, where he first experienced farming. Leon is presently serving as the State Director for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund in South Carolina. There, he has assisted farmers and landowners in the areas of economic development and social justice. He works closely with state and county FSA offices in supplying debt-restructuring services to FSA borrowers and farmers. He serves as a mediator between the farmer and FSA, and when necessary, with other lenders (such as banks). FSC/LAF is instrumental in the development of self-supporting communities with programs that increase income, enhance other opportunities and assist in land retention and development for all family farmers. FSC/LAF has taken an active role in poor areas across the South through education and outreach strategies that support low-income people in molding their communities to become more humane and livable. FSC/LAF also assists in the development of cooperatives and credit unions as a collective strategy to create economic self-sufficiency. Leon serves on the Executive Committee of the National Family Farm Coalition and is a member of he South Carolina Outreach Council. He conducted a weekly farm news segment, The Friday Farm Report, on WBTW TV 13, a CBS affiliate, that broadcasted to a viewing audience of more than 500,000 people. He operates a small vegetable farm in Florence, South Carolina, and has started experimenting with organics, hydroponics and aquaculture.
