{"id":56541,"date":"2022-12-21T10:19:39","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T15:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sustainableagriculture.net\/?p=56541"},"modified":"2022-12-23T15:11:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T20:11:31","slug":"nsacs-2023-farm-bill-platform-advancing-racial-equity-across-the-food-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainableagriculture.net\/blog\/nsacs-2023-farm-bill-platform-advancing-racial-equity-across-the-food-system\/","title":{"rendered":"NSAC\u2019s 2023 Farm Bill Platform: Advancing Racial Equity Across the Food System"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo credit: USDA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s Note: This is the fifth post in our series covering key pillars of NSAC\u2019s 2023 Farm Bill Platform. The series begins <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.  You can read the platform and take action to endorse it <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longstanding structural and institutional racism<\/a> has excluded black, Indigenous and people of color, (BIPOC) from fair access to land, financial resources, information, political standing, and educational and professional opportunities. During the last several years, Congress has passed, and the USDA has implemented numerous policies and initiatives designed to repair harms and prevent future discrimination. For example, the USDA has launched an Equity Commission<\/a>, part of the USDA\u2019s Equity Action Plan<\/a>, in part to determine how the Department and its programs may \u201cexacerbate or perpetuate racial, economic, health and social disparities.\u201d Congress has also recently passed initiatives in the Inflation Reduction Act<\/em><\/a> (PL 117\u2013169) to provide debt relief to distressed borrowers of USDA loans and to provide financial assistance to farmers and ranchers who have experienced discrimination. While these initiatives, among others, must continue and should remain unhindered by the Farm Bill reauthorization, there is more work to do to ensure a just food and farm system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Congress begins the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization, it must build on these recent accomplishments by crafting a farm bill that advances racial equity by improving access<\/strong> to USDA funding and programs for underserved individuals and communities, and particularly farmers of color; increasing funding<\/strong> for programs and policies that support underserved communities and particularly farmers of color; and strengthening data<\/strong> collection, analysis, reporting, and transparency to inform racial equity-driven decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improve farmers of color\u2019s access to USDA funding and programs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the 2023 Farm Bill to adequately address racial equity in agriculture and food policy, the bill must include provisions to improve access to USDA funding and programs for farmers of color. Historically, farmers of color have often received and benefitted far less<\/a> from government agriculture programs compared to white farmers for a variety of reasons. In some cases, USDA outreach did not adequately reach farmers of colors or their communities, resulting in limited knowledge of and engagement in USDA program opportunities. Other farmers of color may have had fewer resources, limiting their capacity to apply for and obtain support from USDA programs. Further still, many farmers of color faced explicit discrimination by USDA<\/a>, often being excluded from the programs that would have supported their operations. The Pigford<\/em> cases<\/a> famously brought to light the discrimination that farmers of color experienced at the hands of USDA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has since recognized such discrimination, saying in a statement to the House Agriculture Committee in 2021<\/a> that, \u201cthe systemic racism and discrimination perpetuated against Black Farmers, and the history of discrimination against Black Farmers by USDA [has] prevented numerous African-Americans, among other people of color, from fully realizing the same level of prosperity and success as their white counterparts.\u201d Yet while Secretary Vilsack and the agency have vowed to address these harms, many farmers who were included in the Pigford<\/em> lawsuits in the late 1990s have yet to see any benefits returned to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these barriers has impacted the level of engagement and inclusion of farmers of color in USDA programs. The 2023 Farm Bill is an opportunity to address these barriers and improve equitable access to USDA funding opportunities and programs. NSAC\u2019s 2023 Farm Bill Platform includes a number of suggestions to do so, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n