Photo courtesy of the FSC/LAF Black farmer archives

When we think about our nation’s food and farms, we might not automatically think of social and racial justice. But we should. 

In 1910, Black farmers accounted for 14 percent of all farmers in the United States. Today, they represent just over one percent. Altogether, Black farmers have lost more than 80 percent of their farmland, thanks to nearly a century of discriminatory US Department of Agriculture lending policies and the forced sale of co-owned land known as heirs’ property. 

A deep examination of our nation’s food and farming policies is a critical component of advancing racial and social equity in the United States. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the US Farm Bill, which is overdue for reauthorization after Congress allowed it to expire last year. The Farm Bill is a sprawling omnibus bill that dictates policy and funding for agriculture support programs, food assistance programs, conservation, and a myriad of other issues that affect how we grow and consume food. 

“Too few Americans know of the historic role that Black farmers and Black farm cooperatives played in the great racial justice movements of the twentieth century. Even fewer understand how important agricultural policy remains for increasing racial equity in areas such as food access, environmental justice, and racial disparities in generational wealth,” says Sara Clarke Kaplan, executive director of American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center. “The seemingly race-neutral policies in the Farm Bill can turn us toward greater racial justice or away from it.” 

Climate Justice = Racial Justice = Food Justice = Farm Justice

Photo courtesy of the FSC/LAF's archives of Black farmer advocacy.

To support education and advocacy efforts around the Farm Bill, American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center (ARPC) has teamed up with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (FSC/LAF) to produce the Pointing the Farm Bill toward Racial Justice: Farm Bill Toolkit 2024.

The toolkit, released this week to the public, begins by explaining the importance of the bill’s provisions to farmers of color, analyzing the bill’s limitations, and breaking it down into clear, easily understood, and actionable concepts—all through the lens of racial and social justice. Finally, it provides direction on ways to advance equity across the bill’s 12 titles (including conservation, credit, and rural development), before suggesting more profound restructuring of the bill that could occur in a future legislative cycle. 

The toolkit is designed to spur dialogue, analysis, collaboration, and advocacy. Its creators hope it will become a useful resource for policymakers and advocates, organizers, educators, and farmers themselves, bringing together communities working for racial equity, climate justice, and rural sustainability. 

Grassroots in Action

Participants discuss farming, food, and equity issues at Farm Bill Summit. Photo by Austin Price

The toolkit grew out of two years of listening sessions held with farmers of color by the federation and then a three-day national Farm Bill Summit to advance this work. The April 30 - May 2, 2023, summit was held at American University’s Airlie Farm in Warrenton, VA, and organized by AU’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center; AU’s Center for Environment, Community, and Equity; the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund; and the Berkeley Food Institute, in collaboration with additional grassroots leaders from Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, Rural Coalition, and others.

“The summit and resulting toolkit represent a unique partnership between university scholars and community partners, based in the ethics of reciprocity and mutual respect, and forged from the trusting relationships that ARPC faculty affiliate Professor Garrett Graddy-Lovelace (AU School of International Service) has built with the federation and other partners over more than a decade of collaborative research,” says ARPC Associate Director Justine Williams. 

At the summit, participants examined how the Farm Bill impacts farmers, farmworkers, landowners, cooperatives, and the public at large. They also analyzed climate justice, food system resilience, fair prices, food sovereignty, trade, land tenure, credit, and farm labor rights. The summit culminated with a historic visit of farmers and advocates to Capitol Hill, marking the largest convergence of federation members in DC for a lobbying event since the 1992 Caravan for Black Farmers, which led to the watershed Pigford v. Glickman settlements. 

"Historically, as a federation and community, we haven’t adequately seen ourselves as full participants in research; we are usually being researched by others rather than acting as the researchers,” says Cornelius Blanding, executive director of the FSC/LAF. “This collaboration is an important step toward centering our members' lived experiences and expertise in education and advocacy."

Looking Ahead

Summit organizing team, which included members of ARPC, CECE, the FSC/LAF, and BFI. Photo by Austin Price

The Farm Bill, which was most recently reauthorized in 2018, was set to expire last September before a bipartisan Congress extended it for one year. Now, ARPC is hopeful that the upcoming reauthorization will be an opportunity for policymakers to consider the unintended racialized consequences of the Farm Bill’s current policies. 

But even more importantly, Kaplan says, “Our hope is that resources like this toolkit will help change the national conversation about racial justice in agriculture in ways that transform future Farm Bills for years to come.”  

For More Information

Looking ahead, ARPC is continuing to work with the federation to build an online hub for information on racial justice in the Farm Bill. They are exploring research collaborations to amplify BIPOC farmers' voices in work toward agricultural sustainability. For more information, read Pointing the Farm Bill toward Racial Justice: Farm Bill Toolkit 2024 and look for updates on the ARPC website.