BFI News
The “Pointing the Farm Bill Toward Racial Justice” Toolkit
With support from BFI, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund and American University’s Antiracist Research & Policy Center have published a multimedia guide for engaging with the US Farm Bill.
Last spring, from April 30 to May 2, 2023, a group of farmers, policy experts, and food systems advocates — including BFI staff and five UC Berkeley graduate students — convened at the historic Airlie Farm outside of Washington DC. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss the US Farm Bill in the context of racial justice.
The Farm Bill is a package of legislation that covers programs like SNAP, crop insurance, working lands conservation, and most other aspects of how food is grown and distributed in the US. The omnibus bill is typically reauthorized every five years, though the current Farm Bill reauthorization process has been extended past its deadline.
Co-organized by the Berkeley Food Institute, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (FSC/LAF), and American University’s Antiracist Research & Policy Center and Center for Environment, Community, and Equity, the 2023 “Pointing the Farm Toward Racial Justice” summit built on two previous Farm Bill summits hosted by BFI and American University, while focusing the current Farm Bill reauthorization process on issues of equity and racial justice.
Through a series of panel and keynote sessions, policy experts, advocates, and farmers walked us through each of the Farm Bill’s twelve titles and discussed ways to engage with policy. We heard from Dãnia Davy, a lawyer with FSC/LAF, discuss the issue of heirs property and Black farmer land loss. Dr. Jasmine Jackson of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance and Susuyu Lassa from Soul Fire Farm dissected the term “socially disadvantaged.” Mily Treviño-Sauceda of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas shared her experiences mobilizing women farmworkers to engage with policymaking. Dr. Gail Christopher put the Farm Bill in the context of racial healing. “The burden of disease that this country bears is a consequence of both racism and a fractured, broken food system, and our work is to transform both,” said Dr. Christopher in the summit’s opening session.
Dr. Gail Christopher speaks on racial healing at the 2023 Farm Bill Summit at Airlie Farm. Photos by Austin Price
FSC/LAF’s Dãnia Davy leads a discussion with Dr. Jasmine Jackson of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance and Susuyu Lassa from Soul Fire Farm on racial equity terms in the Farm Bill.
Summit attendees traveled to Washington DC to hold a congressional briefing at the Russell Senate Office Building.
April S. Love of the Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher Policy Research Center at Alcorn State University speaks during the congressional briefing.
After two days at Airlie Farm, the summit organizers and many of the attendees held a briefing at the Russell Senate Office Building. Most of the attendees at the summit and briefing represented farmers from the South — members of FSC/LAF. Dãnia Davy reminded our team that the last time this many farmers from the Federation convened in DC was the momentous 1992 “Caravan to Washington” led by Black farmers and supporters, which catalyzed the Pigford v. Glickman class action lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture for racial discrimination.
As the Farm Bill reauthorization continues into 2024, FSC/LAF and the Antiracist Research & Policy Center have created a multimedia toolkit to serve as an “educational tool for farmers and landowners of color, racial justice advocates, and policymakers” to engage with the Farm Bill. BFI’s Communications Coordinator Austin Price and former Policy Director Sakeenah Shabazz contributed to the toolkit’s production.