Support for Justice for Black Farmers Act
November 19, 2020
As members of both National Co+op Grocers and the National Organic Coalition, PCC endorsed the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020, introduced by Senators Booker (D-NJ), Warren (D-MA), and Gillibrand (D-NY).
In the United States, there is a long-documented history of government discrimination against Black farmers, which has contributed to a significant loss of land ownership and the ability to build and pass on generational wealth. It has also resulted in a predominantly white-controlled agricultural industry, with fewer than 50,000 remaining Black farmers, compared to the nearly 1 million in 1920. The unjust policies of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), such as exclusion from federal farm assistance and lending, are heavily responsible for the much of the discrimination Black farmers have faced.
The Justice for Black Farmers Act proposes a meaningful framework of reforms and programs within the USDA to end discrimination from the agency, protect remaining Black farmers from losing their land, provide land grants to create a new generation of Black farmers, and establish avenues to rebuild the lost land base for Black farmers.
To read more about this important legislation, visit Senator Booker’s Press Release page.