A policy update from Karen Nordstrom, Policy Program Co-Director, Food Solutions New England
We have been preoccupied with the question: What would it look like if the farm bill served as a tool to transform rather than fix our food system?
At Food Solutions New England (FSNE), we seek true solutions that inspire innovation in the farm bill en route to a climate resilient food system for New England. We advocate for moving towards a holistic, cross-sectional approach to addressing root causes. We aim to mobilize the power of our large network to proactively engage in collective and cooperative action for a Just Transition. For this reason, we have reviewed and synthesized federal farm bill policies, platforms, priorities and calls to action that align with the New England Food Vision and values.
Through our synthesis, we find an escalating call for climate resilience in the upcoming farm bill, alongside calls for visionary and values-oriented political action. As gleaned from the words of Eric Holt-Gimenez and Annie Shattck in Food Regimes and Food Movements: Rumblings of Reform or Tides of Transformation?, this type of visionary and systemic reform will emerge not from a singular policy platform, but through the weaving of the “many transformations, in which policy changes, struggles, and networks that should be aligned, are not always aligned.”
To note, the following policies, platforms, priorities, and calls to action synthesized here are not, by any means, comprehensive. We provide this write up as a resource to help orient folks to some of the work taking place around the farm bill as seen through the FSNE lens. As for the best ways to support these campaigns, follow the links and plug in. We’ll do our best to lift up opportunities as they arise. And, of course, if you have any input or want to talk about anything, please reach out.
The 2023 Farm Bill
The stakes are high in the farm bill for agriculture and food security in the United States. Farmers and climate and food systems activists alike are motivated by a sense of urgency to enact comprehensive reforms to mitigate the impacts of climate change and build a future steeped in climate resilience. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) helps to set the stage by promoting true solutions for agriculture and climate change with the aspirational goal of forging “new thinking” and “a new direction” as we “face the existential threat of the climate crisis.” The call to action toward this visionary aim demands public support and investment in farm bill policy solutions that will move us away from false solutions – short-term policies that protect the corporate bottom line, drives overproduction and low farm incomes, and ignores climate change – and turn us toward true solutions – a new policy direction that prioritizes climate resilience, frontline communities, and is grounded in a Just Transition.
To this end, there have been a range of policies introduced by think-tanks, advocacy organizations, and others as detailed below.
Pursuing Climate Resilience in the Upcoming Farm Bill
Advocating for climate resilience in the 2023 farm bill are numerous national farming and food coalitions that bring together priorities around soil health and racial equity in pursuit of a Just Transition to local and regional food systems. Kiss the Ground (KTG) launched the Regenerate America campaign in 2021 to use its advocacy muscle to affect change in the national farm bill. The coalition advocates for resources and support “to construct a just pathway for farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture while building a permanent source of funding for regenerative agriculture within the farm bill.” The campaign positions healthy soil, which is central to the platform’s six priorities, as the foundation of American resilience and prosperity, and warns that the loss of healthy soils is an agricultural and economic threat.
The HEAL Food Alliance 2023 Farm Bill Priorities puts forth five Farm Bill Priorities, one of which centers on the broad goal of Ensuring the Survival of Ecosystems and our Planet.This platform closely aligns with Action Network’s demands for climate action that will lead to a more equitable, climate-resilient, and community-based food system. Action Network points to policy priorities put forth by the seven sister chapters that make up the Interstate Policy Council of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA). NOFA’s six Farm Bill Principles contain two that point to ecological sustainability. They promote a Just Transition “for farmers who have been coerced into the chemical-GMO-CAFO treadmill,” pointing to investments in agroecological practices as a core solution to the climate crisis. Incentives to transition farming operations to agroecological systems would further bolster local and regional markets, building resilience along the food supply chain. In demanding climate action, they support Marker Bills associated with Protecting Farms from PFAS, including S.747 – Relief for Farmers Hit With PFAS Act; Support for Organic Dairy, building on the Milk from Family Dairies Act developed by the National Family Farm Coalition; and H.R.1080 – The Fairness for Farm Workers Act. These principles, priorities, and the marker bills that bring forth policy ideas, legislative text, and serve as building blocks to the omnibus farm bill, are aligned with the solutions-oriented aspirational policy that was re- introduced to Congress by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M). The Agriculture Resilience Act aims to give farmers and ranchers the resources they need to build healthy soils as climate stewards to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, and sets the goal of reducing agricultural emissions 50% by 2030 and to reach net-zero by 2040. (For greater depth on the Act, read this National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition blog.)
Racial Equity in the Upcoming Farm Bill
Advocates for racial equity in the 2023 farm bill recognize historic inequities in agriculture and seek to address them by promoting racial equity in access to resources, programs, and opportunities. Expanding access to resources focuses on loans, technical assistance, and USDA programs for historically underserved farmers, including Black, Indigenous, and other minority communities. Access to land refers to facilitating land acquisition and tenure for minority farmers through grants, land trusts, and farm succession planning. Market access supports initiatives for minority farmers and encourages participation in local and regional food systems.
The farm bill platforms of the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) impress upon us the need to advance racial equity across the food system. Their goals are focused on addressing systemic racism through acts of solidarity, sovereignty, reparation and prevention of future harms, fair wages, and participatory governance. NFFC and NSAC point to the ecological, social, cultural, and political principles of agroecology for food production (land- and sea-based) that meet the needs of the present without diminishing the needs of future generations. Similarly, the Native Farm Bill Coalitions Platform covers key topics of food sovereignty, nutrition, and economics, while continuing to strengthen the agricultural and forestry sectors. For more detail, see Gaining Ground: A Report on the 2018 Farm Bill Successes for Indian Country and Opportunities for 2023.
In demanding equity for climate action, HEAL Food Alliance puts forth A Farm Bill For A Thriving Future For Us All. Four of the Platform’s farm bill priorities – Securing Dignity and Fairness for Food Chain Workers and Their Families, Providing Opportunities for All Producers, Investing in Communities, Not Corporations, and Nourishing People – are political calls to action to transform the farm bill for increased equity. The Alliance supports key Marker Bills, including the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023 and the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act. In parallel, The National Black Food & Justice Alliance (NBFJA) advocates for “policy interventions as a necessary strategy to engage in areas that have real, concrete implications for the material conditions of our communities,” stating “The farm bill is undoubtedly one of the largest and most important pieces of legislation that impacts the ways our communities are able to access and feed ourselves.” Three of the four key pillars of the NBFJA’s 2023 Farm Bill Policy Demands calls for Black sovereignty and liberation that reflect the interrelated nature of racial equity and climate resilience. These three pillars include:
- Improving opportunities for start-up and expansion of local & self-reliant Black food economies
- Investing in Black food sovereignty in an emerging Black food movement
- Including Climate Regenerative Practices & Programs as priorities in the farm bill
The Young Farmer Agenda of the National Young Farmers Coalition centers access to land and capital, farmer health and well-being, changes to business and market opportunities, and housing security, in their aim to advance a One Million Acres for the Future campaign. The campaign focuses on equitable land access for new and BIPOC farmers while expanding support for regional infrastructure and climate-smart agricultural practices. They call for an expansion to:
- USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative funding programs for Education and Workforce Development
- Dairy Grazing and Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeships
- National and Tribal Scholars Programs
In tandem, they identify adjacent issues that need to be addressed, such as:
- Eliminating student debt
- Identifying housing solutions
- Providing access to comprehensive health care
- Agricultural labor and immigration reform
They indicate that these reforms should include a path to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers, food chain workers, and their families, improved labor protections for all farm and food workers, and more effective reporting and enforcement standards regarding violations of labor and human rights. Reflective of a step in this direction is the Equitable Agriculture Access Act, a marker bill which aims to establish an Office of Equity within the USDA to oversee the implementation of equitable policies and programs, with a focus on addressing historic disparities.
Intersections of Climate Resilience and Racial Equity for a Fair 2023 Farm Bill
The Union of Concerned Scientists’ A Food and Farm Bill for Everyone “call(s) for a transformational food and farm bill that will make our food system healthy, sustainable, resilient, and equitable.” They point to policies that will shift over “$1 trillion in spending away from industrial agriculture and corporate welfare” to “protect the things that are truly important for the largest number of people.” Soil health and racial equity are front and center in their platform, as reflected by the following key priorities:
- Pursuing racial justice
- Combating climate change
- Lifting up food and farm workers
Likewise, in their “fight for a fair food system,” Farm Action established four pillars of their Fair Farm Bill Campaign:
- Food, Not Feed
- Justice for All
- Build Local, Eat Local
- Conservation and Regeneration
The Farm Action Alliance published Ushering in a Better Future for Food and Agriculture: Policy Recommendations to the 117th Congress. The report identifies the following essential actions that align with these pillars:
- Curbing globalized concentration
- Redefining the status quo
- Prioritizing resilience over efficiency
- Supporting local and regional food systems
- Anti-racist food and farm policy
The National Farmers Union’s Fairness for Farmers campaign advocates for the following policy actions for fair agricultural markets:
- Reforming the Packers and Stockyards Act
- Allowing for the Right to Repair equipment
- Diversifying marketing opportunities and antitrust enforcement
In addition to these collective calls for just transformations, a solutions-oriented aspirational policy has been introduced to Congress by Representative Blumenauer (D-OR). The Food and Farm Act boldly proposes farm bill reform focused on six titles that advance the following four principles:
- Focusing resources on those who need it most
- Fostering innovation
- Encouraging investments in people and the planet
- Ensuring access to healthy foods
The proposed legislation includes fixing subsidies and insurance for commodity farms; bringing accountability to environmental conservation; improving global food assistance; expanding access to nutritious foods for all Americans; building a future for American farmers; getting serious about food waste; prioritizing climate in agriculture research; treating animals with respect; and recognizing that our country is only as strong as our regional food networks.
Transformations to the 2023 farm bill, as outlined within these policy platforms, priorities, and marker bills, would reflect a comprehensive approach to addressing climate resilience, soil health, and racial equity in agriculture. These priorities align with broader societal goals of sustainability and inclusivity by redefining the status quo, prioritizing resilience over efficiency, supporting local and regional food systems, and advocating for anti-racist food and farm policy. As the farm bill continues to evolve, it is essential to monitor legislative developments and engage in discussions that shape the future of American agriculture.
