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.

Related reading

PCC Comments to NOSB on various topics

Comments on nanotechnology; the Sunset Provision; OFPA measures unfulfilled; non-GMO verification; whole algal flour; tocopherols; palm olein; fish oil; gellan gum and carrageenan and proper reading of §205.600; animal welfare; and antibiotics in poultry

Support for Northwest Cooperative Development Center

Letter to support a pending request from the Northwest Cooperative Development Center for a 2005 Rural Cooperative Development Grant

Fund organic to meet market demand

Joined more than 177 other businesses in a strong, positive message to USDA Secretary Perdue and Members of Congress to protect funding for programs that benefit organic agriculture and the organic industry.