From April 30 - May 2, 2023 the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (FSC/LAF), Berkeley Food Institute (BFI), American University’s Center for Environment, Community, and Equity (CECE) and Antiracist Research Policy Center (ARPC) hosted Pointing the Farm Bill Toward Racial Justice, a Farm Bill Summit & Briefing. The summit was a historic convening of farmers, advocates, policy-makers, scholars, students, and the general public who are invested in making the 2023 Farm Bill a policy vehicle for advancing equity across each of the twelve titles in the bill. The summit offered a comprehensive look at how the Farm Bill impacts farmers, landowners, and cooperatives as well as a collective analysis of climate justice, food system resilience, fair prices, international agricultural trade solidarity, and more. The summit culminated with a Congressional briefing and public roundtable.
Recordings of the Summit are linked below in blue.
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Welcome Remarks and Summit Overview
Welcoming remarks from Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, American University and Dãnia Davy, FSC/LAF; opening prayer led by Ben Burkett, FSC/LAF Mississippi State Association; Song by Briar Blakely
Recap of Advocacy Institute Listening Sessions
Speakers: Ebony Woodruff, FSC/LAF Land Retention Attorney; Eric Hilton, Federation Fellow (FL); Tamara Veal, Federation Fellow (TX)
Truth and Racial Healing Grounding Discussion
Speaker: Dr. Gail Christopher, National Collaborative for Health and Equity
Speaker: Dãnia Davy
FSC/LAF Black Farmer Photo Exhibit
Speakers: Tandelyn Daniels, FSC/LAF; Reesa Tansey, Photographer
Facilitated Discussion I – Excluded Communities: Separate Histories, Shared Struggles & Solidarity
Speakers: Sommer Sibilly-Brown, Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition; Abi Fain, Intertribal Agriculture Council; Edna Rodriguez, Rural Foundation Advancement International; and Jordan Treakle, National Family Farm Coalition.
Moderated by Dãnia Davy
Speakers: Dãnia Davy, FSC/LAF; Dr. Jasmine Jackson, National Black Food & Justice Alliance; and Susuyu Lassa, Soul Fire Farm.
Farm Labor and the Farm Bill (summarizing Alianza’s April Convivencia)
Speaker: Mily Treviño-Sauceda, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Sakeenah Shabazz, Berkeley Food Institute
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Welcoming remarks from Sakeenah Shabazz, Berkeley Food Institute; and Sara Clarke Kaplan, Antiracist Research and Policy Center, American University
Farm Bill Introduction: Commodities Title
Speakers: Garrett Grady-Lovelace, American University; and Ben Burkett, FSC/LAF Mississippi State Association.
Farm Bill Discussion 2: Trade and Nutrition Titles
Speakers: Sakeenah Shabazz, BFI; Alberto Gonzalez, FNS-USDA; and Mark Clack, Oxfam
Pointing the Farm Bill’s Trade and Research Titles toward Racial Justice, Agroecology, & Solidarity
Speakers: Leaders of African Food Sovereignty.
Farm Bill Discussion 3: Credit and Rural Development Titles
Speakers: Darnella Burkett-Winston, Rural Coalition; John Zippert, FSC/LAF and Rural Coalition; and Dãnia Davy, FSC/LAF
Speakers: Bonetta Adeeb, UJAMAA Coop Farming Alliance, Bobby Wilson, FSC/LAF and Metro-Atlanta Urban Farm; Mchezaji “Che” Axum from UDC – College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES); and Lorette Picciano, Rural Coalition.
Farm Bill Summit Planning Team
Findings from the Summit will be included in a multi-media toolkit, a much-needed resource that will compile cutting edge analysis of the Farm Bill from a racial and climate justice perspective for advocates, scholars, and the media. If you would like to be notified when the toolkit is released, you can sign up below!
