Advancing Equity and Climate Action in a New Food and Farm Bill

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that the US food and farm system is dominated by industrial corporations that damage the environment and exploit workers. To address this, the brief recommends that Congress cosponsor the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) to increase USDA investments in agroecology, carbon capture, and climate-resilient research, and the Justice for Black Farmers Act (JBFA) to combat systemic discrimination and prevent further land loss among Black farmers.

• The current US food and farm system is characterized by industrial agriculture corporations that use high levels of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, leading to the degradation of air, water, soil, and climate, while providing low pay and dangerous conditions for workers.
• The Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) proposes increasing USDA funding for conservation, research, and technical assistance, specifically focusing on agroecology, carbon capture in soils, sustainable on-farm energy, and the reduction of food waste. It aims to quadruple federal food and agriculture research investments.
• Black farmers have faced severe systemic discrimination, with their numbers dropping from nearly 1 million in 1920 to fewer than 50,000 today, resulting in a loss of land valued at $326 billion during the twentieth century.
• The Justice for Black Farmers Act (JBFA) seeks to codify equity in the farm bill by ending USDA discrimination, protecting existing Black farmers from land loss, and providing land grants to establish a new generation of Black farmers.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2023). Advancing Equity and Climate Action in a New Food and Farm Bill. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/Farm%20Bill%20leave%20behind_v2.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Advancing Equity and Climate Action in a New Food and Farm Bill. 2023. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/Farm%20Bill%20leave%20behind_v2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Advancing Equity and Climate Action in a New Food and Farm Bill |date=February 2023 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/Farm%20Bill%20leave%20behind_v2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2023advancing, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Advancing Equity and Climate Action in a New Food and Farm Bill}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/Farm%20Bill%20leave%20behind_v2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }