The Seed
Biotechnology and the 21st Century Agriculture Advisory Committee
The Biotechnology and 21st century agriculture advisory committee convened on August 30th and 31st in Washington, D.C. at the USDA headquarters. The Group consisted of a diverse group of 24 people with interest in biotechnology, organics, international markets, and farming. On day one, the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, met with the Committee to give his charge. The meeting was recorded and public comment was allocated also on day one. Day two of the meeting was followed up with the attendance of the Deputy Secretary, Katherine Merrigan, who reiterated the charge and gave us the battle charge. USDA Economic Research Service doctors Greene and Fernandez gave a report on the current data available on the distribution of costs, risks, and returns on different agricultural production systems on day two also.
The Committee will be focusing its efforts on Co-existence of genetically engineered, conventional and organic commercial crops. Efforts include the possible enumeration for unintended contamination of conventional and organic crops by genetically engineered crops. Potential workgroups were formulated and future meeting dates were discussed.
America’s New Farm Bill
“America, it’s your responsibility to decide who will emerge victorious from this battle of the bulge,” says the spoof reality show’s host.
The federal government’s expansive agricultural and food policy legislation, known as the Farm Bill, will be back up for debate in 2012. As HuffPost reported last week, the congressional super committee’s failure to agree on future budget cuts this November means the bill will shift from a controversial fast-track reauthorization to a more open and lengthy discussion.
Public health advocates hope the extra time will provide an opportunity to start a national discussion about the importance of protecting or even enhancing health-promoting programs, such as those that support fruit and vegetable production, affordability and access, as well as others that slow the drive to produce unhealthy processed foods.
“The Farm Bill is one of the most critical — if not the most critical — opportunity we have for human health,” Matthew Marsom, director of public health policy and advocacy for the nonprofit Public Health Institute told The Huffington Post.
Read more > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/farm-bill-obesity-fruits-vegetables-agriculture-industry_n_1133742.html?utm_campaign=120711&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-green&utm_content=Photo
Justice for Black farmers is still overdue
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been the bane of American racism and held the reputation of “The Last Plantation” for decades. Twelve years after the USDA agreed to settle the discrimination illustrated in the Timothy Pigford lawsuit, the money promised remains unpaid.
Pigford is proof-positive of institutional racism in America. Occasionally, patterns of racism are scheduled for righting. In 1999, federal courts ruled that the USDA engaged in racist practices by denying financial help to economically distressed Black farmers.
Still waiting
Despite having won the largest civil rights discrimination settlement in history, Black farmers are still struggling to get paid. Flagrant discrimination has dominated Black lives on farms in America. Although the U.S. government never followed through on its promise of “40 acres and a mule” to freed slaves, and in spite of systematic processes and programs to stymie their efforts African-Americans were able to establish a foothold in Southern agriculture.
Black land ownership peaked in 1910, when 218,000 African-American farmers had ownership stakes in 15 million acres of land. But through the machinations of Southern bureaucrats and the USDA, by 1992 Black ownership numbers had dwindled to 2.3 million acres held by 18,000 farmers.
The problem is the number of Black farmers that have been forced off their land. In 1920, one out seven U.S. farms was Black-owned and operated; but by 1992 Black farmers operated just one of every 100 farms.
Read more >
New Leadership Among Black Farmers Go Green
The BFAA was organized to monitor the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the historic 1999 class Action Lawsuit Settlement Pigford v. Glickman, which was to award 20,000 Black farmers $2.5 billion in damages for loan discrimination practiced committed by the federal government. As of May 2002, only 40% of the 60% of farmers who have filed have received their awards. BFAA is committed to seeing that every Black farmer gets their award settlement and the USDA stops its continuing practices of discrimination against Black farmers.
We invite you to share in our organization’s vision to inform, enlighten, and educate the world about the past, present, and future of African-American farmers…
Read more about the history of Black Farmers in North America >
We invite you to share in our organization’s vision to inform, enlighten, and educate the world about the past, present, and future of African-American farmers…
Read more about the history of Black Farmers in North America >
