After three decades of tracking food insecurity, understanding the reality of Americans without access to reliable food may become more difficult due to the discontinuation of a federal survey. The Household Food Security Report is an annual, national survey that monitors the severity of food insecurity in U.S. households. The United States Department of Agriculture […]
USDA
Posted inAgriculture, Black Farmers, Economic Development, Food Access
USDA Cuts Food Business Centers Supporting Black Farmers
Over the past seven months, Kenneth Sparks lost at least five federal grants as a result of cancellations and funding freezes. The grants would have supported his four-year-old farm, where he grows vegetables, and sells seeds and eggs. Now, the Southern California farmer is about to lose out again. For the past two years, he […]
Posted inAgriculture, Black Farmers, Rural Issues
USDA Ends Key Support for Black Farmers Amid Trump Anti-DEI Orders
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Posted inAgriculture, Black Farmers, Rural Issues
USDA Promised Loan Relief, Then Repealed It. Black Farmers Are Fighting Back.
Lester Bonner purchased a tractor, hay baler, and two hay combines for his 113-acre wheat farm when he learned he’d have $50,000 of his loans wiped clean as a result of a debt relief program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Many more farmers invested in their farms in anticipation of the forgiveness of loans […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, HBCUs, Rural Issues
Black Farmers Mobilize to Protect Vital HBCU Scholarship
In the two weeks since the White House reversed course on the 1890 National Scholars Program and lifted its suspension, Kendall Strickland still feels a sense of unease about the program’s future. Created in 1992, the program covers full tuition and room and board for underserved or rural students interested in studying food, agriculture, natural […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Politics & Policy, Rural Issues
Can the Farm Bill Bridge the Gap for Black Farmers?
Time is of the essence for farmers like Tiffany Bellfield El-Amin. Bellfield El-Amin and others are looking to Congress for emergency aid in this year’s farm bill. With intense weather conditions, funding struggles, and decline in revenue, Black farmers can’t afford a delay. After months of bickering, Republicans and Democrats reached a deal on a […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Politics & Policy
Decades of USDA Racism Leave Black Farmers Fighting for Equality
Lloyd Wright has worked with 10 presidents since the early 1960s and seen how both Republicans and Democrats have failed to address Black farmers’ civil rights complaints and correct institutional racism within the United States Department of Agriculture. “Many Black farmers refer to USDA as being the last plantation, and the reason for that is, […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Rural Issues
Black Farmers See a Decline, Yet New Growers Stay Determined
This story was originally published on February 16, 2024, and has been updated. Land loss and discrimination haven’t stopped a new generation of young Black farmers from spearheading efforts to revitalize the industry while building a more equitable and sustainable future for their communities. In the past five years, the U.S. lost 7% of all […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Rural Issues
Justice Has Been Delayed for Black Farmers, and They’re Looking to the Next President for Answers
Bernice Atchinson, an 85-year-old advocate from Alabama, has been fighting for more than 40 years on behalf of her fellow Black farmers. She even represented them in the landmark case Pigford v. Glickman, a class-action lawsuit alleging the U.S. Department of Agriculture discriminated against Black farmers from 1983 to 1997 when they applied for federal […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Rural Issues
How Black Farmers Are Navigating Climate Change With Limited Federal Support
Six months ago, Anthony “AJ” McKenzie, a 30-year-old cool vegetable crop and livestock farmer in North Carolina, stopped farming on his 40 acres. Last year, a drought killed at least 85% of his crop, which caused him to lose income. Usually, he’d grow his cabbage and turnip, mustard, and collard greens twice in the fall […]