Back in March we rounded up a lot of the issues around food and agriculture that we anticipated the new administration in the US to tackle during their time in office. A lot of those promises have now panned out into more action and there is a lot of action on issues in the agriculture sector in the US.

Migrant Workers

Housing

“Housing is an urgent concern for migrant farmworkers. Although farm owners are required to provide workers with sound living conditions, standards are rarely enforced,” says journalist, David Thill. However, in Vermont, a migrant worker’s rights group, Migrant Justice, has partnered with a construction company, an efficiency utility company, and the local government, to offer dignified, safe, energy efficient housing, aided by financial incentives and loans from the government. Housing and worker’s rights groups around the country are looking to this case study for wider application. Read more here.

Female Inequality

In light of known wage gaps and the recognition that survey data for migrant farmers doesn’t look at differences between male and female workers (and thus is likely missing even more disparities), Justice for Migrant Women, a legal project dedicated to addressing gender discrimination against migrant female farmworkers, has issued “policy priorities” to the Biden Administration. These priorities include not just improved data collection for federal surveys, but reforms to the immigration system, improved health and safety guidelines, and improved protections against violence toward women. Read more here.

Legal Status

The senate judiciary subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border safety recently held a hearing on “The Essential Role of Immigrant Workers in America”, where it was argued that “providing these essential workers with permanent legal status will allow them to realize their full potential, to realize their American dreams. This is not only part of a just, inclusive, and robust post-pandemic economic recovery for all Americans, but can be done without increasing undocumented immigration to the U.S. Immigrant essential workers who lack permanent legal status deserve more than our recognition and our praise; they have earned a pathway to citizenship. They have kept us fed by working in our nation’s food supply chain. Workers deemed essential today should not live with the uncertainty and fear of deportation tomorrow.” This recognition, in conjunction with the recent reintroduction of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a bill that would “grant undocumented farmworkers five-year renewable visas with an option for permanent legal status after eight years,” hints toward imminent progress on that front. The bill passed in the house this year, and with a now evenly-split senate, it’s fate seems promising. Read more here and here

Health and Safety Protections

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has received serious criticism for it’s slow and ineffective response to COVID-19. Their inability to respond to complaints, conduct inspections, lay out effective guidelines, and ensure the distribution of PPE has resulted in the infection of thousands of workers, and the death of hundreds. “Now, advocates for worker rights are hopeful as President Biden has named a new leader for the agency, Doug Parker, the former head of California’s state-level OSHA. Cal/OSHA is known for having stronger standards than [federal] OSHA. And for food workers, Parker’s track record in California not only provides insights into how he might run OSHA [generally], but it means he’ll bring with him the experience of managing worker protections in the country’s largest agricultural state.” Read more here.

Food Security

Food Assistance

The American Rescue Plan has established provisions for food assistance programs, including:

An extension of the 15% increase in SNAP benefits
$1.15 billion to states for SNAP program administration
$490 million to the USDA for cash-value food vouchers for women, infants, and children
An extension of the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Program, which makes it easier for families with children receiving free or reduced-price school lunches to purchase healthy food
Reimbursements to emergency shelters for meals to individuals under 25
$37 million to senior nutrition programs
$1 billion for nutrition assistance to US territories.
$17 billion to expand free-meal programs for children in high-poverty school districts while also lowering the threshold for eligibility
And expand eligibility for SNAP to formerly incarcerated individuals

Farm Support

Fire Insurance

This past summer saw one of the worst wildfire seasons in recorded history, and the consequence has been dire for both farms that were razed and those that survived unscathed. In light of the growing risk of wildfire as a result of global climate change, farmers in California are now being denied fire-insurance, leaving many with no safety-net in the event of wildfire. Now, a state program, California FAIR Plan, is stepping in to help. Their program currently can’t provide protections to farms, but a bill has recently been introduced that works to fix that clause. Read more here.

BIPOC Support

American Rescue Plan

The American Rescue Plan includes provisions to support BIPOC farmers in a variety of ways. The Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act allocates $4-5 billion in loan relief for farmers of color, and an additional $1.01 billion has been allocated to the USDA “to build resources that support farmers of color, including a racial equity commission to examine racial justice in the department, funding to support agricultural programs at historically Black colleges and universities, and increased outreach, training, grants and loans to improve land access for farmers of color.” Read more here and here and here.

Food System Resiliency

Supply Chain

The American Rescue Plan is working to support a more resilient food supply chain by increasing the amount of food available for emergency distribution through food banks, restaurants, and non-profits, funding for worker-safety provisions, and funding for the health of animals and livestock via COVID-19 monitoring and the facilitation of more thorough inspections. Read more here.

Restaurants and Food Service

The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, established by the American Rescue Plan, will provide $28.6 billion in relief to small and mid-sized restaurants negatively impacted by COVID-19 via tax-free grants. The fund “will proritze women- and veteran-owned establishments and those owned by socially or economically disadvantaged individuals, including Black Americans, Hispanic Amerians, Native Americans, and Asian Americans.” Read more here.

Local Food System Development

The USDA has also added $92.2 million of dollars to the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) and the Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) grants for 2021. Both of these grant programs provide thousands of dollars to local food systems organizations working directly in communities on projects related to local food system resilience such as farmers markets, processing, food chain development and more. Usually organizations have to come up with a 25% match to apply for these grants which is really difficult for the communities that could use the money this most. This year there are much larger amounts of money available and the match has been reduced to 10% in order to attract more diverse organizations. Read more here.

Food Waste

US Food Loss and Waste Policy Action Plan

The NRDC, Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, ReFED, the World Wildlife Fund, and other advocacy groups have announced “the U.S. Food Loss and Waste Policy Action Plan, which will call upon Congress and President Biden to prioritize policies addressing food loss and waste.” We waste or lose upward of 30% of our entire annual food supply here in the US, and the plan works to reduce that number by focusing on five policy measures:

Investing in infrastructure to measure, rescue, recycle, and prevent organic waste from entering landfills and incinerators,
Expanding incentives to institutionalize surplus food donation and strengthen regional supply chains,
Asserting the U.S. government’s global lead on food loss and waste,
Educating and activating consumers through private and public food-waste-behavior-change campaigns, and
Requiring a national date labeling standard for “best if used by” and “use by” dates.

The goal of this plan is to reduce our waste/loss by 50% by 2030. Read more here.

April/May 2021 Policy Updates