{"id":23689,"date":"2021-03-15T14:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T18:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/?page_id=23689"},"modified":"2022-07-14T00:51:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T04:51:11","slug":"whwn-spring-2021","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/whwn-spring-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"WHWN Spring 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Just Transition to Climate-Friendly Agriculture<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Letter-Writing Documents & Resources<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

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Expert Briefing Youtube Video<\/a><\/h4>\n

Issue Briefing – Thursday, April 15<\/strong>
\n2pm ET | 1pm CT | 12noon MT | 11am PT<\/strong><\/p>\n

UUSJ was briefed by\u00a0Adam Zipkin<\/strong>, Counsel to United States Senator\u00a0Cory Booker (D-NJ)<\/strong>. Adam advises the Senator on issues related to the environment, energy, agriculture, and animal welfare. Also\u00a0Ben Thomas<\/a><\/strong>, Senior Policy Director for Agriculture at the Environmental Defense Fund.<\/p>\n

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Click Here to use the online WHWN Letter Writing platform<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our faith calls us to promote bold action in response to the worsening climate crisis and the glaring racial and socioeconomic inequities revealed by the pandemic. There is growing recognition that changes in our food systems can contribute to progress in fighting climate change. These changes, if done right, can also rectify injustices in our current agricultural systems. As UUs, we insist that the transition to more climate-friendly agriculture also responds to pressing social problems like land loss, racism, unemployment, and hunger. We are urging Senators to support legislation that would make progress on both climate change and social ills, such as the Justice for Black Farmers Act <\/b>(recently introduced as S. 300) and the Climate Stewardship Act<\/b> (just re-introduced as S.1072).<\/span><\/p>\n

Massive consolidation and mechanization in the agricultural sector have led to problems that include soil loss, water, and air pollution, loss of biodiversity, and economic distress among many farm owners and farmworkers. No group has suffered more than Black farmers, who have faced the additional burden of systemic racism that has reduced the number of Black farmers from one million in 1920 to fewer than 50,000 today.<\/p>\n

There is bipartisan interest in using agriculture as a vehicle for fighting climate change by sequestering carbon in soil and trees and reducing emissions. We must make sure that Congress does not neglect the need for rectifying long-standing injustices, such as the loss of land by Black farmers. To that end, we are advocating for the Justice for Black Farmers Act (JBFA), S. 300, which would provide land grants to potentially hundreds of thousands of new Black farmers and ranchers and would help ensure their success by providing access to USDA operating loans and mortgages on favorable terms and technical assistance in sustainable farming techniques. We are also supporting the Climate Stewardship Act (just re-introduced; S.1072, HR.4269) that would support climate-friendly stewardship practices on more than 100 million acres of farmland, plant more than 15 billion trees to revive deforested landscapes, and expand urban tree cover, reestablishes the Civilian Conservation Corps to reduce youth unemployment, restore over two million acres of coastal wetlands, and invest in renewable energy for farmers and rural small businesses.<\/p>\n

Related Periodicals<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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  1. This Land Is Not Your Land: A brief history of the US govt. appropriating farmland from people of color.<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. The \u201cMachine That Eats Up Black Farmland\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. After a Century of Dispossession, Black Farmers Are Fighting to Get Back to the Land<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    The following includes virtual advocacy and letter-writing tips and issue materials for you to organize a virtual letter-writing event. See item #3 below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    1.<\/b>\u00a0Start here — Write Here! Write Now!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n