Equity

A sustainable and just local food system for Native Americans is the goal of an Arizona nonprofit. The Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Ajo CSA), a Native American-governed 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is working with the Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona to preserve and revitalize traditional O’odham seeds, agriculture, and culture, including dryland farming. The center supports projects including the O’odham Farmer’s Market, business incubator programs, year-round and summer youth agricultural internship programs, and the annual Southwest Native Foodways Gathering.

Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has seen a 69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies. In the last fiscal year, the department found 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In February, DOL announced that one of the nation’s largest sanitation services providers for food processors had employed at least 102 children in hazardous occupations and had them working overnight shifts at 13 meat processing facilities owned by nine different companies. While this issue is not unique to the food industry, it cannot be ignored that it is a problem, and USDA is standing with our federal partners to combat it.

In June 2021, President Joe Biden announced the creation of the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) to root out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations after a report from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation found that appraisals for home purchases in majority-Black and majority-Latino neighborhoods were roughly twice as likely to result in a value below the actual contract price compared to appraisals in predominantly-white neighborhoods.

Veteran John Langdon served for 20 years of active duty in the U.S. Army, including deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. He retired in July 2021, with a full career of service under his belt, but without a full appreciation of how challenging it would be to find a civilian job. “I was finally out of the military, so then I was kind of scrambling – very stressful ... I sent out resumes everywhere,” he said.

Last fall, Stacy Dean, USDA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Food Nutrition and Consumer Services, visited the Fondy Farmers Market, Milwaukee's 105-year-old, largest, and first farmers market in Wisconsin to accept SNAP!

Greeley-Evans School District 6 in northern Colorado was honored and excited to welcome Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Maplewood Elementary School on March 22. The Secretary and visitors were able to see just one school of more than 30 in District 6 that provide essential health and nutrition programs to more than 22,000 students every day.

March 31 marks César Chávez Day and serves as a reminder to all Americans of the importance of service, community, education, and commitment to advocating for farmworkers and their families. Chávez was a champion of farmworkers’ rights, calling for fairer wages and improved working conditions and helping open the door for better opportunities for farmworkers across the country.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service supports indigenous health and tribal sovereignty through Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations Self-Determination Demonstration Projects.

Female farmers and ranchers in the United States play an integral role in providing agricultural products to our nation and the world. During Women’s History Month, we celebrate the 1.2 million female producers around the country.

Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, directs USDA to provide financial assistance to producers who have experienced discrimination in USDA’s farm lending programs. This program provides USDA the ability to deliver financial assistance for those farmers, ranchers, or forest landowners determined to have experienced discrimination in USDA's farm lending programs prior to January 1, 2021. These funds are one step in the long march towards justice and an inclusive, equitable USDA.