The Ecological Farming Association, an organization long known for bringing people in the organic food community together for education, alliance building, and advocacy, has also adressed the effects of systemic racism upon agriculture.
“We believe that racism and capitalism are intertwined. The racism that allows the police to brutalize and harass the Black community is part and parcel of the economic system that leads to the destruction of ecosystems and exploitation of workers in the food system.
It is no secret that American agriculture and the food system have been deeply racist since colonization. Much of our nation’s historic wealth was grounded in the use of slaves. Black farmers have been dispossessed of their lands and systematically denied access to federal farm programs. Our agrarian mythology also ignores the indigenous genocide that made farming across America possible.”
It is an imporant reminder. In order to change the social conditions that create and perpetuate exploitation of both people and the planet new ecopolitical alliance must arise that is able to fuse the issues of ecological justice, indigenous and workers’ rights, and systemic disenfranchisement of people of color in agriculture.
