Farm Sanctuary hosted a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill, sponsored by Representative Jim McGovern (MA). Though she was unable to attend in person, Representative Alma Adams shared critical insights into how policymakers and community members can work together to build a more just food system.

As we conclude Black History Month, the following shines a spotlight on land. The distribution of land ownership creates one of the most powerful barriers to food system justice and sustainability. Land consolidation, like corporate consolidation, makes factory farming possible.

But who owns land, and how much, isn’t an accident. It’s the result of historical, legal, social, and economic structures that reflect and perpetuate structural inequalities, particularly systemic racism. As we seek to make food systems work for animals, people, and the planet, we must, in Rep. Alma Adams’ words, provide the pathways to “create a new generation of Black farmers.”

The United States invests tremendous resources in our food system. Unfortunately, the current system has been created to prioritize large landowners and corporate consolidators over everyone else – animals, people, and the planet. Those in power put production over purpose, creating a food system that works for nearly no one.

These investments often reflect and perpetuate inequalities, particularly systemic racism. For example, according to the most recent United States Department of Agriculture Census, farmers who identify as Black receive about half of what farmers who identify as White receive. As a result of these inequalities, the percentage of farmers who identify as Black has fallen from 14% to less than 2%, and people who identify as Black have lost a collective $326 billion in wealth related to farmland.

That’s what makes the work of Congressional leaders like Representative Alma Adams (NC) and Senator Cory Booker (NJ) so important. In Representative Adams’ words:

These inequalities don’t just come in the form of payments or loan access. The U.S. federal agricultural research system also puts production over purpose. In fact, the U.S. government’s own internal science spends more money supporting commercialization efforts than human nutrition, conservation, and sustainability combined. The misuse of these funds also perpetuates inequalities between the predominantly white “1860s” land grants and the 1890 Land-Grant institutions. Representative Alma Adams also addressed this problem:

The U.S. has the resources it needs to nourish everyone without harm. But that’s not how the current system works. We have invested in food systems that operate more like factory farms than ever before – they put profit over all other shared priorities. As a result, our food systems not only cause immense harm to animals, they also fail to nourish people. According to the CDC, more than 9-in-10 Americans are nutritionally insecure. Diet-related disease remains the top cause of death in the United States – accelerating local and global environmental crises and deepening social inequalities.

We don’t just need a plant-based transition from factory farming. We also need a just and sustainable transition for U.S. food systems. We are grateful to leaders like Rep. Alma Adams and the Eva Clayton Rural Food Institute, who you may have read about earlier this month. As Black History Month concludes, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting the changemakers working to build community-driven food justice and sustainability. We can work together across movements to shift resources to support food systems that work for everyone – animals, people, and the planet.