About every five years, Congress must pass a new Farm Bill -- a massive piece of legislation that covers not just agriculture, but also forestry, land management, food security, rural energy programs, and so much more.
The Sierra Club is calling on Congress to prioritize the climate, the land, and communities in this year's Farm Bill, particularly:
Climate
- Defend billions of dollars in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to combat climate change through agriculture.
- Promote organic and regenerative farming that reduces water and air pollution, improves soil health, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
- Support clean energy development with rural electrical cooperatives and innovative, beneficial technologies like agrivoltaics (the use of land for both solar and agriculture).
Land
- Improve and increase funding for conservation programs that promote healthy forest management and encourage pollinators and other wildlife biodiversity.
- Ensure agricultural land is used for nutritious food, not livestock feed, including redirecting funding away from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and biofuels.
Communities
- Protect and expand access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
- Assist small, Black, Indigenous, people of color, urban, and beginning farmers and ranchers through land access grants and debt relief.
- Address environmental injustice and negative health impacts from forever chemicals like PFAS and air pollution from pre-harvest sugar cane burning.
Send a message to both your senators and your representative asking them to pass a Farm Bill that prioritizes climate, conservation, and communities!
***Don't forget to include a personal message to share what a more climate, land, and communities-centered Farm Bill means to you! ***