Deadline January 13th
Want to ensure a more sustainable food and farm future? Take action and help us encourage
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to prioritize what’s best for farmers and
natural resources!
NRCS is currently accepting public comments (input from farmers and concerned citizens like
you!) on the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) interim final rule through January 13,
2020.
CSP was established by Congress to reward farmers who implement advanced conservation
systems that comprise truly sustainable agriculture. Unfortunately, the recent interim final rule
undermines this purpose of CSP.
Now it’s up to us “ag-vocates” to make sure that this vital conservation program is not
weakened during the farm bill implementation process. Learn more and submit a comment here.
and Support Justice for Farmworkers
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019, HR 5038, passed in the House of Representatives in December and now awaits a vote in the Senate. The bill overhauls the current H2A guestworker program and would make 40,000 new green cards available to full-time agricultural workers.
“Achieving compromise on complex, polarizing labor-management and immigration issues was possible because of the wide recognition that farmworkers are essential to our nation’s food and agriculture systems,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice. The vote was partisan, as most Congressional votes are these days, but it is notable that dozens of House Republicans, largely from agricultural states, voted for the bill alongside all of the Democrats.
Immigration policy reform, toward which the NFMA is a first step, is essential to the future of growing food in our country. Agriculture can’t happen without people to tend and harvest the crops. Unsustainable and cruel labor conditions threaten the very fabric of our food system and we are all complicit unless we stand up for farmworker rights. Learn more about the NFMA here and here.
The bill’s next step toward becoming law is to await a vote in the Senate, where it is a tough sell unless the senate changes leadership in 2020. For now, it is crucial that representatives hear a cacophony of support on one of the most important civil rights issues of our time.
Please call your senator and let them know that you support pathways to legal citizenship for farmworkers.
Call your Senators and Representative today!
Step 1: Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Step 2: Speak with a staffer or leave a message for each of your two Senators like this:
“Hi, my name is ____ and I’m a constituent. I am happy that the house passed HR 5038, the National Farmworker Modernization Act, and I urge you to support action on the important issue of farmworker justice if and when given the opportunity in the senate. Thank you!”
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