This is Earth Week, reminding us that on Earth Day (April 22) and everyday, we celebrate our planet and commit to protecting it for ourselves and future generations.
Short-sighted and profit-driven policy choices have created many of the environmental and climate catastrophes we face today. We know that different choices can mitigate and even repair this damage, starting with how we care for our land, soil, and water, and how we produce our food.
Across the country, farmers and ranchers, including BIPOC communities on the front lines of climate change, are employing millenia-old Black and Indigenous agricultural knowledge, including managed grazing, crop rotation, no-till, cover crops and similar methods to restore depleted soil, build resilience to flooding and drought, produce nutrient-dense food for their communities, and decrease dependence on agricultural chemicals.
State legislators also have a role to play.
State policies can incentivize farmers to use regenerative methods and protect biodiversity; strengthen common-sense water and air protections, and much more.
We know that when we prioritize the experiences of farmers and ranchers, center the voices of highly-impacted communities, and empower state legislators to lead on agriculture policy, we can build a food and farm system that is not only Earth-friendly and sustainable for the long term, but equitable and just as well.
There is power in caring for our Earth and our communities; power in supporting our ranchers, farmers, and other producers to succeed; and power in food and agriculture policy that transforms what is possible for our planet and communities.
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