Tell Senators to Support a Just Transition to Climate-Friendly Agriculture

Our faith calls us to promote bold action in response to the worsening climate crisis and the glaring racial and socioeconomic inequities revealed by the pandemic. There is growing recognition that changes in our food systems can contribute to progress fighting climate change. These changes, if done right, can also rectify injustices in our current agricultural systems. As UUs, we insist that the transition to a more climate-friendly agriculture also respond to pressing social problems including land loss, racism, unemployment and hunger. We are urging Senators to support legislation that would make progress on both climate change and social ills, such as the Justice for Black Farmers Act (S.300) and the Climate Stewardship Act (S.1072).

UU Grounding:  Avoiding a climate crisis falls squarely within our UU 7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The 2019 UU General Assembly adopted an Action of Immediate Witness entitled “Build the Movement for a Green New Deal,” that recognized the intersectional nature of climate issues and justice issues and urged that UUs “develop a new morality, rebuilding our political and economic structures to prioritize the well-being of future generations, grounded in sustainability.”  A recent draft Statement of Conscience entitled “Undoing Intersectional White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action” says that “As Unitarian Universalists living in a time of racialized violence, environmental crisis, and a democracy on the precipice of disaster, we must urgently engage in relationship building, internal growth and transformation, and wider justice action to undo intersectional white supremacy and promote universalist equity and justice in our world.”

Talking Points

As people of faith, we support climate legislation that rectifies long-standing injustices in our agricultural system and leads to a food system that is sustainable, climate-friendly and responsive to human needs. The following bills meet these criteria: 

• The Justice for Black Farmers Act (JBFA) (S. 300) addresses the unconscionable losses of farmlands by Black farmers by providing land grants and technical assistance to those farmers. 
• The CSA (S. 1072) also invests in programs that bolster local food systems and funds urban farms and community gardens in low-income communities. It would authorize planting over 16 billion trees by 2050, with many going to urban neighborhoods, and would restore or protect over 2 million acres of coastal wetlands by 2030 to sequester carbon emissions and reduce coastal flooding.
• The Climate Stewardship Act (CSA) (S. 1072) increases incentives for conservation practices that sequester carbon, preserve soil, protect biodiversity and save water.  
• The JBFA also establishes a Farm Conservation Corps to provide young adults from socially disadvantaged groups with skills necessary to pursue careers in farming, and supports farmers who adopt practices to reduce emissions and respond to climate change.

​​​​​​Beyond these two good bills, Congress must make sure that all agriculture-related legislation furthers a just transition to a resilient, equitable and climate-friendly agricultural system. ​​​​​​

Periodicals: 

1. This Land Is Not Your Land: A brief history of the US govt. appropriating farmland from people of color.
2. The “Machine That Eats Up Black Farmland”
3. After a Century of Dispossession, Black Farmers Are Fighting to Get Back to the Land

Sample Type Written Letter to Your Senators

[Use your own words. Speak from your heart  -- this is only a sample typed letter.]

I’m a Unitarian Universalist and fundamental principles of our faith call us to promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations and to respect the interdependent web of all existence.  We have a deep concern for our environment and climate, and also for people whose suffering has been exacerbated by systemic racism and unequal opportunities. I believe that legislation designed to encourage better agricultural practices can play a major role in fighting climate change, but that legislation must also provide equitable solutions to long-standing injustices in our agricultural system.

The Justice for Black Farmers Act (S.300) takes critical steps toward restoring land to Black farmers after a century and a half of enormous losses. It will also promote climate-friendly farming practices that sequester carbon in the soil, reduce harmful emissions, and provide employment in the farm sector. The Climate Stewardship Act (S.  ) contains provisions that promote sustainable, climate-friendly farming practices, plants billions of trees, and helps restore estuaries and coastal areas. 

[Insert personal experience or pick one talking point in your own words, to support the main message.]

[Adapt a closing such as…]

Thank you for your consideration of my [concerns/story]. I look forward to your response. etc.)

Sincerely,