| Starting on Monday, March 6, RAFI-USA and a delegation of 35 farmers and advocates will join others from across the country in Washington, DC for the Farmers for Climate Action: Rally for Resilience (March 6-8). Organized by more than 20 agricultural and climate groups, the week will include a rally, demonstrations on climate-friendly farming practices, and visits with congressional representatives. In order to amplify our voices while we’re in Washington Monday-Wednesday, we are asking you — our community of farmers, advocates, and concerned citizens — to send a message to your representatives urging them to make climate change policy a priority in the 2023 Farm Bill and to support the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA), sponsored by Maine farmer and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM). The bill establishes a set of aggressive but realistic goals for farmers to help mitigate climate change and increase agricultural resilience, starting with the overarching goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. agriculture by no later than 2040. The legislation covers agricultural research, soil health, farmland preservation and viability, pasture-based livestock, on-farm renewable energy, and food waste. A full summary is available here. This Act addresses one of the most pressing issues of our day: climate change. Will you join us, along with all the farmers at the Rally, in demonstrating a groundswell of support for decisive, responsible action on climate in the Farm Bill? Click here to send an email to your elected representatives. We encourage you to adapt the template by sharing your own personal story of how climate change is impacting you or the farmers in your community. We’re all in this together, and together is how we will make a change. To learn more about the Agriculture Resilience Act, see Representative Pingree’s press release, the emerging list of endorsements, NSAC’s press comment, the section-by-section summary of the bill, and the text of the bill itself. Some of the extensive press coverage of the bill can be viewed here, here, and here. |
