HEAL Food Alliance Expresses Concern Rollins’ Nomination Poses to Farmers, Workers, and Food Insecure Families
USDA Needs Leadership that Champions the Needs of All Communities
NATIONAL – Today, Brooke Rollins, former White House policy advisor and chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), faced a Senate confirmation hearing to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA is the federal agency responsible for overseeing our nation’s food systems, rural development, and nutrition programs. Below is a statement from Nichelle Harriott, Policy Director at the HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor) Food Alliance:
“Our food and farming communities deserve leadership that champions the needs of everyone, regardless of where we live or what we look like. The next Secretary of Agriculture must ensure that all farmers, ranchers, farmworkers, and food system workers have the resources they need to thrive.
Unfortunately, despite her testimony today, Brooke Rollins lacks the agricultural expertise required to effectively lead the USDA. Her history demonstrates a disregard for and lack of commitment to supporting Black, Indigenous, and other farmers and ranchers of color, as well as small and family farmers, farmworkers, and the working people who sustain our food system.
Rollins, as Secretary of Agriculture, will be a serious setback for farmers, ranchers and rural communities already burdened by extreme weather events; livestock disease outbreaks; challenges in accessing land, capital, and new markets; food insecure families who rely on federal assistance to reach their nutritional needs; and for small and family farms being squeezed out by powerful food and agriculture corporations.
Despite this, we call on this new Secretary to prioritize disaster relief for farmers facing climate-related disruptions, invest in small farms and those practicing traditional, cultural, and ecological farming methods, ensure protections for food and farmworkers, and safeguard vital nutrition programs like SNAP to reduce hunger nationwide.”