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Here's a sneak peek of our next civic scientist...
"A recent study by Horst and Marion (Horst & Marion, 2019) reported that 'from 2012 to 2014, white people generated 98 percent of all farm-related income from land ownership and 97 percent of the income that comes from operating farms. On the other hand, farmers of color (Black, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, and those reporting more than one race) comprised less than 3 percent of non-farming landowners and less than 4 percent of owner-operators.' This shows clear disparities between white farmers and minority farmers. The abysmal lack of diversity and representation in US agriculture is not an accident. This inequity is deeply rooted in structural and systemic racism against people of color. Federal Homestead acts mainly helped white settlers and corporations gain access to massively subsidized land while driving out Native American and excluding minority landowners. These problems were further exacerbated with discriminatory laws preventing people of color from owning land in the early 1900s. The aftereffects of these century old laws are still felt today. A telling instance is the massive decline of Black or African American farm owner-operators from 14% in 1910 to only 1.5% in 2012. The US system is not broken; it was built as a tool to oppress people of color, and in that regard, it is functioning extremely well. It is our collective moral duty to depose of this unjust system and challenge existing social inequities in our food system and the larger community."
Zenith Tandukar, University of Minnesota
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