In February of this year, the USDA established an Equity Commission to “address longstanding inequities in agriculture” and “confront the hard reality of past discrimination and its lingering harm.” Last week, the Rural Development subcommittee and its 12 members were announced.
While much of the USDA Equity Commission’s work is focused on issues for agriculture producers, rural development work and funding all flows through USDA and serves the majority of rural communities and people who do not rely primarily on agriculture for livelihoods. As such, this subcommittee will address non-agriculture-related equity concerns impacting about two-thirds of the 3,006 counties in the United States.
The third public meeting of the commission is scheduled for September 21-22, 2022.
