USDA’s Commitments to the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism

The Biden-Harris Administration released the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism on May 25, 2023. The strategy outlines a whole-of-society approach to tackle the scourge of antisemitism in America. It features over 100 meaningful actions that over two dozen government agencies will take to counter antisemitism, as well as over 100 calls to action for Congress, State and local governments, companies, technology platforms, students, teachers and academics, civil society and faith leaders, and others to counter antisemitism.

The four pillars of the strategy address key themes and threats raised by over 1,000 diverse stakeholders across the Jewish community and beyond:

• Increasing awareness and understanding of antisemitism, including its threat to America, and broaden appreciation of Jewish American heritage
• Improving safety and security for Jewish communities
• Reversing the normalization of antisemitism and countering antisemitic discrimination
• Building cross-community solidarity and collective action against hate.

Read the White House’s Fact Sheet on the National Strategy

USDA’s Commitments include:

• Providing educational opportunities for law enforcement agents of the U.S. Forest Service to learn how to identify and counter antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination.
• Working with subject matter experts to develop and disseminate materials for rural universities on how to address specific incidents of antisemitism; create educational opportunities on Judaism, Jewish culture and identity, and histories of antisemitism, including the Holocaust, for students, faculty and staff; and ensure that university calendars are inclusive and accommodation policies are made known to faculty and students alike.
• Convening rural institutions of higher education and land-grant colleges to share promising practices to address antisemitism and other forms of hate and bias.
• Providing educational opportunities for 4-H, FFA, and other rural youth organizations to learn how to identify and counter antisemitism and related forms of discrimination. For more information, view the 4-H Youth page.
• Working to ensure equal access to all USDA feeding programs for USDA customers with religious dietary needs. This will include increasing commercially available kosher and halal foods that are priorities for Jewish and Muslim program participants; expanding the number of kosher or halal certified foods in USDA’s food procurement; training schools on how to meet students’ religious dietary needs for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs; and expanding outreach and technical assistance for kosher and halal meat processors.
• Convening a dialogue with religious leaders from across rural America to assess the state of antisemitism and highlight effective strategies to counter antisemitism, centered on building solidarity across faiths.

Along with other agencies, USDA also committed to:

• Incorporate information about bias and discrimination related to religion, national origin, race, and ethnicity, including information about antisemitism and Islamophobia, and about workplace religious accommodations into training programs as they carry out their obligations under Executive Order 14035 (Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce)
• Produce fact sheets explaining that Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, including certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination and bias, in federally funded programs and activities. This will be the first time these agencies have recognized in writing that Title VI prohibits such forms of discrimination in their federally funded programs and activities.
• Take other steps to increase awareness of laws prohibiting antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination and bias and to ensure that individuals and organizations know how to make claims regarding violations of such laws. These steps will include engaging with entities that are prohibited from discriminating in these ways to explain their legal responsibilities and informing communities of their rights to be free from discrimination and how to file complaints.