Washington D.C., September 25, 2024 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hosted the Final Equity Convening to celebrate the work of the USDA Equity Commission and the progress the Department has made under the Biden-Harris Administration to improve access to and inclusion in its programs and services. Held at the USDA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., this event represented a culmination of the National Equity Summit and eight regional equity convenings hosted by the Department throughout this year, as well as an opportunity for discussion around how equity and inclusion are a central focus of USDA’s programs.
Launched in February 2022, the USDA Equity Commission has served as a key pillar of the Department’s efforts to advance equity. As an independent body with 41 Commission and Subcommittee members, the Equity Commission analyzed how USDA’s programs, policies, systems, structures, and practices contribute to barriers to inclusion or access, systemic discrimination, or exacerbate or perpetuate racial, economic, health and social disparities. In February 2024, the commission published a final report with a total of 66 recommendations for USDA to take action on to ensure the Department’s programs, services, and decisions reflect the values of equity and inclusion, and that USDA can truly reflect the shared vision of the “People’s Department” that serves all communities.
“Today served as an important milestone marking the significant, consequential progress USDA has made since Day One of the Biden-Harris Administration to advance equity, remove barriers to access across every facet of its operations, and ensure USDA lives up to its name as the People’s Department,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Since receiving the Equity Commission’s final report, USDA has been hard at work implementing its recommendations and building a fairer, more equitable Department and future for all who participate in agriculture. We remain fully committed to advancing this effort.”
"The Biden-Harris Administration is making every effort to design USDA programs and services through a lens of equity to ensure accessibility for all, especially historically underserved communities and to those who need them most," said Deputy Secretary Torres Small. "Equity is not an add-on or an extra for the Department but rather a central facet to our mission of serving all Americans.”
At the convening, USDA leaders and stakeholders from across the country discussed the Department’s progress in areas like farm loans, nutrition assistance, and technical support for underserved communities. The event also featured key investments from the Biden-Harris Administration, including funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which have positively impacted rural communities and agriculture. Earlier in the day, more than 300 attendees participated in a networking fair, fostering continued partnership and support among stakeholders within the agricultural industry.
The USDA Equity Commission was established through the American Rescue Plan Act and reauthorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. Its recommendations reflect USDA’s commitment to President Biden’s Executive Order 13985, which calls for advancing racial equity across the federal government. While USDA has implemented many of the Commission’s recommendations through administrative action, others will require legislative action by Congress to implement the needed changes.
In February 2024, USDA held the National Equity Summit as a kick-off to the regional equity convenings held March through September of this year. Leaders from across the Department attended and played a crucial role in making these events a remarkable success. Since the February Summit, the Department has held eight equity engagements in collaboration with the USDA Equity Commission to connect with customers and communities across the country to raise awareness about how the Department is revamping its programs and services to better serve the people.
Key advancements that USDA agencies and offices highlighted at the final convening include, but were not limited to, the following:
- American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Investment Program: Established to ensure improved understanding of and equitable participation in the full range of USDA programs and services among historically underserved farmers, ranchers, forest landowners and operators through supporting the organizational delivery of technical assistance projects and establishment of technical assistance networks.
- Through the Cooperator network, support has reached nearly 90,000 participants through face-to-face meetings, webinars, online courses and one-on-one technical assistance sessions.
- From support of those Cooperators, more than over 3000 participants have already received a USDA benefit that has allowed them to start farming, increase farm size or capacity, increase farm profit, or receive a USDA farm loan.
- Farm Loan Process Transformation: Simplified application processes to make it easier for farmers and ranchers to get and use farm loans. Applicants now spend only half the amount of time filling out an application and, for the first time, can do this online. USDA updated the farm loan rule, based on feedback from farmers, that will help farmers and ranchers make more money and invest in their farms. These changes are designed to make it easier for farmers to manage their finances and invest in their future.
- Priority Points Framework: A Rural Development initiative that gives points to projects in communities that experience barriers to accessing Rural Development programs. This supports socially vulnerable communities by creating jobs and providing economic development and essential services such as housing; health care; first responder services and equipment; and water, electric and communications infrastructure.
- Rural Energy for America Program: $2.2 billion invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements for rural America’s agricultural producers and rural small business owners through 2031. Priority points to support disadvantaged and distressed communities were made as part of the program’s scoring criteria.
For more about USDA’s equity accomplishments, visit www.usda.gov/equity.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean-energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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