The ACA is heartbroken by the unjust murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Dreasjon Reed, George Floyd, Tony McDade, David McAtee, and others. Sadly, these are just the recent tragedies; countless Black lives have been lost to racist violence in the United States. We work in a food system that has exploited and unjustly treated people of color for centuries, and we recognize this as well as the harm that this system has caused. We stand in solidarity with those who are organizing to increase accountability in various institutions and those working to build a better future for all.
Reflecting on the United State’s upcoming Independence Day and what it represents – patriotism and glory – we must acknowledge our privilege and recognize that there is critical work to do in order to make amends for the harm our pursuit of glory has caused. This harm we refer to is the stolen land and stolen labor the United States was built on. We cannot remain unaware or forget how this continues to impact agriculture today, while claiming that our good work of organic certification is adequate. We must begin to listen and learn about environmental racism, how it affects Indigenous people, Latinx migrants, their families left at borders, and the unwelcoming space this has created for Black people on both a financial and social level. This latest wave of Black Lives Matters uprisings has ushered in these very conversations.
We invite you to read what our partner organizations are sharing regarding their statements of solidarity below. Follow the leadership of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. Follow #BlackFarmersMatter to make you and your organization’s social media feeds more melanated. Amplify Black Farmers voices.
https://seedalliance.org/2020/in-solidarity/
https://tilth.org/black-lives-matter/
‘https://ccof.org/blog/black-lives-matter
https://oeffa.org/documents/OEFFA-racial-justice-statement.pdf
https://www.mofga.org/Community/MOFGA-Notes/in-solidarity
If you have any questions or concerns about our statement please contact Amber Pool at secretary@accreditedcertifiers.org
“File:Black Lives Matter (49975206972).jpg” by Taymaz Valley from Ottawa, Canada is licensed under CC BY 2.0