Social Justice Activism

programs have disproportionate impacts. [study, redressing environmental racism,
compliance and enforcement]
Tribal Outreach
Other EJ Initiatives
USDA has had a role in implementing Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign in tribal
areas, by increasing participation by Bureau of Indian Education schools in Federal
nutrition programs, in the development of community gardens on tribal lands, and in the
development of tribal food policy councils. This is combined with measures to provide
Rural Development funding for community infrastructure in Indian Country. [children's
issues, education, diet, grants, Native Americans, public health].
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is working to update its policy on protection and
management of Native American Sacred Sites, an effort that has included listening
sessions and government-to-government consultation. The Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) has also consulted with Tribes regarding management of
reintroduced of species, where Tribes may have a history of subsistence-level hunting
of those species. Meanwhile, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is exploring a
program to use meat from bisons raised on Tribal land to supply AMS food distribution
programs to Tribes. [Native Americans, diet, subsistence, community participation]
The Intertribal Technical Assistance Network works to improve access of Tribal
governments, communities and individuals to USDA technical assistance programs.
Technical and Financial Assistance to Farmers
The Progress Report highlights the NRCS Strike Force Initiative, which has identified
impoverished counties in Mississippi, Georgia and Arkansas to receive increased
outreach and training regarding USDA assistance programs. USDA credits this
increased outreach with generating a 196 percent increase in contracts, representing
more than 250,000 acres of farmland, in its Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
[economic benefit, equitable development, grants, outreach, ej as evaluation criteria]
NRCS works with "private landowners protect their natural resources" through
conservation planning and assistance with the goal of maintaining "productive lands and
healthy ecosystems."• NRCS has its own civil rights compliance guidance document,
and in 2001 NRCS funded and published a study, "Environmental Justice: Perceptions
of Issues, Awareness and Assistance," focused on rural, Southern "Black Belt" counties
and analyzing how the NRCS workforce could more effectively integrate environmental
justice into impacted communities. [compliance and enforcement, redressing
environmental racism, grants, study, ej as evaluation criteria]
The Farm Services Agency in 2011 devoted $100,000 of its Socially Disadvantaged
Farmers and Ranchers program budget to improving its outreach to counties with
persistent poverty, including improving its materials and building relationships with local
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