A Special Statement from NCFH

The staff at the National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) is ​deeply saddened by the recent unjust and violent events impacting our country. Since the enslavement of indigenous and African peoples in the early days of America, racism has had deep roots in agriculture. Throughout the 20th century, Black farmers had to battle institutional racism in farm lending and land opportunities as they were systematically pushed off their farms. In the early 1900s, Black farmers made up 14% of farm owners and many were thriving economically, but 100 years later only 1.5% of farm owners were Black and the size of their farms had shrunk dramatically. As a nation, we owe so much to the Black agriculturalists who drove innovation and success on American farms: from Antoine, the Louisiana slave horticulturalist who cultivated the first domesticated pecans, to George Washington Carver, whose brilliant ideas on regenerative agriculture are still innovative today, to Leah Penniman, who is fiercely fighting to end racism and injustice in farming today. 

 In affirming our mission to improve the health of farmworkers and their families, we strive to dismantle all types of barriers and challenges to quality healthcare, including racism. We are committed to advancing and supporting actions that are grounded in respect, inclusivity, and health equality. NCFH stands in solidarity with those devoted to and who seek equality, oppose racism, and demand justice for those subject to health disparities, poverty, and violence.