America’s food industry body has joined forces with environmental advocates, farmers, forest owners and state governments to lobby on federal climate policy.
The group, the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA) yesterday announced 40 recommendations for the in-coming presidential administration. They focus on soil health, livestock and dairy, forests and wood products, energy, research, and food loss and waste.
The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA) is made up of the:
- American Farm Bureau Federation
- Environmental Defense Fund
- National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
- National Farmers Union
- Food Industry Association
- National Alliance of Forest Owners
- National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
- Nature Conservancy
It says climate policies must be thoughtfully crafted to account for potential inequities. They must be science-based and promote resilience in rural communities.
Rob Larew, co-chair of the group and president of the National Farmers Union, said, “Climate change is adding another enormous variable to the already unpredictable work of farming.
“Every year farmers face more frequent and severe weather events, making it just that much harder to make a profit.
“There are concrete actions farmers can take to build resilience to weather extremes and pull carbon out of the atmosphere, but they need strong policy behind them. The recommendations we’ve compiled are a good place to start.”
The group believes federal policy should provide incentives and support for farmers, ranchers, and forest owners as they tackle the challenges created by climate change.
It asks for:
- Public and private sector tools to incentivise agricultural and forestry producers to prioritise and scale climate-smart practices.
- Incentives for farmers to reduce energy consumption, increase on-farm renewable energy production, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- The streamlining of consumer-facing packaging and a public-private partnership for a food date-labelling program.
- Substantial and continuous increases in federal investment for agriculture, forestry and food-related research.
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