Rep. Adams Highlights USDA Equity Report Findings During 1st Quarter Adams Hunger Initiative Webinar

CHARLOTTE - Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12) hosted this year's inaugural meeting of her quarterly Adams Hunger Initiative (AHI) today featuring an overview of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Equity Commission's 2024 report. The event was hosted virtually and attended by representatives from organizations that address nutrition, farming, and hunger in the region.

The conversation featured Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Deputy Executive Director for Policy at the Center for Law and Social Policy and member of the USDA Equity Commission. It centered around the recent USDA report on ways to improve equity and access within the USDA, both within the agency and through statutory changes in advance of the Farm Bill.

Rep. Adams, a fierce champion in Congress for ending hunger, began the AHI in 2015 to convene stakeholders and community advisors around issues related to her work on the House Agriculture Committee, including nutrition policy and food systems.

"In our Adams Hunger Initiative briefing today, Mrs. Lower-Basch helped encapsulate this moment we're in and the opportunities ahead," said Rep. Adams. "We are living with the consequences of generations of discrimination against farmers, at the hands of both the government and the private sector. Injustice demands urgent action and also requires years of service to achieve results. This report builds on decades of work to address inequities in food and agriculture, and also asks for our immediate action. I was thrilled to share it with Adams Hunger Initiative members and participants."

"The charge of the commission was to look into equity in everything the USDA does," said Mrs. Lower-Basch. "One area of focus was how do we make sure the USDA is held accountable to equity goals regardless of what happens in November? There is no magic wand, no cross-cutting solution, but we have to solve these problems, usually one at a time. We also acknowledge that many of these solutions are beyond the scope of the USDA and will require legislative action. So I want to thank Congresswoman Adams for her leadership and focus on these issues."

Rep. Adams will host her next Quarterly Adams Hunger Initiative in June.

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Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. represents North Carolina's 12th Congressional District (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus County) and serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, where she serves as ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee.