In February of last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched an effort focused on removing barriers to federal programs within the agency’s mission. The announcement named historical discrimination – racial, and also geographic, social, and economic – it intends to address with a newly formed Equity Commission. In the year before, USDA made a Request for Information from the public and held five public listening sessions, asking for feedback on customer experience with USDA programs. The response pointed to a history of discrimination, barriers to funding and land, and loss of trust with Indian Tribes among several other findings that have become priorities for the equity initiative. Earlier this week, the Equity Commission released its first set of recommendations. These and information about other efforts can be found at www.usda.gov/equity.
