In these troubled times, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) stands with Black, Indigenous and all People of Color (BIPOC) and we condemn the impacts of systemic racism on individuals, families, communities and our institutions. We are heartbroken by the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many other people of color as a result of racial injustice and violence perpetuated by institutional and structural systems that have long been in place.   

We stand with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, North Carolina State University and the millions of people worldwide experiencing outrage, pain and grief. We bear witness to the injustice and hardship that BIPOC experience disproportionately, including in the food system. CEFS believes it is a moral imperative to identify and create opportunities to address the root causes of inequity in the food system.

We acknowledge both our role in perpetuating, and our responsibility in mitigating, systems of oppression and commit to addressing the historical construction and present-day impacts of structural racism. As recommended by the Inter-Institutional Network for Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability (INFAS) in response to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ (APLU) Challenge of Change report, our work will begin at home within our own organization, our academic institutions and within the food system.