Shortly after he was sworn into office, President Trump signed more than two dozen executive orders, several of which will impact farms, food workers, and the broader food system.
After pledging to “drill, baby, drill” in his inauguration speech, Trump declared a national energy emergency to boost fossil fuel production, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, and halted leasing for offshore wind power. In the past few years, farmers have been reeling from the effects of climate-related disasters. In the last global assessment, the world’s top climate experts found the crisis is already affecting the world’s food supply and that without a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, a “livable and sustainable future for all” is in jeopardy.
He also declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and issued several directives to crack down on immigration. To speed deportations, he said the administration would created Homeland Security Task Forces in all states and wrote that the Secretary of Homeland Security, “shall promptly take appropriate action to use all other provisions of the immigration laws or any other Federal law . . . to ensure the efficient and expedited removal of aliens from the United States.”
He also attempted to end birthright citizenship, although that move is likely to be challenged in court. Accurate estimates are hard to come by, but millions of immigrants work on farms, in food processing plants, and in restaurants without legal authorization.
Trump issued a sweeping order to unravel the Biden administration’s equity and environmental justice initiatives, such as the USDA’s Equity Commission and EPA grants that supported community solutions to environmental justice challenges.
He also withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO) at a time when avian influenza is surging on U.S. farms and could pose a greater risk to humans in the future. Finally, his order to freeze government hiring and require federal agencies to end work-from-home policies will also likely lead to staff shake-ups at agencies including the USDA, where many established employees have been working almost entirely remotely. (Link to this post)
The post Trump’s Day 1 Orders Have Profound Implications for the Food System appeared first on Civil Eats.