We are witnessing a nation in mourning as people from all walks of life, including the environmental movement, come together to condemn the institutional racism and police brutality that killed George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. We condemn these acts of violence and support the peoples' right to organize and protest to hold law enforcement accountable for the senseless deaths they've inflicted upon Black and Brown communities.
Police brutality and the institutionalized racism it reflects is a public health issue. The same systemic racism that led to the death of George Floyd has been pervasive in our society since the founding of our nation and all its racial inequities. It's a nation in which COVID-19 is sickening and killing Black and Brown people at a higher rate than the national average. It's a nation in which the industrial food system has long abused the disproportionately Black and Brown food workers who are risking their lives every day so we can keep food on our tables. To be silent is to be complicit. We at the Center for Food Safety are committed to fighting for racial justice so that we can build a more equitable food system fit for a more equitable nation.