PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Joanna Dorsey, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Black Farmers United NYS
2:25:31
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146 sec
Joanna Dorsey, representing Black Farmers United NYS, testified in support of Intro 693, emphasizing the importance of including BIPOC farmers in urban agriculture initiatives. She highlighted the potential for the bill to address land access issues and scale smaller farms, particularly those from historically disenfranchised communities.
- Stressed the availability of veteran farmers of color to support the bill's implementation
- Mentioned the Coalition for the Good Food New York bill and barriers to institutional purchasing
- Emphasized the opportunity to involve Black-led nonprofits in the project
Joanna Dorsey
2:25:31
Good good afternoon.
2:25:32
Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
2:25:34
My name is Joanna Dorsey, and I serve as the, director of policy and advocacy for Black Farmers United in New York State.
2:25:42
BFU was a member led organization of over a 150 black farmers, land stewards, and educators across the that is it's spanned all across, New York state.
2:25:51
And today, I'm here, to testify in support of council councilwoman Sandy Nurse's bill, intro, 0693.
2:26:01
One thing that I really just wanted to uplift is the testimony that we heard throughout the day so far that really touched on key points that are essential to this bill, such as benefits to the community, the economic benefits, as well as the health benefits.
2:26:15
But I would also like to uplift the importance, and the availability of veteran farmers, specifically farmers of color, to support in the implementation of this bill.
2:26:25
As a sister from the National Black Food and Justice Alliance mentioned, there may have been a missed opportunity in the development here, but there is certainly an opportunity to include BIPOC farmers in this project through the utilization of black led, nonprofits such as MBFJA and Iyashima's organization as well as Black Farmers United.
2:26:47
These organizations have members that have established networks and community outreach, technical expertise and knowledge sharing, the capacity for workforce training and development, and then also the firsthand knowledge of what's needed in order to, allow our farmers to, be able to take, take part in the equitable possibilities that a bill like this could, could present.
2:27:13
I'm part of the Coalition for the Good Food New York bill, which is the statewide version of the, the New York City Good Food Purchasing Program.
2:27:20
And with that, we, we surveyed a lot of our members to really find out what the barriers are to help, that, that they face with accessing institutionalized purchase purchasing.
2:27:31
And one of the main barriers was access to land.
2:27:35
So I just want to uplift the importance of this bill and how this can really help to scale smaller farms, specifically, those who have been, historically disenfranchised.
2:27:46
I don't know if I've reached my time, but I just wanna wrap it up because a lot of what I've wanted to say has been said and, just to show support for, the testimony that's been given so far.
2:27:55
Thank you so much for your time.
