Dr. Mark Hyman, author of the bestselling book Food Fix andleader of the Food Fix Campaign, which seeks to fix America’s broken food system to improve health, the environment, and the economy, today released the following statement on Secretary Tom Vilsack’s announcement on the Department of Agriculture’s new Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities.

“Today, our farms and ranches are the source of approximately 10 percent of the nation’s overall emissions. That is why we applaud Secretary Vilsack for announcing the new Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities that will use $1 billion from USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation to establish climate pilots across the country that will utilize Regenerative Organic Agriculture (ROA) methods such as no-till farming, cover crops, and rotational grazing.

“With climate-friendly agricultural and conservation methods we can reverse that reality and become a carbon sink,’ securing carbon in the soil, capturing methane, and reducing carbon dioxide release. This vision and exciting action are why I am confident even more steps will soon be taken to advance ROA methods, that enable more nutritious food to be produced, improve our farming environment, and protect the health of our children.”

The Food Fix Campaign The Food Fix Campaign filed formal comments to the USDA in 2021 urging high-level attention be given to the well-documented promise of Regenerative Organic Agriculture, including in the Department’s Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry (CSAF) Partnership Program. Specifically, the Campaign recommended that action be taken establish incentives for climate smart agriculture. Additionally, the Campaign is working with Administration officials as they implement major investments in climate-smart agriculture, including $3 Billion for agricultural and food sustainability as well as $146 Million for climate-smart agricultural and food research.

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