The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday announced nearly $1.2 million in competitive Environmental Justice Grants selected for award to 40 nonprofit and tribal organizations working to address environmental justice issues nationwide.
Two grants were awarded in Pennsylvania to the Friends and Farmworkers, Inc. in Erie County and Northwestern Pennsylvania for a pesticide safety project and to the PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture for a statewide agricultural climate resiliency project.
The Friends and Farmworkers, Inc. grant will be used to educate farmworkers about pesticide exposure and to prepare community leaders to educate others on the subject. It will provide them with knowledge, training and educator skills needed to directly address pesticide exposure.
Farmworkers in Erie County will benefit first and foremost by learning about the health risks associated with pesticide exposure; knowing and understanding the laws intended to protect them and the willingness of Friends of Farmworkers to help; and becoming aware of the importance of environmental sustainability for the health of both the farmworker community and the general population.
The PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture project will empower farmers to adapt to changing climate conditions through sustainable agricultural methods including building soil and enhancing biodiversity on their farms.
By bringing farmers, extension educators, researchers, and private and land grant universities together to learn and share with one another, the project will cost a community-based learning and innovation network to guide future work supporting climate change resiliency in the Pennsylvania agricultural community.
PASA will host two on-farm Field Days, one Pre-Conference Track at the 2016 Farming for the Future Conference, and one webinar.
The project seeks to increase Pennsylvania farmers’ knowledge about climate change and its impacts on farms, both ecologically and economically.
At least 100 farmers in Pennsylvania will attend educational workshops and increase their understanding of climate change and sustainable agricultural methods that can build farm resiliency.
Through a Project Planning Committee and culminating Climate Change and Agriculture Round Table Meeting, a community-based learning and innovation network including farmers, agricultural organizations, Penn State Extension, and university students and researchers will be formed to advise project development and set new goals for future collaborative work.
The EPA Environmental Justice Grants are designed to enable organizations to conduct research, provide education, and develop solutions to local health and environmental issues in minority and low-income communities overburdened by harmful pollution.
"EPA’s environmental justice grants help communities across the country understand and address exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks at the local level," said Matthew Tejada, Director of EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice. "Addressing the impacts of climate change is a priority for EPA and the projects supported by this year’s grants will help communities prepare for and build resilience to localized climate impacts."
Since 1994, EPA’s environmental justice small grants program has supported projects to address environmental justice issues in nearly 1,500 communities. The grants represent EPA’s continued commitment to expand the conversation on environmentalism and advance environmental justice in communities across the nation.
A list of all grants awarded is available online.
For more information, visit EPA’s Environmental Justice Grants webpage.
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