FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Maria Payan
mariap@sraproject.org
717 826-7286

November 30, 2020

Multi-day virtual forum to examine problems, solutions in agriculture

DELMARVA PENINSULA—The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed disproportionate impacts across all levels of society, and the issues plaguing Delmarva’s close connections to agriculture and the poultry industry have finally found their way into the national spotlight.

This December, the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP) will host a multi-day virtual summit to explore some of those challenges—and their solutions—during SRAP LIVE!

SRAP LIVE! will explore topics from environmental injustice to industrial agricultural production to community engagement and more, during a series of panels starting on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The virtual event continues Dec. 4-5, Dec. 9 and Dec. 11-12.

The first day of SRAP LIVE! will explore the potential harm in “Right To Farm” laws and how agricultural nitrate pollution impacts drinking water and public health. Additional panels will feature more than a dozen experts examining the following topics:

• The impact of air emissions from industrial livestock facilities on public health (Dec. 4)
• Whether biogas is truly a “green” energy solution (Dec. 4)
• How to effectively communicate as activists with impacted communities (Dec. 5)
• A citizen’s guide to environmental advocacy (Dec. 5)
• The potential of the proposed federal Farm System Reform Act (Dec. 9)
• Regenerative agriculture from a native perspective (Dec. 9)
• Environmental racism and community empowerment through monitoring (Dec. 11)
• Why constitutional rights to clean air and water matter (Dec. 11)
• How the arts play a role in social justice (Dec. 11).

A full schedule is available at sraproject.live/schedule.

Panelists include Maria Payan, senior regional consultant for SRAP in the Delmarva Region, and other SRAP experts; environmental lawyer Chris Nidel of Nidel & Nace; environmental lawyer and professor Ken Kristl, director of the Environmental Rights Institute at Widener University’s Delaware Law School; Dr. Sacoby Wilson, associate professor at the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the University of Maryland College Park School of Public Health; Delaware Riverkeeper Maya Van Rossum; representatives from Food & Water Watch; as well as farmers, students, artists, and locally engaged environmental justice advocates.

A full list of panelists is available at sraproject.live/about-speakers.

The live streamed event is free and open to the public; visit sraproject.live/registration to register for access.

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Socially Responsible Agriculture Project is a national organization that aims to inform and educate the public about the negative effects of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)—also known as factory farms—while working directly with impacted communities. Through public education, issue advocacy, and local community organizing, SRAP empowers rural residents to protect their public health, environmental quality, natural resources and local economies from the damaging impacts of factory farms. For more information, visit sraproject.org.