Why 2024 is the Year for Sugar Reform

We've got a real shot at making sugar industry reform happen this year. Here's why—and how:

Time, our most precious resource

The year-long extension of the 2023 farm bill gives us a big window of opportunity to re-frame sugar reform as an environmental and social justice matter. We are working every day to educate legislators on the sugar industry, its misdeeds, and the ways the federal government, through the sugar program, is complicit in those misdeeds.  

Standout leadership in unintuitive places

If you want to get something big done in American politics today, you better have a diverse—and unintuitive—coalition behind you. That's why we are so encouraged by the leadership of Florida congressman Brian Mast, who cut against the grain by introducing legislation last year to end cane burning. There aren't many Republicans in Congress taking on social justice causes. Mast is an inspiring voice for change.

Corruption on display

Alfy Fanjul delivered our campaign a political gift last year by asking Biden Administration official Chris Dodd—a former US Senator and presidential candidate—to lift the US Customs and Border Protection hold on Fanjul sugar from the Dominican Republic. Fanjul's letter is a rare glimpse into the smoky backroom where Big Sugar operates. We will keep a spotlight on this—and continue to ask for answers from Special Advisor Dodd, Alfy's old friend.

Social justice and the Department of Agriculture

Some have argued that President Biden’s agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack has a spotty record when it comes to social justice matters. Our campaign raised the issue last fall and will keep it on the agenda in 2024. Our goal: get Tom Vilsack to use executive action to deliver reform. He's got the power to make a big difference in people's lives. 

Civil Rights Act complaint

The Sierra Club is a key player in our environmental coalition. Their recent complaint to the federal departments of agriculture and justice and the EPA brought to life the environmental justice argument we had been making since our launch. We are working to make sure key stakeholders respond to it.

A breakthrough analysis of the harms of sugarcane burning

Never before has a causal link between cane burning and community-wide respiratory disease been established. That will change in 2024. Stay tuned.

With your support, we can't be turned back. As always, we welcome your feedback and ideas.