If we should accept corporations as persons under U.S. law as the 2010 Citizens United ruling argued, then Monsanto would be among the most psychopathic persons on the planet. There’s no other way to describe one who intentionally contaminates the environment and global food supply with potentially harmful GMOs, developes and propagates chemicals that cause birth defects, death, and long-term environmental damage, bullies and exploits small farmers to the point of bankruptcy and in some cases, suicide, and monitors, discredits and/or infiltrates groups that dare criticize them by working with contract mercenary groups like Blackwater. These are just a few examples from Monsanto’s long and ever-growing list of misdeeds.

Corporate psychopaths like Monsanto may currently have the money and connections to get away with murder but there’s a growing worldwide movement to bring them to justice consisting of a diverse range of groups and tactics. In the current legislative session there are 14 states debating whether to mandate labelling of GMO food and over a half million people have signed the Just Label It petition to put pressure on the FDA. In California, grassroots organizations including the Organic Consumers Fund are pushing for a ballot initiative to make GMO labels mandatory. According to  the OCF website, polls show 80% support the proposal and since California is the 8th largest economy in the world, a new labelling law will affect packaging and ingredient decisions nation-wide. Two similar bills (supported by groups including the Center for Food Safety, Organic Consumers Association, GMO Free Washington and AGRA Watch) HB 2637 and SB 6298, are currently going through the Washington State House and Senate. Meanwhile, groups like the Biotechnology Industry Association and Monsanto are spending millions of dollars lobbying against such bills that could potentially curb their profits drastically. According to the USDA 93% of the 2011 soybean crop were GMOs, and data from the Grocery Manufacturers Association indicate GMOs are present in 80% of conventional processed foods in the US. These percentages could drop dramatically and rapidly if more consumers suddenly became aware of which foods contained GMOs and make better informed purchasing choices.

On January 24th, protesters rallied outside of Monsanto’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis during their annual shareholder’s meeting. Among the protesters was Adam Eidinger, an organic food activist who presented a shareholder resolution on behalf of Harrington Investments with help from the Pesticide Action Network of North America. The resolution proposed a study of material financial risks and operational impacts of GMOs and chemicals produced by Monsanto. Unfortunately, the resolution was voted down while the company’s CEO and directors were reelected until 2015. In a message to shareholders regarding the Harrison Investments proposal, Monsanto representatives stated “Farmers should have the freedom to choose which production method is best suited for their needs, whether organic, non-GM conventional or biotechnology traits. All of these systems can and do work effectively side by side.” John Harrington, CEO of Harrington Investments said in response “While I am heartened by Monsanto’s sudden concern for the freedom of farmers, the unfortunate reality facing American farmers right now, is that genetic drift from GMO crops is contaminating their conventional and organic crops. This can be disastrous because many GMO crops cannot be sold to important markets, such as Europe, China and Japan. The potential legal implications for Monsanto are staggering.”

While the protest at the Monsanto shareholder’s meeting was taking place, protesters from Occupy London staged a “flash protest”  at the UK Monsanto headquarters in Cambridge as part of an international week of protest against Monsanto held in solidarity. Occupy Maui also participated by rallying at the Kihei Monsanto offices as part of their own week-long series of actions designed to bring attention to the dangers of pesticides and GMOs. The issue is particularly relevant to people of Hawaii because GE corn has become the state’s number one crop. One week prior to the rally a panel discussion was held at the University of Hawaii to discuss concerns about GMOs and respond to controvery surrounding the acceptance of $500,000 from Monsanto by the UH’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources last September.

Last spring the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) filed a suit against Monsanto on behalf of 60 family farms, seed businesses and organic agriculture organizations to challenge the company’s GMO patents. This was a preemptive and defensive measure to protect farmers from accusations of patent infringement should their crops be contaminated by GMO seeds or pollen as has happened in the past. One of the most famous examples was Monsanto’s suit against Canadian canola farmer Percy Schmeiser in 1999. The court ruled that Percy did not have to pay Monsanto but upheld the validity of Monsanto’s patent. Soon after OSGATA filed the lawsuit, Monsanto released a statement claiming they wouldn’t sue farmers with “trace” amounts of GMO contamination. However, they refused to make their promise legally binding and instead defended their right to sue for patent infringement farmers whose crops are contaminated by GMOs. Now OSGATA is calling for a citizen’s assembly outside of Manhattan District court on January 31st as the judge hears oral arguments for the decision.

According to an AP story from January 16, Argentina’s tax agency AFIP discovered inhumane treatment of workers when they raided a Monsanto contractor. They found illegally hired farmhands forced to work 14 hour days, prevented from leaving the premises and who had salaries withheld. The previous month Argentina’s congress overturned dictatorship-era laws by giving farmhands 8 hour days and other benefits. AFIP says they will hold Monsanto responsible for the slave camp-like labor conditions. On January 13, food activists in France scored a victory when agriculture and ecology ministers announced they would uphold a ban on MON810 (a type of GM corn containing bacillus thurengiensis or Bt genes) after meeting with farmers. France is the sixth European Union nation (after Germany, Greece, Austria, Luxemburg, and Hungary)  to prohibit MON810 cultivation. The ban was previously overturned by the French high court in 2008 following a ruling by the European Court of Justice that said the ban was based on the wrong EU legislation. During the January 24th Monsanto shareholder’s meeting, food activists, farmers and beekeepers in southern France invaded the Trèbes Monsanto plant to protest a planned distribution of MON810 to French farmers ahead of spring sowings. In response, Monsanto claimed the GMO seeds held at the French plant were intended for export markets only and a few days later officially announced they would not resume sales of  MON810 in France.

In the past week there’s been stories circulating on Organic Common Sense, Earth First! Newswire and other websites highlighting actions that Anonymous staged against Monsanto. The disruption of Monsanto’s website by Anonymous (the notorious group of hackers and activists known for wearing the Guy Fawkes masks from “V for Vendetta”) took place last July but has gained publicity in light of more recent attacks on FBI and Justice Department websites in reaction to the shutdown of file-sharing site Megaupload. For those who missed it, the Monsanto attacks were part of Operation Antisec which began last spring and continued through the summer. This campaign began as a protest against censorship and involved the hacking of government sites in the U.S., Brazil, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, law enforcement agencies, military contractors and also corporations such as Monsanto who harm people and the environment. In a related video statement Anonymous demanded an end to Monsanto’s psychopathic behavior and called for further protest, organization and education on the issue. It’s possible that some members of Anonymous are also organic farmers or food activists because the closing statement echoed what such groups including CAGJ have been saying for years: “Say no to poisonous chemicals in your food! Say no to GMO! Say no to Monsanto!”

Sources:

http://justlabelit.org/

http://organicconsumersfund.org/label/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_24742.cfm

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Bio-tech-firm-the-target-of-protest-27012012.htm

http://occupymaui.org/

http://honoluluweekly.com/cover/2012/01/boss-gmo/

http://www.osgata.org/osgata-press-releases

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9SADUU80.htm

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/france-monsanto-idUSL6E8CD4GK20120113

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/27/01/2012/131189/Monsanto-scraps-GM-maize-plans.htm

http://www.organiccommonsense.com/organic/anonymous-takes-down-monsanto-com

Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines our Health and How to Fight Back
When: Wednesday, January 25, 2012; 6:30-8:30pm
Location: Salvadorean Bakery, 1719 SW Roxbury St, Seattle, WA 98106 www.thesalvadoreanbakery.com
Order the book from Powell’s for $7.95

Facilitated by John Fawcett-Long:
A few years ago a small group of us associated with the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network (WSFFN) started to study the presence and impact of corporate agribusiness in Washington state. Al Krebs, now deceased and author of The Corporate Reapers, worked with us. I would like to restart that effort so that at a minimum we can report on what’s going on in Washington and monitor these corporations.

Description from the Book’s website (www.appetiteforprofit.com):
The United States is currently embroiled in a national debate over the growing public health crisis caused by poor diet. Many people are starting to ask who is to blame and how can we fix the problem, especially among children? The major food companies are responding with a massive public relations campaign. These companies, including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Kraft, and General Mills are increasingly on the defensive. In response, they are pretending to sell healthier food and otherwise position themselves as “part of the solution.” All the while, they continue to lobby against commonsense nutrition policies.

This book explains how to fight back by offering reliable resources. Readers will learn how to spot the PR, how to not be fooled, and how to organize, for example, to improve school food. Appetite for Profit, for the first time:

• Explains why we cannot trust food corporations to “do the right thing”
• Describes the local battles of going up against the powerful food lobbies
• Offers a comprehensive guide to the public relations, front groups, and lobbying tactics that food companies employ to trick the American public
• Provides an entertaining glossary that explains corporate rhetoric, including phrases like “better-for-you foods” and “frivolous lawsuit”

Food Justice Project: Organizing for Food Justice & Food Sovereignty in Seattle & everywhere!

• Teach-Outs with Central Co-op, Cascadian Edible Landscapes, Seattle Youth Garden Works with Spring into Bed!, Clean Greens Farm (in photo: CAGJ activist Victoria Gibson on the Farm with Clean Greens Farmer Tom Willis, and Teach-Out participant Chris Dunkle)  HUG-Hilltop Urban Gardens for Food Day!
• May 23: UW Food Justice event with Robert Gottlieb, Author of Food Justice
• Sept 10: hosted MST-Landless Workers Movement- Leader Janaina Stronzake, who spoke at Seattle Tilth Harvest Fair and at CAGJ event, “Food Justice from Brazil to Seattle”
• Nov 13: Occupy Seattle Food Justice Teach-in

AGRA Watch: Organizing to confront the Gates Foundation and Support Food Sovereignty in Africa!

• April 2: Fatou Batta event: Burkino Faso leader of Groundswell International and We Are the Solution Campaign, a women led campaign to resist the “green revolution”.  Speakers included Sara Mersha, Grassroots International and Marcia IshIi-Eiteman, PANNA.
• Nov 5-15:  AGRA Watch nominated Food Sovereignty Prize Winner, Kenyan Farmer Samuel Nderitu, Grow Biointensive Agricultural Centre of Kenya, who we accompanied and then hosted when he received the prize in Oakland (photo above left, Samuel); Farmer Exchange and visit to Marra Farm and public speaking engagements.

NW Farm Bill Action Group: Organizing to transform the Farm Bill!

• On March 1 NWFBAG hosted Dan Imhoff, author of CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories and Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill

• Strategy Meeting hosted by Councilmember Richard Conlin’s office; Reception attended by core NWFBAG members; Public Event at UW attended by close to 300

CAGJ’s first Delegation, to Oaxaca, Mexico

From Sept 21 through Oct 1 seven CAGJ members participated in a joint CAGJ/Witness for Peace Food Sovereignty Delegation to Oaxaca, Mexico.  On Nov 17 several delegates gave a report-back, along with one of the Mexican farming leaders they had met in Oaxaca, Eleazar Garcia.

CAGJ as a Community Resource

In 2011 CAGJ gave presentations to 15 community partners, educating and activating close to 1000 people.  Highlights included our first joint presentation with the Gates Foundation at the Hillel Hunger Banquet, multiple presentations to Gregg Shiosaki’s culinary students at Seattle Central Culinary Academcy, and an AGRA Watch presentation at the Green Festival with Organic Consumers Alliance. CAGJ also tabled at one major event every month in 2011 from the Green Festival to Farmer’s Markets to Town Hall and Seattle Tilth, and we reached over 1,500 people!

Represented CAGJ in Partners’ Speaking Engagements

• Feb 18: Heather speak on panel at Farm Together Now – Book Release and Discussion on Seattle’s Food System at Town Hall
• March 3: Heather Day speak with Gates Foundation representative at UW Hillel Hunger Banquet event
  • In the media: Tom Paulson Blog: Hunger Banquet and the Gates Fdn vs. food activists
• April 14: Chris Iberle present at USAS Sodexo Truth Tour event
• April 17: Bill Aal presents at League of Women Voters event, Sequim
• April 20: Bill Aal presents at Gleaning Food Justice in Tacoma
• April 21: Bill Aal and Nina Triffleman present AGRA Watch workshop, “Politics of Need” – UW Common Spaces NW
• April 26: Phil Bereano presents at National Organic Standards Board
• April 28: Maria Rodriguez presents at Novella Carpenter WA Hall event
• May 21 Janae Choquette presents, Claudia Navas attend Emerging Leaders Conference

• May 21: Bill Aal presents at Green Festival on AGRA Watch with Organic Consumers Alliance

• Oct 20: Chris Iberle presents on food justice on panel at Food Justice & Our Local Food System, Antioch
• Nov 1: Laura Titzer presents on food justice in Seattle Culinary Academy Classroom
• Dec 7: Phil Bereano How the 1% uses the ideology of technology to maintain power, Occupy Seattle/UW

CAGJ Outreach & Education through Tabling

• Jan 11: Helena Nordberg-Hodge at Town Hall (Heather & Travis host speaker)
• Feb 18: Farm Together Now at Town Hall
• March 3: Hunger Banquet Tabling
• April 41: Witness for Peace War on Drugs Town Hall event
• May 21-22: Green Festival Tabling
• May 29 and June 5: SLEE Tabling at Broadway Farmers Market

• June 1: Yes! Magazine 15^th Anniversary event at Town Hall
• Aug 22: Food and Water Watch Film Screening, Tabling

• Sept 10: Seattle Tilth Harvest Fair Tabling
• Oct 24: Central Co-op Food Day Tabling
• Nov 19: Highlight OFOR in Local Giving Fair, Greenwood Senior Center

CAGJ Taking Action for Justice in the Global Economy

CAGJ organized fun, creative and effective actions throughout the year!

• April 16: Celebrated La Via Campesina International Day of Peasant Struggle with street theater and outreach at Ballard Farmers Market
• April 22: Trade Justice Action with WA Fair Trade Coalition at Rep Smith event

• May 1: CAGJ Contingent in May Day Immigrants’ Rights March
• June 4: AGRA Watch protests Gates Foundation’s Headquarters opening
• June 11: Took photo at SLEE dinner reading “We Support Paid Sick Days for Food Workers” and helped to pass the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance!
• June 29: Trade Justice Banner hang over I-5 and downtown Seattle Rally & Street Theater targeting Jim McDermott with WA Fair Trade Coalition
• Oct 1: Delivered banner to Rep McDermott reading: “Rep McDermott: Free Trade Kills Farmers!  Vote No on US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement!”, with signatures collected on all summer at multiple events

• Oct 15: Occupy Seattle Food Justice Action
• Nov 21: Confronted WA Representatives who voted in favor of 3 new trade agreements at WA Council for International Trade, with WA Fair Trade Coalition

Created our own Media, and Making News!

• Created Independent Analysis – Articles by CAGJ Co-Chair Reid Mukai: Roots of Recent Uprisings, Raw Milk Gets Raw Deal From Feds, GMOs Coming to Parks and Lawns Near You, Lessons From Oaxaca to Occupy Movement: A Delegate Reports Back, Notes on a Global Occupation – read them on our website!
• Continued to create the debate about the Gates Foundation’s role in Africa through numerous articles and talks in national and international media, and at African Studies Conferences.
• Humanosphere Blogger Tom Paulson covered CAGJ’s presentation alongside the Gates Foundation in “Hunger Banquet and the Gates Fdn vs. food activists”, and our action at the Gates Foundation Headquarter’s opening, “Post-party news at the new Gates Foundation campus — Bono drops by to say hi and activists drop in to protest”.
• Yes! Magazine Online covered the story of African leader Fatou Batta and our other allies in “Women Farmers Feed the World”.  GreenAcres Radio also covered this story in “We Are the Solution: Women’s Farm Organizations Thrive in Africa”.
• Phil Bereano was interviewed by Dr. Philip Mercola, posted April 2 “Scientists Vigorously Objected to this Food, Are You Eating it?”

Building Local, Regional, National and International Alliances

In 2011 CAGJ participated in 8 coalitions/alliances including the Puget Sound Regional Food Policy Council, WA Fair Trade Coalition, WA Farmworker Coalition, Making Change at Walmart Coalition, National Family Farm Coalition, Community Food Security Coalition, US Food Sovereignty Alliance and Occupy Seattle.  In addition, the AGRA Watch campaign built relationships with African groups throughout the continent.  This work takes time and energy but the pay off is creating a wide base of support so that when we talk, politicians listen!

Participated in Conferences

CAGJ participated in and presented at 8 conferences in 2011, including Organicology, Emerging Leaders, two Community Food Security Conferences, and US Food Sovereignty Alliance, sharing and learning from activists all over the world.  One highlight was in November where CAGJ gave 3 presentations at the African Scholars Conference challenging the Gates Foundation’s investments in industrial agricultural practices in Africa.

CAGJ Organizational Development

We made great strides in 2011 building a strong, resilient organization with capacity to effect transformative change. We focused on Anti-Oppression thru focus groups, community meetings and workshops, began transition to an online database, engaged in Communications training, and raised enough funds to pay our Director full-time through fun events like our Food Justice Trivia Night, Café Justicia Dinner, Fair Trade for the Holidays and our 5^th annual SLEE dinner, with keynote by Detroit food justice leader Aba Ifeoma.  We won several grants for the Food Justice Project Community Education trainings, Our Food, Our Right publication and the NW Farm Bill Action Network.

Chelsea Eickert, Membership Co-Chair
The 2011 CFSC Conference nicely highlighted how agricultural problems are linked to social problems. The conference also brought its audience under the same spotlight of solidarity. Food organizers and food rebels alike, are agitating the system until food sovereignty is accomplished. We are all about democratizing and reclaiming our food system. We are all addressing issues of ownership in order to attain food security. Because of the food movement’s work, there has been a cultural shift. We have learned that practicing tools of grassroots democracy leads to the most transformative programs. But working in isolation can only get us so far. Now we need to unify and politicize the movement!

Because of the focus on movements, I heard many leaders address a running theme throughout the conference: We are all working in silos. We can accomplish more, and what can really be transformative is, if all networks unify into one movement. Only then can we demonstrate what’s possible if we work together. We are a collective of teachers, and what resonates with everyone is the fact that we all want a successful food system. We also have a deep sense of connection with others:“The truth is we are all one. The reality is, we are all divided.” Divided or unified, this effects our communities. DON’T WORK ON FOOD JUSTICE IN ISOLATION! WORK TOGETHER IN COMMUNITY! We can be stronger together. Rosalinda Guillien, from Community to Community Development, demands, “We must work shoulder to shoulder within our communities.”

We need to have people of color and low-income involved in planning, and include farmer/farm workers in this discussion. My own take away of how to be an effective ally: when you are in the position of privilege/power, you have the power/privilege/choice to change institutional ____isms/ideologies. We need to build a movement, not just policy-work. For decades, we have been asking, What would happen if we took on feeding the world ourselves?And we know the answer: local, indigenous production! The honorees of the Food Sovereignty Prize illustrate the geography of food sovereignty – it’s principles unify but also honor the particularities of each region. What does food sovereignty look like in cities around the world? We also need to have a strong community identity. When it comes to organizing communities, Farmer‘Doc’ Davis, from Mississippi Delta Fresh Farm emphasizes, “Success depends on volunteers.” And, when it comes to democratizing and reclaiming our food system, Joel, from Family Farm Defenders, powerfully required, “WE HAVE TO FIGHT LIKE WE HAVE NEVER FOUGHT BEFORE.”

Chris Iberle, Food Justice Project Co-Chair
Another interesting conference from CFSC, with strong showing of CAGJ members to both spread the word about our work, improve upon it, and bring home new ideas, actions, and connections to Seattle.  For me the conference was part skills-building, part analysis-deepening, part relationship-creating, and all building movement power for food sovereignty.

A few take-aways for CAGJ and the movement of food justice movements emerged for me.  On an organizational level, CAGJ is doing important work connecting small-scale farmer, farmworker, workers’ rights, and food justice struggles locally to similar movements worldwide for food sovereignty.  Making these connections and building solidarity is crucial, and as we work to change our food system and fight corporate control, we must always be educating and mobilizing in solidarity and taking the lead from these people’s movements happening in our own backyard and abroad.

Racism, sexism, and other oppressions within the conventional, current food system, and how they manifest in the alternative food movement was front and center in many discussions at CFSC.  While CAGJ has made good steps to work on our anti-oppression framework and have it influence our work, we must always remind ourselves of our roles (whatever they may be) within the movement for food justice and sovereignty, and take the lead from organizations and communities directly affected and organizing for empowerment, autonomy, and inclusion in the food system of the future.

I think policy could also be referred to as a “refuge of scoundrels” and wonks, especially the process by which its currently crafted.  While perhaps not as exciting, interesting, or fun as urban farms, restructuring local economies, and building our visionary future just food systems, policy and regulations remain a big barrier to the traction and success of those (current) “alternatives”.  As the Super-committee debated the Farm Bill, the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act gains support, and to a lesser extent the recent passage of three new Free Trade Agreements got some attention at the conference at the national level, successfully engaging food justice, alternative food groups, and our supporters in advocating for policy change and better rules is an area for improvement.  An uphill battle, many current policies locally, nationally, and internationally only serve to support corporate and industrial food.

Occupy Wall Street was another common topic of discussion in Oakland, just down the street from Occupy Oakland.  There was wide recognition of shared values in fighting corporate control of politics and specifically corporate control of the food system.  In the very least, OWS was seen as opening the conversation in the mainstream about corporate control of our food and what to do about it.  At best, OWS is being seen as a young movement with a bright future, with lots of opportunities for collaboration, partnership, and allying for a common cause.  Because of some uncertainty around OWS’ future energy & strategy, and potential problems of alienation and lack of inclusion plaguing the movement, many CFSC attendees seemed content to simply be generally supportive of the cause, hopeful, and stay tuned to what will happen next.

The post-CFSC Food Sovereingty Alliance meeting was great as well.  With some wonderful people working to define the actions of this body, made up of food justice, farmworker, food chain workers, small farmers, international solidarity groups and many more organizations that identify with the Food Sovereignty Principles and La Via Campesina, we hope this Alliance will become a powerful coalition to advocate for models, systems, and policies that protect and encourage food sovereignty.  From what I gathered at the meeting, it looks like defining common values and platforms, sharing resources, and educating and mobilizing nationally and how to organize as a part of the alliance locally for food sovereignty (and how to present these ideas to “the public”) could end up being some of the focuses for the Alliance in 2012.

Nina Triffleman, NW Farm Bill Action Group Coordinator
I am really grateful to CAGJ for sending me to the CFSC conference. What a luxury to be able to absorb so much brain-food non-stop! And, it started immediately as David Bacon, Rosalinda Guillen and Joachim gave us a ride to the hotel — the conversation turned to immigration intersecting with the food movement.

During the conference, I tried to combine big-picture-movement-building- with small-steps-skill-building workshops. The workshop, “It takes a movement: Why Social Movements are Key to Food Sovereignty” says it all in the title. The CIW has always inspired me and the MST reps were fiery and knew how to wake up a crowd. What incredible work they have done with little resources! Hearing the Food Sovereignty Prize winners’ talks, as well as attending part of the Food Sovereignty Alliance’s meeting after the conference’s end, was re-energizing, as I remembered that all the small steps we take in our CAGJ work are part of something much bigger. It’s re-vitalizing for me to feel that on the gut level. Anuradha Mittal of the Oakland Institute is a speaker not to be missed; during “Feeding the World, Cooling the Planet” she talked about the Institute’s work exposing a land grab in the works that would displace 160,000 Burundian refugees farming in Tanzania, see “Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa” FAQs on Food Security & Western Investors.

Skill-building steps included hearing stories of group collaboration to eliminate food deserts. The Delta Fresh Food Initiative, and Somos la Semilla are building sustainable local food systems across communities. WhyHunger helps groups connect and has some good resources and links on their website to food justice resources. “Moving a Local Food Agenda through Strategic Messaging” had some good forms to help work out a message as well as presenting an engaging campaign by the Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness Alliance (PUFFA) where teens design and send texts regularly to encourage each other to eat healthy food and exercise regularly. Check them out– the messages are great and really funny. And John Peck of Family Farm Defenders, is a walking encyclopedia of facts about agribusiness controlling the food system. I have an article he handed out (too long to scan) about food pricing speculation and he will be sending a fact sheet on the largest corporations controlling the US food system.

From CAGJ’s December E-Newsletter:

Food Sovereignty Award Ceremony Honors Black Panthers & AGRA Watch Partner GBIACK – Grow Biointensive Agricultural Centre of Kenya

While attending the CFSC conference in Oakland (see below), and then afterwards in Seattle, CAGJ was very honored to accompany our ally, Samuel Nedritu, whose organization GBIACK – Grow Biointensive Agricultural Centre of Kenya – won the Food Sovereignty Honorable Mention Prize for which we nominated them!  Samuel gave a great speech accepting the prize, dedicating it to the women with whom GBIACK works, who lead the way in the struggle to achieve food sovereignty.  GBIACK and the other honorees, including the MST – Landless Workers Movement, South Central LA Farmers and Movimiento Campesino a Campesino, were awarded beautiful ceramic plates with the slogan “From Panthers to Pitchforks”, as the Black Panthers were recognized for being forerunners of today’s Food Justice Movement.  We greatly appreciated the presentation by David Hilliard, a founding member of the Black Panther Party. Hilliard served as the organization’s Chief of Staff, and played a key role in developing the Panthers’ community service programs, including its Free Breakfast for Children Program. You can watch Hilliard’s presentation here.  Find a link to the remarks of the MST leaders accepting the prize here.

The dominance of neoliberal policies has made our world a crony capitalist dystopia. Wall Street connected legislators give multi-trillion dollar bailouts to big banks and corporations (1) as war-profiteers continue to reap benefits of both a “War on Terror” and “War on Drugs” costing trillions more taxpayer dollars (2). Infrastructure of cities and towns decay while police become increasingly militarized and the largest corporations boast record profits. According to a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis of 299 U.S. companies in the S&P 500, average gross CEO pay was about 11.4 million dollars, 343 times the median wage (the widest gap in the world) (3). Banksters, big agribusiness and corrupt lawmakers make healthy food inaccessible for growing numbers of people around the world while basic health care continues to become prohibitively expensive thanks to bloated medical, insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Meanwhile corporate-owned media distracts and disinforms the masses just enough for the top-heavy self-destructively corrupt system to drag on a little longer. So when a group of activists (organized largely through the internet and social media) took a stand to occupy Wall Street, they also occupied the collective imagination. Occupiers’ critiques of corrupt political and economic systems are nothing new but today they’re so transparently and demonstrably true, occupation sites spread like wildfire across the country and world faster than the establishment’s concerted efforts to extinguish it with propaganda and violent coercion.

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) represents another tipping point for international outrage in the context of a global struggle for justice and democracy. From late last year mass anti-austerity protests swept through European and Mediterranean countries while earlier this year Arab Spring revolutionary movements sprang up in the Middle East and North Africa (which I previously wrote about <a href=”http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2011/03/roots-of-recent-uprisings-by-reid-mukai-cagj-co-chair/”>here</a>) and in some cases continue today. Though there’s differences in the nature of the situations and struggles, what’s shared in common is growing awareness and desire to put an end to mass suffering and injustice due to neoliberal policies dictated by powerful institutions. Such institutions include Wall Street, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the U.S. Government, and all other governments and organizations they’re aligned with and/or have influence over. Their policies include elimination of trade barriers, regressive taxation, private central banks, budget cuts for social services, privatization of public resources and deregulation. The top 1% would like us to believe these measures are necessary to strengthen the economies of nations and improve government efficiency but in reality it has done the opposite. There’s overwhelming evidence from around the world linking neoliberalism to erosion of democracy and national sovereignty, militarism, increased corruption and wealth disparity, weakened infrastructures, widespread unemployment and poverty, inflation, worker exploitation, and environmental degradation (4). Because wealth and power of big banks and corporations drastically increases under this system, the 1% would also like us to think no alternatives are possible. However, following a long tradition of dissident movements, OWS owes its existence to the desire to create alternatives that put people over profits.

Like all evolving social movements, Occupy Wall Street isn’t perfect. They’ve made strategic mistakes and have internal struggles but have also shown remarkable determination and ability to learn and adapt. One of the most common critiques leveled against OWS is “they lack focus and need a specific list of demands.” Such criticism is unavoidable for organizations that are not single-issue but seek to change a complex system responsible for multiple interrelated problems. The structure of OWS  also confuses people because unlike hierarchical models most are familiar with, occupiers tend to be open-source, decentralized and collaborative. Decisions are made through General Assemblies using a process of consensus decision making, a form of participatory democracy. As with most forms of direct democracy it’s often a slow and difficult, but far more open and inclusive to a diversity of voices than republics and non-democratic systems. It also ensures that the decisions made benefit as many people as possible as equally as possible. What critics forget is that America’s forefathers (all wealthy white men) didn’t get around to drafting a constitution and declaration of independence until after the revolution. OWS might not yet have an official list of demands but it’s not difficult to find statements and documents online to get an idea of their values and goals, such as the NYC General Assembly’s Principles of Solidarity (5).

Other common charges against the Occupy Movement frequently parroted by corporate news include “protesters are too lazy to get a job”, “they’re just a bunch of dirty hippies” and “they’re looking for a confrontation with police”. These stereotypes can be dispelled simply by visiting an occupation site or talking to people at OWS rallies. Judging from the people I’ve met and heard interviews with, many have part time positions while others include students seeking jobs with which they can pay off student loans. Some unemployed activists were recently laid off and are still searching for jobs. To put their situation in perspective, in the sixties the unemployment rate was just over 4% while today the rate has more than doubled. When counting workers who are “underutilized” and “marginally attached”, the rate jumps to 16.7% (6). Out of the approximately 14 million unemployed in America, 46%, or over 6 million have been unemployed for 6 months or longer (7). In some cases unemployed homeowners at risk for foreclosure are trapped by underwater mortgages and couldn’t relocate even if they did find jobs elsewhere.

Though in our current system most of us need jobs and wages to access basic needs like food, shelter and clothing, all could be provided for free with just a fraction of the current number actually working (8). Approximately 60,000 tons of food is wasted annually to keep prices high (9) while banks faced with a glut of foreclosed homes demolish them to avoid taxes, maintenance costs and devalued markets (10). Companies such as H & M and Walmart have even been caught destroying unused clothing (11). More jobs might encourage more complacency but would do nothing to resolve structural problems such as overproduction outstripping demand, wealth disparity, devastating economic bubbles, corporate monopolization, and a culture of greed and hyperconsumerism. What could be a solution is a better socio-economic system, the creation of which is one of the Occupation’s fundamental principles of solidarity.

Ad hominem attacks against OWS regarding hygiene and appearance initially struck me as oddly childish and superficial. Camping without a shower would have the same effect on anyone and it has nothing to do with the issues. Then I recalled how characterizing groups as “dirty” and subhuman is typical of ruling elites’ tried and true “divide and conquer” strategy. In this case it seems like an attempt to prevent the average corporate news consumer from paying attention to the ideas of OWS and identifying with them as part of a unified 99%. A leaked memo from a lobbying firm has already confirmed an $850,000 proposal to spread “negative narratives” about the Occupy Movement (12). Occupiers are also certainly not all hippies. OWS includes people representing a wide spectrum of backgrounds and ideologies. Many tend to be on the progressive side but I’ve also met libertarians at Occupy events holding some beliefs associated with the Tea Party. Not surprisingly, at a recent joint Occupy/Tea Party forum in Memphis, the two groups clashed on certain issues but also found points of agreement such as frustration regarding unresponsiveness of government to average citizens and opposition to bank bailouts and crony capitalism (13). With further conversation the groups may find many other common interests such as ending perpetual wars on terror and drugs, eliminating NAFTA and similar unfair trade agreements, abolishing or restructuring the Federal Reserve, prohibiting militarized police state tactics, protecting civil liberties, creating fair election and mass media systems, and keeping pollutants out of our air, food and water. These are shared goals that 99% of the rest of the world could agree with as well.

Most critics who accuse OWS of trying to pick a fight with police usually don’t understand the purpose of non-violent civil disobedience and believe more conventional channels of political expression such as voting or letter writing are enough to fix the system. A central insight of OWS is that our problems go beyond politics to sources of power and wealth gaming the system and are in fact part of the same beast. Unfortunately voting and letter writing in themselves can do little to counteract massive amounts of money used to finance campaigns, shape legislation, and influence politicians and public opinion. When there are no longer true avenues of political and judicial redress, civil disobedience is exactly what is needed. It’s a tactic that has been used with great success in the Civil Rights, Anti-Vietnam War and Women’s Suffrage movements as well as the American Revolution. Critics who complain about tax dollars wasted on policing Occupy sites need to remember that city officials decide how to spend that money (and how much violence police use).  There has been incidences and allegations of sexual assault occurring on or near OWS camps reflecting a sad reality of our patriarchal society that even within groups trying to change the society it could still happen. Though a relatively rare occurrence, it’s a serious issue more OWS General Assemblies need to openly address and create preventative measures for as some have already done.

Conservative news channels like FOX focus disproportionately on reported crimes and isolated incidents associated with the Occupy Movement to create a false image of police simply defending themselves and the community. If that seems far-fetched, just google keywords “fox news” “ows” and “violence”. Other corporate news also cover such incidents in addition to police violence but usually within a limited context and far less airtime than similar protests in the Middle East. Independent and alternative media (including citizen journalists using social media, blogs and YouTube) have been by far the source of the most detailed and comprehensive coverage of OWS. Without independent cameras on the street, fewer people would have known about the mass pepper spraying, beating, tasering and rubber bullet shooting (all effectively forms of mass torture) of peaceful protesters across the country (14). Numerous videos and accounts can be found online revealing a pattern of coordinated violent crackdowns at all major Occupy sites including New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, Denver, Berkeley, U.C. Davis, Portland, and Seattle (where among the victimized crowd were an 84 year old activist, a Methodist Pastor in clergy robe, and a young pregnant woman who miscarried a week later). Or how in Oakland, Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen suffered a fractured skull from a gas canister shot at close range and 8 days later Afghanistan and Iraq War vet Kayvan Sabeghi was beaten by police while trying to return home. Unnecessary indiscriminate and excessive police brutality is nothing new, but citizens now have a greater ability to document and report it than ever before without censorship and distortion.

Such incidences of violent police provocation could have escalated to wide-scale riots were it not for the self-control of the Occupiers and their determination to remain a peaceful movement. They understand that besides being in a struggle for survival, they’re involved in a philosophical struggle for the hearts and minds of the world. To resort to violence would be to adapt the mentality of the oppressors and be maligned as threats to national security (though that’s often how they’re treated by the State). Police and military are well armed and trained to deal with violence but they’re not prepared to deal with public shaming and unarguable facts that may someday override orders, threats and conditioning from the 1%. There’s probably nothing ruling elites fear most than an awakened 99% united in solidarity, including people of all political and religious persuasions, occupations, races, and nations. Once that happens, one percenters know it’s “game over” so we should expect them to do everything in their power to divide and conquer, especially if as recent research has theorized, some of them may be literally psychotic (15).  To counteract this effort, it’s more important than ever to think critically and stay informed. Be aware that it’s perfectly legal for corporate news media to lie (16) and there’s plenty of sources online to find more accurate and up-to-date information. Better yet, visit a local Occupy site or event to get firsthand knowledge about who they are and what they believe in. By becoming in effect a citizen journalist you’ll be well equipped to challenge common fallacies about OWS when talking to family, friends, coworkers and strangers. Whether they realize it or not, we’re all in it together. A Global Occupation may not bring utopia (probably nothing ever will), but it’s the best opportunity yet to prevent our world from falling further into dystopia.

End Notes

1. http://www.worldfuturefund.org/projects/Indicators/bailoutcost.htm
2. http://ampedstatus.org/the-war-on-drugs-is-a-2-5-trillion-dollar-racket-how-big-banks-private-military-companies-and-the-prison-industry-cashes-in/
3. http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/
4. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7973
5. http://www.nycga.net/resources/principles-of-solidarity/
6. http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Paper-Economy/2011/0107/Official-unemployment-rate-9.4-percent.-Total-rate-16.7-percent
7. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/05/long-term-unemployment-growing_n_601930.html
8. http://www.rushkoff.com/blog/2011/9/7/cnncom-are-jobs-obsolete.html
9. http://feedingthelandfill.webnode.com/food-waste-statistics/
10. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/nyregion/06about.html?ref=nyregion
11. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-27/bank-of-america-donates-then-demolishes-houses-to-get-rid-of-foreclosures.html
12. http://occupywallst.org/forum/clark-lytle-geduldig-cranford-attack-ows/
13. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/11/18/142498739/tea-party-and-occupy-members-find-common-ground-in-memphis
14. http://endthelie.com/2011/10/30/nationwide-occupy-wall-street-crackdown-continues-with-more-police-brutality/
15. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/24-0
16. http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/11-the-media-can-legally-lie/

3 events: All events are free & open to the public
SAT Nov 12:
11AM – 1PM Farmer Information Exchange at Marra Farm (more info below, map here)
6 – 8PM Public Event at Southside Commons, 3518 S. Edmunds St., Columbia City (more info below, map here)

TUES Nov 15, 3:30-5:30PM Talk at UW Smith Hall, Room 304 (map here)
For more information, or to arrange a separate visit with Samuel, please contact CAGJ: 206-405-4600, agrawatch@seattleglobaljustice.org http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/agra-watch/
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“The technologies that are promoted by the Gates Foundation in Africa are not farmer-friendly or environmentally friendly. Some of them have not been tested fully to determine their effects on the environment and consumers.  African farmers are seeking food sovereignty, not imposed unhealthy foods and GMOs!” – Samuel Nderitu
AGRA Watch welcomes Samuel as part of our effort to support African-initiated programs rooted in agroecological and indigenous farming practices, social equity, and food sovereignty. Samuel is visiting Seattle after receiving the Food Sovereignty Prize – Honorable Mention, awarded at the Community Food Security Coalition’s annual conference in Oakland, CA. AGRA Watch, a campaign of Community Alliance for Global Justice, nominated G-BIACK after visiting them in 2010 to learn more about the Gates Foundation-funded Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and indigenous alternatives.
About G-BIACK: Samuel and his wife Peris are the founders of G-BIACK, Grow BioIntensive Agricultural Centre of Kenya.  G-BIACK has trained thousands of small-scale farmers in agroecological methods in a region suffering from ongoing drought, high rates of HIV/AIDS, hunger and the effects of chemical-intensive agriculture. G-BIACK hosts a demonstration farm, community library, seed bank and classroom. They work with marginalized communities, including widows, people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans, women and poor farmers. G-BIACK’s programs empower communities to build food systems free from corporate control and rooted in self-determination, local knowledge and ecological sustainability. Learn more about G-BIACK on the web HERE, and watch this 12 minute video, “GROW”.
About The Food Sovereignty Prize: The Food Sovereignty Prize has been awarded annually at the Community Food Security Coalition Conference since 2009.  The recipients of this prize have contributed significantly to the food sovereignty movement through grassroots action, raising awareness,  and/or developing and implementing new programs and policies.   Winners recognize the importance of collective action in bringing about social change; they clearly prioritize the leadership of women, indigenous peoples,  people of color,  migrant workers and other food providers marginalized by the global food system.  CAGJ was honored to receive Honorable Mention in 2009.

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Join us SAT Nov 12, 6 – 8PM
Public Event with Samuel: Come give a warm Seattle welcome to Samuel, and to hear a presentation & see photos about his work with G-BIACK in Kenya.  AGRA Watch will give an update on our campaign challenging the Gates Foundation’s role in a “new green revolution” in Africa.  Free & open to the public at Southside Commons (3518 S. Edmunds St., Columbia City).  Fair Trade for the Holidays items also available for sale!

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Saturday Nov 12, 11am – 1pm
From Kenya to Seattle: Farmer Information Exchange at Marra Farm (map here)
Farmers, gardeners and eaters are invited to join us to share information about agroecological growing practices.

Featuring:
*Special guest Samuel Nderitu, visiting from Thika Kenya, will do a workshop on grow biointensive agricultural methods taught by his organization to communities in central Kenya
*Sue McGann, farmer at Solid Ground’s Giving Garden at Marra Farm, will share methods used at this urban community farm.
*David Feinberg, Bee Keeper at Marra Farm will share his experience keeping bees in King County.
*Come learn from Sue, David & Samuel, and bring your ideas to enable us to collectively develop a broader understanding of sustainable farming practices!

See photos from Delegation here. Stay tuned to CAGJ’s Delegation page on our website for news of future CAGJ sponsored delegations, and for links to other groups organizing ongoing delegations, including Witness for Peace.

On a sunny late September day in the dry hills of the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca State, twelve visiting food activists including myself plus two interpreters are in a small mud-walled hut meeting with Eleazar Garcia and Phil Dahl-Bredine of the Center for Integral Campesino Development of the Mixteca (CEDICAM) [Eleazar will be in Seattle Nov 17 - see below for details!]. We are in CEDICAM’s Milpa Museum, which despite its humble size is packed with an impressive array of information and artifacts utilized by Eleazar and Phil to guide our group on a tour through the history of the region and CEDICAM’s efforts to restore the land and culture. Through the museum, community projects, fairs, workshops and media, CEDICAM educates the public and campesinos, or small scale farmers, about the history of the Mixteca’s land, belief systems, traditions, architecture and agriculture and how they can help remedy current problems. They promote the use of traditional and appropriate technologies (sustainable and affordable tech) such as reforestation, development of corn seeds through selective breeding, sustainable water and soil preservation techniques, green composting, and milpas, an organic agricultural system that produces large yields and mixes a variety of crops, usually including maize (corn), beans and squash. CEDICAM also works with groups such as Witness for Peace to share knowledge with visitors that can benefit communities in other parts of the world.

For 10 days in September I was a member of one of the delegations to Oaxaca organized  by Witness for Peace (WfP) and co-sponsored by CAGJ. Our itinerary was loaded with experiences like our meeting at CEDICAM, focusing on global trade, food sovereignty, migration, indigenous rights and agro-ecology (the application of ecological principles to agricultural techniques). WfP is an international grassroots organization founded in 1983 in response to U.S. Government-supported violence in Nicaragua perpetrated by Contra soldiers. They advocate peace, justice and sustainable economies by changing harmful U.S. Government and corporate policies. The WfP Oaxaca office opened in the Summer of 2006. During this period state violence against striking teachers seeking living wages and improved working conditions led to many deaths and human rights abuses.

Carlin Christy and Tony Macias, our delegation’s WfP guides and interpreters, also shared a wealth of information about the histories of Mexico, WfP and corporate globalization as well as practical skills to improve our group’s cohesion and functionality such as anti-oppressive practice and consensus decision making. All of the delegates also had much knowledge and a diversity of experience to contribute to these discussions and to our conversations with Oaxacan farmers and activists.

As explained by Eleazar, Mixteca means “place of clouds” because long ago it was an environment with regular rainfall and lush vegetation. Today it’s one of the poorest regions in Mexico and one of the most eroded areas in the world. The importation of goats, sheep, pigs and construction methods by the Spanish led to mass deforestation and soil erosion. More recently, some farmers use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and machinery that damages and compacts soil leading to increased crop failures, water runoff and worsened erosion. Besides the ecological damage, a devastated local economy made worse by unjust free trade policies has forced many young farmers to emigrate. Eleazar and CEDICAM’s goal is to provide the community with hopeful alternatives to preserve the land and natural resources so that people don’t have to leave for the U.S. and elsewhere to support themselves and their families.

Before our arrival at CEDICAM we met with a variety of allied groups based in Oaxaca doing equally important and beneficial work on related issues but with differences in focus and approach. The first organization we visited was an NGO called Services for an Alternative Education (EDUCA). According to Miguel Angel Vasquez de la Rosa, a founding member of EDUCA, their focus is on two main goals, democratization of Oaxacan communities and the defense of rights of disenfranchised Oaxacans. One of their projects is “Our Rights Are Born From Our Roots” a campaign to train and organize communities through forums and media on the issue of rights, namely self-determination, rights to land & resources, political rights of women and rights to education. Another project, “The Initiative for Peace and Justice”, is a partnership with allied groups to create a truth commission for state-sanctioned crimes against activists. Miguel also shared recent data about Oaxaca State: it’s population is about 3.8 million people, it has over 500 municipalities, 16 indigenous groups and 8 major geographical regions. It’s the second poorest Mexican state after Chiapas with high child malnutrition and maternal death rates and approximately 76% living in poverty. The majority of work in Oaxaca is connected to agriculture and many farmers lost their livelihoods after the implementation of NAFTA in the 90s. He estimates that today about 60% of youth entering the job market are unemployed, forcing many to emigrate or enter the black market.

The next morning we visited Zaira de la Rosa Jiminez, Martha Miranda and Pete Noll of Puente a la Salud Comunitaria, a group promoting food sovereignty through cultivation and distribution of amaranto, or amaranth crops. Amaranth is a plant related to quinoa and is indigenous to Asia and Mesoamerica (in fact it is one of Mesoamerica’s oldest crops). Puente views amaranth as an ideal crop to help overcome the problem of malnutrition because it’s higher in protein than rice, wheat and corn, contains more fiber and less carbohydrates and is gluten-free. Amaranth is a practical and affordable crop because it’s highly drought-resistant, easily harvested, grows quickly and is easy to cook. After having had a chance to try amaranth in the forms of breakfast cereals, snack bars, and drinks, I would add that it’s also delicious. That afternoon we met with farmers in the milpa system where the amaranth plants are grown with corn, zucchini, and pata de leon, a type of red flower used in Day of the Dead celebrations. At the end of the day we travelled to the library in Mazaltepec to meet with town authorities, campesinos, mothers, and their families. We discussed our respective backgrounds and their struggles as a community including protecting crops from GMOs, inability to compete with cheap subsidized corn from the U.S. and how that has contributed to economic problems forcing people in the community to emigrate.

Following Puente, we joined a large contingent from Red Autonoma para la Soberania Alimentaria (RASA), an autonomous network of people working for food sovereignty through training workshops, urban gardening and sharing of knowledge and resources. Representatives including Aerin Dunford, Lydia Zarate Ubieta and Jorge Narvaes Perez showed us some of the current projects of RASA members such as mushroom cultivation, a rooftop garden, a cornfield and apricot orchard on the city outskirts, and even invited us into the home of some of the RASA members where we had a feast featuring some of the best tortillas and oyster mushrooms I’ve ever tasted. From there we returned to the central district of Oaxaca City where we met with Wilfred Mendoza, a member of the board of directors of the Union of Organizations of the Sierra Juarez, Oaxaca (UNOSJO). They’re a prominent social organization which promotes sustainable economies, self-determination and respect for indigenous culture through media, technical assistance, fairs, educational workshops and conflict resolution for rural landowners. Wilfred sees agro-ecology as an ancient technology whose resurgence is essential for food sovereignty and a fundamental part of defending indigenous rights, a view shared by Beatriz Salinas and Esperanza Pilar Chagoya Minguer of the Center for Indigenous Rights Flor y Canto, whom we visited the next day. Flor y Canto is a human rights center that promotes indigenous rights with a focus on women’s empowerment and the protection of natural resources through education, denouncement of rights violations, legal defense, and support of allied groups such as the People’s Committee for the Defense of Water. They see an extreme polarity between indigenous cultures that care for the earth and a capitalist system that commodifies and destroys the earth. Many laws are dictated by money and capital so one of Flor y Canto’s roles is to create spaces where solidarity and humanity are respected. By helping indigenous communities obtain water through well construction projects and legal defense of water rights, they’re also addressing the problem of emigration. The national water commission ConAgua charges for water at price levels beyond what many campesinos can afford. During drought years such as in 2006, waves of migrations occurred because farmers couldn’t access enough water to irrigate crops.

After our delegation’s meeting with CEDICAM, we traveled further out to the countryside to San Pedro Coxcaltepec where we had an opportunity to stay with a local family of subsistence farmers dealing with many of the issues we learned about throughout the previous week. While there we had an opportunity to speak to town elders, learn about different aspects of the local culture, learn more about the work involved in managing a milpa, as well as participate in the work by shoveling and mixing green compost. This was an especially valuable segment of the delegation because it gave us a glimpse into the daily experience of Oaxacan campesinos, revealed a sense of the beauty and challenges of life in the Mixteca, and gave us time to bond with the family. It’s one thing to read about struggles of farmers or even hear about them through allied advocacy groups, but to meet campesinos who express their concerns directly while sharing their hospitality (as we also did with Puente and RASA) is an empathic experience creating a personal connection to the issues we came to Oaxaca to learn about. This will undoubtedly inspire all of us in the delegation to make use of the knowledge passed on to us in our own lives and to share it with others. Given the current political and economic situation in America and most of the world, strategies for food sovereignty, education and community organizing will be increasingly important for all of us.

Two weeks after returning from the delegation I was at the Occupy Seattle demonstration where I had a chance encounter with a protester attending the rally because he was “tired of getting screwed by government.” I told him I was tired of everyone getting screwed by transnational corporations and financial institutions backed up by corrupt governments. He went on to say “Obama cares more about Mexicans than the American people.” to which I replied “I recently got back from Mexico where I heard firsthand accounts of how our government and Wall Street harms Mexican workers as much as American workers if not more. They wouldn’t need to migrate if they could support their families back home.” Rather than argue, he muttered “Well, they’ve been screwing all of us in the 99%…” before wandering back into the crowd, which wasn’t a bad outcome but sort of a letdown. I was ready to help him understand in greater detail how and why immigration and mass unemployment are both symptoms of neoliberal policies at the core of economic crises in America, Mexico and around the world. It’s possible he simply didn’t feel like debating, but perhaps someone with a common but erroneous view that Mexicans (presumably immigrants) are a source of their problems was in fact, with a few words and widened context, able to accept that they’re as much victims of an unjust system as ourselves. Amidst the masses in Westlake Park, consisting of a diversity of ages, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds, I visualized the Occupation Movement strengthening their solidarity, not only within separate communities but with the global 99% uniting against the wealthiest 1% who benefit most from the current system and are the true source of the most pressing social-economic-environmental problems of our time. If this were to happen we might stand a chance to ensure a better world for future generations. La lucha sigue! (The struggle continues!)

To learn more about the connections between trade policies, migration, Oaxaca, human rights and food sovereignty, there’s two upcoming related events taking place in the Seattle area.
On Thursday November 3 author David Bacon will speak at UW Savery Hall room 260, at 6 to 8 pm. He’s the author of “Illegal People – How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants” (Beacon Press, 2008) and this recent piece about Oaxaca: http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/blog/1569/letter_from_oaxaca/

From November 15 to 17 Witness for Peace is organizing a speaker tour featuring campesino and sustainable agriculture expert Eleazar Garcia, a founding member of CEDICAM. He’ll be discussing the negative impact of the free trade model on the culture and economy of Oaxaca as well as solutions.   On November 16 Eleazar will give a talk at noon in Bellingham and on Thursday November 17 he’ll be speaking in Seattle at New Hope Baptist Church, 116 21st Avenue in Central District, from 7 to 9 pm. For more information, contact CAGJ: 206-405-4600, or email wfpnw@witnessforpeace.org

See PHOTO ALBUM on CAGJ’s Facebook HERE!

Support HUG!  “Like” Hilltop Urban Gardens on Facebook here!

I’ll begin with a confession: before the teach out, I had never set foot on an urban farm.  I’ll follow that up with another confession: I was not looking forward to the new experience. Hearing my alarm ring at 8 AM on a Saturday, my first thoughts were about how I would rather be sleeping.  I like to rest on Saturdays and even more importantly the experience was just too new for me.  The upcoming adventure had unfamiliar written all over it.  But I realized the importance of this trip to Tacoma, because finally, I was receiving the chance to experience first hand the local food system.  As an intern at CAGJ, I had spent a great deal of time reading about our food system, food justice and food sovereignty, but I still felt like I did not know enough about it.

We began our time at Hilltop Urban Gardens with an introduction to our host, Dean Jackson, the founder of HUG.  He shared with us the history and structure of HUG.  Dean started HUG in 2009 as a community urban farm that focuses on social justice.  The farm encourages the community to eat healthy and understand systems of oppression within society.  HUG began because Dean saw a need for it.  He knew the Hilltop as a community that experienced gang activity, a neighborhood that some people probably wouldn’t dare to drive through.  Dean started by going door to door, visiting his neighbors.  He asked if they too saw a need for communal farming and social justice awareness.  Fortunately, he was not alone and HUG began.

Hilltop Urban Gardens has three main focuses: Community Development, Farm Networking, and Organizational Development.  HUG’s community development program is called Lets Grow! and it focuses on educating the community.  HUG teaches age appropriate gardening classes (for youth, high school students and adults).  Each of these programs includes aspects of social justice, specifically focusing on the Hilltop and the food system.  The next program is called the Farm Network.  This aspect of HUG is the growing process.  HUG works towards food independence.  This means that the community members donate land and grow food for the community.  The end products are shared with everyone.  Lastly, a major focus of HUG is the agency’s organizational development.  HUG has a lot of space for expansion, and Dean is working with the community to ensure that happens.

After our introduction to the farm, Dean showed us to the six farm locations.  Five out of the six locations are part of community members’ yards.  Each of the farm locations were overflowing with beautiful vegetables.  Dean insisted we pick off whichever fruits and vegetables we wanted and eat it straight from the tree.  I could not believe the delicious tomatoes, raspberries and green beans that HUG was growing.  They were unbelievable!  The sixth location is a spacious lot, which HUG has transformed into its main growing location.

Then, we got to work.  Our job was to put gravel on one of the farm’s paths and dig up weeds.  The work was fun, but the best part was interacting with Dean and listening to his stories about the formation of HUG.  He told us about how a year ago, he envisioned HUG expanding and having its’ own land, but the community lacked the resources to buy a plot of land.   During a conversation Dean had with his sister, he explained that in order to do the work he envisioned, HUG needed more land.  Right then, she told him, she’d buy the land for HUG.  The heartwarming story really showed me that HUG will continue to expand, because so many people believe in it.  Dean also shared with us the changing dynamic of the Hilltop since HUG began.  Previously, the community members kept to themselves.  There was little interaction between anyone, mostly due to gang activity.  Some blocks experienced more activity then others, but it kept people in their houses.  Once HUG began, there became more of a reason for people to interact.  Dean said that people often tell him how much more the Hilltop feels like a real community, as opposed to just people living in the same vicinity.  The differences that HUG has made in the Hilltop community amazed me.

I had a great time visiting HUG, and I am definitely glad I overcame my fear of dealing with a new experience at such an early hour on a Saturday.  In fact, I know I will be visiting many more urban farms in the future.  Visiting Hilltop Urban Gardens was a transformative experience, because I learned so much first hand about our local food system.  As Dean reminded us at the end of the trip, there is great work being done in Tacoma, something Seattleites easily forget.  Additionally, HUG reinforced the power of community.  Dean would not be able to make such powerful change happen without the community.  Lastly, I learned that I had not experienced tomatoes until visiting Hilltop Urban Gardens.  Because of the tomatoes from the HUG farm, I’m not sure that I’ll be happy with a grocery store tomato ever again.  Most importantly, there are ways that you can support HUG! On Facebook, “like” Hilltop Urban Gardens; it’s a great way to spread the word about the important work HUG does in Tacoma.  Also, if you visit the CAGJ Facebook page, you can check out pictures from the event.

See photos from Oaxaca Delegation on Facebook here & here

Report from CAGJ Co-Chair Reid Mukai:

Lessons From Oaxaca to the Occupy Movement: A Delegate Reports Back, By Reid Mukai – click here!

http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2011/11/lessons-from-oaxaca-to-occupy-seattle-a-delegate-reports-back/

Report from CAGJ member Erica Bacon:

Today is day 7 of the delegation- updating is not as easy as I anticipated- our days are packed completely full of programming and activities!  We are learning so much about the history and political climate in Oaxaca and have been meeting and learning from many inspiring people.  So far we have visited with: Miguel from Educa Oaxaca, an organization working to defend democracy and the human rights of small farmers and indigenous peoples;  Amaranth farmers with an organization called Puente, who are reclaiming the cultivation of the nutrient-rich grain native to the diet of indigenous peoples in Mexico prior to Spanish conquest; several small farmers and gardeners affiliated with the Autonomous Network for Food Sovereignty here in Oaxaca (including an amazing women-run oyster mushroom growing project); a local homesteader right outside of the city with a spectacular apricot orchard; Wilfred from UNUSJO, an organization committed to working in the interest of democracy, indigenous rights, women’s rights and agro-ecology in the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca; and today with 2 amazing women with Flor y Canto (which means flower and song) who are advocating for indigenous rights and educating about the impacts of neo-liberalism and globalization within the indigenous community, with a specific focus on water privatization and water rights.  Tomorrow we will be leaving the city for a 2 night home stay in the Central Valley, where much of the population of the campo (countryside) we will be visiting has migrated.  I look forward to being able to share more thoroughly the stories of the communities that we have been learning from and to help others to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the true causes of migration.

Report from CAGJ member Bobby Righi:

We heard from a young man named Wilfred Mendoza who works with the Union of Organizations of the Sierra Juarez (UNOSJO).  He began his presentation by saying that the green revolution had left the lands ruined and the people poor.  UNOSJO works actively against GMO corn and promotes sustainable rural economies and they organize workshops on the rights of women.  At the end I asked him what he would say to the authorities who tell people like us working in AGRA Watch that we are naive; He said, ¨They should look at the example of indigenous people in Oaxaca and indeed all over Latin America. They are crushed by policies from outside.  They should look and Oaxaca and see if the Green Revolution helped us.  We are the poorest part of Mexico.¨ He called these kinds of programs ¨low intensity warfare”.

A second small story from one of our visits.  This was to RASA, Red Autonoma para la Soberania Alimentaria.  We had a chance to sit in small groups at tables and discuss urban gardening with a group of four older men and women who grow mushrooms, tomatoes, celery, fruit, and so much more.  One of them, Laurentinea, grew so much celery that she was able to sell to her friends and neighbors for a bit of income and to develop new recipes for using it.  We pictured a small farm but it turned out that she grows her vegetables in containers on her small patio!   All of these urban farmers could all remember when the land in Oaxaca was much better and they said what ruined the land was the cutting of trees for houses for the rich. This was a common theme we were to hear often: the deforestation of huge areas of the state of Oaxaca. So, I thought to myself, this area was not always dry and arid in the mountains!  We later visited a village in the mountains where people have been replanting with native pine trees and also digging countour ditches to retain water.

When I asked Laurentinea if she had children, she told me about her son who left 13 years ago to work in California.  She has not seen him since.  He has married and has two children who are now in primary school but he and his wife get up at 4am to pick grapes and the children are alone a lot of the time.  She has never met her grandchildren.  There is no way for them to travel here nor for her to go to California. Despite the fact that her husband died the same year that her son left, she is a warm and cheerful person, finds solace in gardening, and maintains hope that her son will return with his family one day.   Just one example of the need to change immigration policy.

“Rep McDermott: Free Trade Kills Farmers – Vote No on US-Colombia FTA!”

The banner was covered with hundreds of signatures gathered since June at CAGJ’s Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere dinner, Seattle Farmers Markets, where many farmers and other food producers signed the banner [see photos here and here!], at Seattle Tilth’s Harvest Fair, and multiple other venues.